IELTS Reading Short Answer Questions: Essential Tips and Practice Lesson. This question type requires you to locate a word, words or numbers in the passage which are precise answers to a given question. These are not the most common form of question you can get in IELTS reading, but still well worth preparing for. Each point you win counts so make sure you are fully prepared.
IELTS Reading Short Answer Question Tips
I’ll keep the tips short for this type of question because they are very easy to understand. For matching headings and TFNG questions, you’ll find a long list of tips because they are quite unusual questions, specific to IELTS. However, these questions are simple so just a few tips will be enough for you.
- You must locate information in the passage which is the answer to a question.
- This is the type of question that most of you will be familiar with.
- Spend time preparing the questions.
- Look for keywords that can help you locate the information in the passage
- Note keywords that help you know what type of answer you are looking for – such as a noun.
- The answers for short answer questions always come in order in the passage.
- Your answer will be a word or words from the passage. Do not change the word – it must be as it is written in the passage.
- The instructions will tell you how many words/numbers you can have for your answer.
- Spelling counts – if you spell the word incorrectly, your answer is wrong.
IELTS Reading Short Answer Question Practice
Please note: I am not trying to promote a religion with this topic. It is just an interesting topic about painted eggs. Like IELTS, I try to keep my work non-religious and non-political.
Reading Passage: The History of Painted Eggs
Easter eggs, aka Paschal eggs in some parts of the world, are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime. The practice of decorating eggshell dates back thousands of years. Ostrich eggs with engraved 
decoration that are 60,000 years old have been found in Africa. As far as historians know, the act of egg decoration did not have any religious origin and was just decorative. In Persian culture, eggs were sometimes painted by the whole family as they sat together preparing for the arrival of Spring and their New Year. And even today, people enjoy painting eggs without being at all religious.
Eventually, eggs which often symbolised Spring become connected to the celebration of Easter. In Europe, it was traditional to use dyed and painted chicken eggs at Easter, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans. Easter eggs are a widely popular symbol of new life in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and other Central European countries where they are concealed in the garden for children to find. The British Queen, Queen Victoria, was also known to enjoy egg hunts, organising them for her children inside Kensington Palace in London which brought the tradition to the UK. Eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility and rebirth. Some magic rituals, these days, often use eggs to promote fertility and restore virility (of the body and mind); and to foresee the future. The Easter Bunny is another symbol associated with Easter but the origin is unclear. Some people believe that the Easter Bunny came about because both eggs and rabbits are often seen as symbols of fertility. Others believe the Easter Bunny originated in Germany were it was a judge of how well behaved children had been by the start of the season. The naughty or nice theme for children can be seen again in the tradition of Santa Clause at Christmas. Nowadays, in many countries, the Easter bunny is responsible for bringing the children their Easter eggs.
In Russia, the incredible Peter Carl Faberge took the concept of eggs as decoration to another level. He created 50 Imperial Easter Eggs between 1885 to 1916. His remarkable eggs were made of gold, silver and other materials and were inlaid with pearls and precious gems, each egg completely unique and exquisite. Many of them have since disappeared from the world. I great loss to the world of art.
Questions 1-6 Short Answer Questions
Answer the questions below. Choose no more than two words from the passage for each answer.
- What is another name for an Easter Egg?
- What type of egg was used for decoration in the ancient world?
- What type of sweets were artificial eggs sometimes filled with?
- Where are egg hunts often conducted as part of a hide and seek game in some countries?
- By and large, what did eggs represent?
- What determined if children had been naughty or nice at the beginning of Spring.
Questions 7-11 Paraphrasing Vocabulary Practice
Find the synonym for the words below in the reading passage.
- 7. ceremonies
- 8. sweets
- 9. adorning
- 10. originated
- 11. carved / etched
Note: IELTS Reading does not contain specific vocabulary questions. I’ve including this as a language building exercise for paraphrasing.
ANSWERS
Click below to reveal the answers.
Answers- PASCHAL (EGGS)
- OSTRICH (EGGS)
- JELLY BEANS
- GARDEN
- The use of brackets in answer keys means you can put the word in brackets in your answer or not – both options are correct. You can’t use brackets for your answers in the test, this is only in answer keys.
- “Kensington Palace” is not the answer because this only refers to the UK rather than some countries which means the answer actually is contained in the sentence before that.
- FERTILITY REBIRTH
- using “and” would be wrong – just two words are needed.
- No punctuation is needed but would not be counted wrong if you used a comma
- EASTER BUNNY
- 7. rituals
- 8. confectionery
- 9. decorating
- 10. came about
- 11. engraved
.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
- How to Improve your Reading Score
- IELTS Reading Question Types List
- ALL READING PRACTICE LESSONS & TIPS
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Hi Liz, I am confused on question number 5 regarding the answer “fertility rebirth”. One of your tips states that the answer to short response questions will be “word or words from the passage and we should not change the word – it must be written in the passage” but the phrase “fertility rebirth” was not present in the passage; the closest one was “fertility and rebirth”. So I am confused on whether we can make minor tweaks on phrases from the passage or are we suppose to take it directly from there? Thank You!
Those are two individual words that are taken precisely from the passage. They don’t form a sentence or a phrase. You aim isn’t to copy phrases but to hunt for words.
Dear Liz,
Thanks a lot for your sharing. I have two questions.
First, I would like to know if the question ask for「no more than 3 words」, what would the answer be for question no.6? Will it be Easter Bunny or 「The」 Easter Bunny?
I am quite confused because I saw examples in other short answer questions, sometimes they contain 「the」 and sometimes they don’t. For example ：「The National guard」 「the Richter scale」、「(the) epicentre」. What are the key points for deciding when to add 「the」, or can I just ignore 「the」 when answering the question?
Second, do I have to use capital letter or period to answer the question? Take question no.4 for example, are 「garden」 or「Garden.」also the right answers?
With English grammar, we use “the” when referring to unique nouns, The National Guard and the Richter scale are such examples. For normal nouns, we often don’t use “the” when answering short answer questions, for example “[the] epicentre”, the word “epicentre” is a normal noun so the article “the” is usually omitted for short answer questions, but in this case “[the]” was given in brackets in the answer key making it an optional word that could be used or omitted. You should never use brackets in your answers. So, the rule is – most answers (nouns) don’t use articles for note completion questions or short answer questions, unless the word is a unique noun which must use “the”.
Thank you so much for your reply.
Hey Liz!I have a question. Can I use foreign phrases in writing and speaking test?For example “Magnum opus”
This is an English language test. Each time your English language is not clear or easy to understand, your score will go down. Obviously, foreign words are not English. So, if you are planning to use foreign words, then you have not understood the test. However, if a foreign word comes out accidently during your test (which can happen in the speaking test), you simply say “what I mean is ….” and then you explain or paraphrase that foreign word in English.
In regards to question no. 3, could ‘confectionary’ be the answer as the question talks about type?
“confectionary” is a paraphrase for the word “sweets”. Confectionary is not a type of sweet. As you see from the passage, it says “confectionary, such as jelly beans” – this shows that the type of confectionary is a jelly bean – meaning the type of sweets are jelly beans. Your answer would be marked wrong.
hi Liz
will my marks be deducted if I don’t write a, an or the in front of my answer but they are mentioned in the answer key
Your answer will be marked wrong if you write any word that isn’t part of the answer. Many question types do not require articles such as a or the.
in my case, it is the opposite these articles were mentioned in the answer key a bodice was written but I wrote only bodice so is my answer incorrect
No, your answer would be wrong. Some question types need articles and others do not. It also depends on how the question is phrased. If you are required to make the sentence grammatically correct and if an article is required to do that, then you must write it. If it is a note form question and other notes in that section do not have articles, then you do use one. But either way, your answer is either 100% correct or it is marked wrong.
okay…..thank you so much liz
Hi Liz.
Do Symbols count as words in IELTS reading and listening? For example, is “Fertility & Rebirth” correct for a two words only answer?
You do not use symbols such as “&” in any part of the IELTS test. You can use symbols for percentage and currencies, but not other words.
Hello Liz, when a question says, ‘not more than two words,’ does it mean one can use less; for instance, one word?
The instructions say “not more than”. They do not say “not less than”. It means you can have more so anything which is two words or under is fine. See this page for all information and tips about the listening test: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-listening/
please liz what is the answer for question 2 and why .
I’ve added some extra information to the answer key and added new questions to challenge you. Take a look
Hello Liz, I’ve been having very hard time solving reading questions especially from Cambridge IELTS but when i tried your free reading practice at first it gets easier and easier because it is very simple and short so I believe it must be very helpful especially for a beginner like me!!! thank you Liz !!!!^^
The aim is to develop skills, awareness of questions and strategies, and confidence by using my lessons. Then try to apply what you have learned to real tests.
Hi Liz! I want some more clarification about short-answer type questions ( I have already gone through all the valuable comments). As, you have previously discussed that we don’t need to use any articles, no linking words etc. Does this mean that we don’t need to use any noun phrase or determiner even if word limit allows? For example, the passage says,” The college welcomes visitors and provides parking arrangements through pre-arranged permits, which must be displayed in the vehicle. Please contact the Hospitality Department for further information.” the question is, “What do visitors need to show when parking?” I wrote, “pre-arranged permits”; however, the answer is just “permits”. Why is this so? Is my answer wrong?
Similarly, another passage says, “There will be two short-term drop-off/ pick-up spaces for users os the nursery, with a maximum of ten minutes’ waiting time allowed. These are located outside Concorde building. The nursery staff bays may not be used under any circumstance.” The question is, “Where can the nursery pick-up point be found?” I thought it is “outside Concorde Building”; nevertheless, it is just “Concorde Building.”
I will be grateful if you consider clarifying my doubt. My exam is this Saturday. By the way, this passage is from Cambridge general book 14.
Thank you so much in advance.
It is not required to provide adjectives or any other descriptive language – just the noun. Short answers questions or note completion usually have examples which illustrate this. Some times more than one answer is permissible. However, stick to the basic rule of providing just the main noun. For example, whether the location is inside or outside, the location is still “Concorde Building”.
Hi dear Liz
I think the last question is a little bit tricky, because I supposed we must answer these kind of questions as the same as the words in the passage, so when ‘and’ is omitted it seems it doesn’t make sense..could you please explain more about these kind of short answer questions which have word count restriction?
thanks dear Liz for all your efforts
Short answer questions are not sentence completions. You are filling a sentence which needs to be grammatically correct. So, for note completion and short answer questions only specific words are given as answers – no articles, no prepositions, no linking words etc. Just the specific word or words which are the answer.
Thank you so much for your clear response to my question.
you are one of the best teachers in the world. God bless you and stay safe..
🙂
liz, I wrote Santa clause as answer to no 6. I was surprised to see Easter Bunny as the answer.
The question was: What determined if children had been naughty or nice at the beginning of Spring.
This was a multi-layered question and the keyword was spring. At the start of the paragraph we are told: “Eventually, eggs which often symbolised Spring become connected to the celebration of Easter”. This shows that Easter relates to spring and that gives the context for the paragraph. The passage then states “The Easter Bunny is another symbol associated with Easter” which shows that the Easter Bunny is related to Easter, and we know that Easter is related to spring. The passage then says “the Easter Bunny originated in Germany were it was a judge of how well behaved children had been by the start of the season” which means that the Easter Bunny was about the beginning of spring and it determined how well the children behaved – when we talk about how well a child behaves, we are referring to whether the child was naughty or not. We then see the passage states “The naughty or nice theme for children can be seen again in the tradition of Santa Clause at Christmas.” which means this theme is repeated (so it’s the same as the Easter Bunny) but this time it related to Christmas, which isn’t part of the spring. So, the answer must be Easter Bunny and can’t be Christmas – both have the same theme (naughty or nice), but only one relates to the start of spring.
Hello Liz, on number 3 I answered “fertility, rebirth” will it be marked correct even if with coma? thank you
The comma makes no difference at all.
Dear Liz,
First of all, thanks for all your advice in this website and I find it very useful on my road to IELTS. I will take the exam in March.
I tried some short answer questions in Reading practice tests. One of the questions was asking about what tools were being used in the game. There were wooden pin and balls mentioned in the paragraph and I answered “WOODEN PIN BALLS”. However, the correct answer was shown as “pin and balls”. I am asked to use not more than three words and I will attend the CB test. Would I get one mark for my answer or it has to be same as the model answer? Appreciate your advice in advance. Cheers.
Your answer would be marked wrong. The answer is eithr 100% correct or it is wrong. Always check if your answer is to complete a sentence (in which case the sentence must be grammatically correct when completed) or to complete notes.
Hi this is Nataraj. I want to know, Short Answer Questions is of Computer based, Voice based or Pen and paper based?
It makes no difference if you are taking the computer based test or paper based test – the format, questions etc are all the same. They are the same tests. The only difference is in writing using a pen or computer.
I have been viewing your website for a few days. This is amazing and beyond help that the effort you put into it. I really look up to you. I wanna thank on behalf of everyone
Dear Liz,
Could you please guide me with the “Section 3” of the Reading part, as to typically what type of questions are expected { Matching paragraph info, Summary completion, Sentence completion, Multiple choices,List selection, Choosing a title, Matching sentence endings or Short answers }.
And what should be an ideal strategy? :
A- Skim read the whole passage first?
B- Sim read all questions starting from Q28 to Q40?
c- Read just first set of questions – Q28 to Q33 – answer them & then read Q34 to Q40?
Happy to be guided by you.
Regards,
Vishal Pardessi.
Any type of question comes in any part of the reading test.
The usual advice is to skim read the passage to pay attention to layout and gist (no more than 2 mins) – this is not to grasp meaning.
Then read one question and analyse it.
Then find the answer by scanning the passage to locate the area that the answer is found it.
However, you must work on your own technique. Not everyone does it this way. Also some questions are approached differently – matching headings, skim them all and then choose which one you want to try.
Is this para for academic or general ielts exam?
My lessons are not for one or the other. They are just lessons to build skills. GT and Academic reading have the same question types.
Believe me or not! i fall in love with the way she is explaining things and with the way she doing things for others
thanks alot
Great job @Liz, insights are do helpful. I’m preparing well for my ielts exam in Dec.
3/3
Thanks
Please is slash / counted as a word
Why would you use “/”? It is not needed in any part of the IELTS test.
Hi Liz,
For Q2 why not the answer is Chocolate eggs?
Thank You
The question is about “formally used eggs” – this means “in the past”. The chocolate egg: “a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs”. This means the problem you have with this question is understanding the English word “formally”.
If the meaning is “in the past”, is it not this “FORMERLY”? Rather than “Formally”
Well spotted 🙂
Liz, you are simply fabulous. I had my speaking (GT) yesterday in Nigeria. All levels studied were your materials. It helped me a lot.
I am sitting for the listening, reading and Essay tomorrow, l have been glue all day online at Liz. Thanks for the free services.
Keep increasing dear.
Good luck! Make sure you manage your time well in the reading and writing sections. See this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-exam-tips-on-the-day/
Hi Liz
Are these examples put together by you or are they passages from actual IELTS tests / approved practice materials? And if they are done by you, are they following the correct IELTS guidelines?
In the official exam, can you have give an answer such as “fertility rebirth”, without using any connection? Can we simply list words?
Confused by the fact that I had to answer in no more than two words, I answered “new life”, which made a hell of a lot more sense to me than the suggested answer.
Thanks,
Gabriela
If you wish to buy IELTS tests, you will need to buy the IELTS Cambridge test books from 1 to 12. You can get them online or in a bookshop.
2/3
I wrote “fertility & rebirth” –> so I exceeded the words count.
I got same answer in mind. Thank you for clearance.
Could I write this type of name in all capital letters suppose, Mc Donald as MCDONALD
Yes.
Hi Liz,
How to answer Short Question types in reading and listening?
Do they have to be grammatically correct?
For example,
Where is Anna going? (audio played: She says that I’m going to office)
Is it correct to say ‘Office’ or ‘to her office’ or ‘to office’?(3 words allowed)
Same is the case for reading.
Please help.
Deepika
Grammar is only important when you must complete a sentence.
i faced same problem…….
hey liz all 3 r crct thank you.
Hi Liz,
Can one use capital letters throughout his listening test?
Yes. I recommend you use all capital letters for listening and reading.
thank you so heavy
Hi Liz.
Can I use capital letters all through my reading answers,just like in listening. Is it allowed?
Thanks
Yes. I recommend you use all capital letters for listening and reading.
Hi Liz,
By using all capital letters you mean like bold writing e.g as for the word rich i should write Rich or RICH? or you mean capitilizing the first letter of the answer?
thanks.
ALL WORDS ARE BEST TO BE WRITTEN IN CAPITAL LETTERS.
Thank you.
OMG!! SUCH A NICE ILLUSTRATION. HAHAHA!!
I got 3/3. Thankyou for your effort, Liz!
Hi Liz,
I got 3/3. Thank you.
Dear mam,
Good day
Thanks so very much for your materials, its very helpful
Mam the reading section or the practise papers you have provided are very easy. I think in ielts reading their is a much complex one. Can you please help with the link
You can find a free practice test on this page: https://ieltsliz.com/useful-websites-and-resources-for-ielts/
Thank you for all your help Liz. I have a suggestion for the reading section exercises. I feel it would really help if you give us a time limit for all the reading exercises so we can finish them in the required time. That would make the practicing much more effective. Please do consider this suggestion . Thank you.
Thanks for the suggestion. I like it. I’ll see what I can do over the next few months. I’m a bit overloaded with work at present.
Hello Liz,
I did not understand how come the answer of the third question is fertility rebirth.
We do not care the “and” between these two words. Is it possible in the Ielts exam?
Thanks in advance.
That’s right. The “and” is not important in short answer questions – it may be different with other types of questions. Also the word count was “no more than two words”.
Can we put a comma between the two words?
It isn’t necessary. Just leave a clear space.
Hi, how can I get your materials? The Copy/Paste function doesn’t seem to work
Only some pages are available for download, others need to be viewed online.
Thank you so much
Liz – Your website is simply awesome. I am glued to it since morning going through contents on reading section of the IELTS test. Great work. I believe your study materials will help me a lot to get the best scores.
Also, I have one question on the above sample test- What if I just answered fertility alone? Will I be given marks?
You need both words for one mark. There are no half marks given. Your answer is either 100% correct or it is wrong. Don’t forget that these are not sample tests, they are just practice exercises. You can find a free reading test on this page: https://ieltsliz.com/useful-websites-and-resources-for-ielts/
Dear Liz medam ,
Thanks for your help. Your efforts are absolutely worthy to us.
Medam i want plenty excersice for reading test with different types of question such as T/F/NG , matching heading etc…so please suggest me any website or any book from where i can get more excersice. Thanks.
You can find reading exercises on my main reading page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-reading-lessons-information-and-tips/ and also recommended books: https://ieltsliz.com/recommended-books-for-ielts/
Sorry found the ans in the thread.
In no 3, Can I write fertility, rebirth? ( I mean with comme)
https://ieltsliz.com/liz-notice-2015-2016/
Hi,
I have got 3/3 within 4 minuets of timeframe.however I capitalised all answers like PASCHAL EGGS. is it ok?
https://ieltsliz.com/liz-notice-2015-2016/
Is it wrong to only write “fertility” for question no. 3 ?
https://ieltsliz.com/liz-notice-2015-2016/
Dear Liz,
The answer to the question 2 should be singular…Paschal egg?
Thanks
Thanks for spotting that. I’ve altered the question.
All the best
Liz
Hii liz i need a speaking partner can u arrange it i have an exam on 11 of december.
Hi,
Can we write the whole word in capital for listening and reading instead of following punctuations? if I write all answers in capital letters what happens?
See this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-help-faq/
Liz
Hi Liz!
Is it okay to use a comma between fertility and rebirth? (fertility, rebirth)
thank you! 🙂
You can use a comma if you want but it isn’t necessary.
Liz
Hello,
I haven’t understood the usage of capitals and lower case letters for starting letters of a word. You explained P is capital for Paschal because it is the first letter. Isn’t it because it’s a proper noun?
Also shouldn’t C be in capitals for chicken in the second answer as it is the first word? Why are we penalized for this?
The word “chicken” is not the first word of a sentence because there is no sentence. This is not sentence completion, it is short answer questions. Completely different requirements. Try to learn more about how to answer the different types of questions in reading.
All the best
Liz
Hi Liz. Is this text an example for general training? Thanks!
This is a similar level of GT reading passage 3. Both GT and academic reading have the same types of questions, so just choose the easier reading passages on my blog for your practice.
Liz
Dear Liz Thanks for all you recommendations…. Dear Liz I want to now correct answer for third one. Thanks in advance..
Always check the answer keys for the answers. You can find number 3 here: Eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility and rebirth.
Liz
For Question No.3, the answer is fertility rebirth. If my answer is rebirth only it this correct or wrong?
It would be wrong, unfortunately.
Liz
Hi Liz, Thanks for the test. I should have read more on the instruction. No more than 2 words.
hi Liz just want to know since the answer at no.3 question is fertility rebirth , Is this considered as 2 words without “and”?
“fertility rebirth” are just two words. Sorry, I don’t understand your question.
Liz
what i mean if you put fertility rebirth, is it correct?it seems not a logical answer… in the paragraph, it says fertility and rebirth. so are we allowed to alter it?
You are asked to find two words and to answer a question. So, you should provide two words. You have not been asked to complete a sentence. Each type fo question has different requirements for the answer. Read about the question types and learn more.
All the best
Liz
Hey, liz, Recently I’m start my ielts exam preparation, so please say me, How to improved for reading part i want to overall 6 so how to get it, please kindly your excellent information.
I’m from Dhaka in Bangldesh, IDP or British council which is better to ielts, so i expect your information ….
Please see this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-reading-tips-how-can-i-improve-my-score/
All the best
Liz
Can I just write Fertility ; rebirth ?