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Early Childhood Education Reading Answers: IELTS Reading Practice Test

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Updated on Jul 02, 2024, 11:57

The IELTS Reading section is designed to evaluate your ability to comprehend and interpret a variety of texts, ranging from descriptive and factual to discursive and analytical. 

 

You will encounter three long reading passages, each followed by a series of questions that test your understanding of the main ideas, details, inferences, and the author's intentions. 

 

This section is crucial as it assesses your reading skills in a timed environment, which reflects real-life scenarios where you need to quickly gather and understand information.

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1. Early Childhood Education Reading Passage

You should spend approximately 20 minutes answering Questions 1 - 13 based on the Reading Passage below. This approach can help manage time effectively during a reading comprehension activity or exam. 

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2. Early Childhood Education Reading Questions & Answers

Discover exciting and informative IELTS reading answers about Early Childhood Education

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1.

Early Childhood Education Reading Passage

General Information

  • Read Instructions: Understand each question before answering.
  • Manage Time: Spend about 20 minutes per passage.
  • Skim and Scan: Quickly get the main idea and find specific information.
  • Highlight Key Info: Underline essential words or phrases.
  • Answer All Questions: Attempt every question; no penalty for wrong answers.
  • Stay Focused: Avoid distractions and keep your attention on the task.
  • Check Spelling: Ensure correct spelling and grammar.
  • Transfer Answers Clearly: Write answers neatly on the answer sheet.
  • Don’t Dwell: Move on if stuck and return later.
  • Review: If time allows, review your answers.

 

 

 

 

Early Childhood Education Reading Passage


 

Paragraph A

Dr. Lockwood Smith's recent visit to the US and Britain came with a list of findings. Being New Zealand's National Party Education's spokesman, he reports the key findings of his visit and reveals the prospects in New Zealand's education policy.

 

Paragraph B

‘Education To Be More' is a report pertaining to the New Zealand Government Early Childhood Care and Education Working Group. It was published last August, discussing the enhancement of access and funding for childcare and early childhood education institutions. Though education is a necessity, parents don't send children to pre-schools until they attain three years of age. Are they missing out on the most crucial years of all? Let's see further.

 

Paragraph C

A 13-year research study of early childhood development at Harvard University reveals that most children after the age of three have the ability to understand nearly 1000 words - most of the vocabularies they will practise in normal conversation for the rest of their lives. In addition to that, research shows that as every kid born will be curious, however, it can be controlled significantly in their second and third years of life. Researchers say that human behaviour gets into shape during the first two years. Similarly, during the first three years children acquire the fundamental skills which will be used later at home and at school. Once children cross three years, they try to spread their existing knowledge of the world.

 

Paragraph D

A general fact is that children from poorer socio-economic backgrounds are likely to perform not well in studies. It's acknowledged not only in New Zealand but also in Britain, America and Australia. To tackle the educational issue, a nationwide program known as 'Headstart' was initiated in 1965 in the United States, with a pool of money. It made a path for children to join in pre-school institutions after turning into three, and facilitated the children from poorer families perform better in school. Besides so much investment, the result was not as expected. It is because of two things. First, the program started too late. Most of the children who enrolled in it were already behind their peers in language and reasonable intelligence. Second, there is no participation from the parents. After school hours, children go back to the same home where parents don't know how to improve their skills.

 

Paragraph E

Now it has become evident from the pilot program 'Headstart' launched in Missouri in the US that the first three years of a kid's life are important. This growing need shows that working with the parents rather than ignoring them from the process of child's education is the most effective way of improving children's learning abilities. The four-year pilot study involved around 380 families who have one child, and are from a cross-section of socio-economic background, etc. The other factors include age and family configurations. For this pilot study, they included single-parent and two-parent families. Moreover, it included families where both parents are working and families where one parent is at home.

 

Paragraph F

The program is associated with parent-educators who visit the parent's home engaging with tired parents or parents and the child. Know the child's development, necessary advice on things to care for, and what to expect as the child grows, etc. all such information is given. It also added the guidance in keeping the child's intelligence, language proficiency, social and motor-skill development. Regular diagnoses of the child's academics and sensory development (hearing and vision) were kept available to measure possible hurdles that help with development and growth. In case of medical issues, they met the medical practitioners. Parent-educators visited homes and conducted group meetings every month with new parents. They shared experiences and discussed topics of varied subjects. Apart from that, parent resource centres offered study materials for families and facilitators for the child core. It is located in each school building.

 

Paragraph G

The children at three years of age, who had been indulged in the pilot program 'Missouri' were analysed alongside a similar section of children chosen from the same range of cross-section, socio-economic aspects and family conditions, and also the same age of children as samples. Astonishingly, the results were excellent. The children with the same age group were more advanced in language proficiency than their counterparts. They showed greater potential in problem-solving techniques and other intellectual skills, besides social development. Here, the average performance of a child in this program was at the level of top 15 to 20 percent compared to their peers in things like verbal ability, language skills, and auditory comprehension.

 

Paragraph H

Above all, the classical method of measures of 'risk' like the parents' age and education, or whether they were a single parent, no interest or having no relationship to the assessments of success and language development. On the other hand, children performed equally well in the program despite their socio-economic backgrounds. In this program, no child was virtually abused. The one component that tended to affect the child's development was stress from the family side that led to poor quality of parent-child relationship and interaction. That interaction was not always bad in poorer families.

 

Paragraph I

Most of these findings are interesting. There is alarming evidence in New Zealand that children belonging to poorer socio-economic backgrounds are performing less at school and that our school system tends to maintain that disadvantage unknowingly. The initiative subsequently mentioned the fact that above could break that cycle of disadvantage. The idea of engaging with parents in their homes or at their workplace could improve the situation quite markedly with respect to the Early Childhood Care and Education Working Group's report. Their main objective is to enrol children and mothers to childcare and institutionalised childhood education at an early stage. Education from the age of three to five is unquestionably important to any child, but not focusing on parent education and the vital importance of the first three years might lead to evidence that reflects the inequality in education.

2.

Early Childhood Education Reading Questions & Answers

Discover exciting and informative IELTS reading answers about Early Childhood Education

Questions and Answers 1-5
  • The reading passage has nine paragraphs: A-I.
  • Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
  • Write the correct Roman numeral (i-vi) as your answer to each question.

 

 

List of Headings

 

i) Education to be more

ii) Breakthrough in the pilot study

iii) Pilot program ‘Headstart’

iv) Traditional method of risk assessment

v) Parent-Educators and their role

vi) Early Childhood Care and Education Working Group's report 


 

  • Paragraph B
  • Paragraph E 
  • Paragraph F
  • Paragraph G 
  • Paragraph H

 

 

Early Childhood Education Reading Answers with Explanations (1 - 5) 

 

Type of question: Matching Headings

 

Matching Heading questions require you to pair headings with the appropriate paragraphs or sections of a passage. This tests your ability to grasp the main idea of each paragraph.
 

How to best answer: 

 

  • Get a sense of the main topics.
  • Highlight keywords in each heading.
  • Focus on the first and last sentences for the main idea.
  • Ensure the heading summarises the entire paragraph.
  • Cross off headings that clearly do not match any paragraph.

 

 

1. Paragraph B = i

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph B, "‘Education To Be More' is a report pertaining to the New Zealand Government Early Childhood Care and Education Working Group."

 

Explanation: This line directly mentions the report "Education To Be More," making it clear that this heading matches the content of Paragraph B.


 

2. Paragraph E = ii

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph G, "The children with the same age group were more advanced in language proficiency than their counterparts. They showed greater potential in problem-solving techniques and other intellectual skills, besides social development."
 

Explanation: This paragraph discusses the significant advancements and breakthroughs observed in children participating in the pilot program, making it the correct heading for "Breakthrough in the pilot study."


 

3. Paragraph F = v

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph F, "Parent-educators visited homes and conducted group meetings every month with new parents. They shared experiences and discussed topics of varied subjects."
 

Explanation: This paragraph focuses on the role of parent-educators and their activities, matching the heading about parent-educators and their role.

 

 

4. Paragraph G = iii

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph E, "Now it has become evident from the pilot program 'Headstart' launched in Missouri in the US that the first three years of a kid's life are important."

 

Explanation: This line mentions the pilot program 'Headstart,' which is the focus of the paragraph, aligning it with the heading about the pilot program.


 

5. Paragraph H = iv

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph H, "The classical method of measures of 'risk' like the parents' age and education, or whether they were a single parent, no interest or having no relationship to the assessments of success and language development."

 

Explanation: This paragraph talks about traditional risk assessment methods, matching it with the heading about traditional methods of risk assessment.

Questions and Answers 6-10
  • Complete the notes below.
  • Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

 

 

There is alarming evidence in 6) _________ that children belonging to poorer socio-economic backgrounds are performing less.

 

Though education is a 7) __________, parents don't send children to preschool until they attain three years of age.

 

Parent resource centres offered study materials for families and facilitators for the 8) ________ .

 

The one component that tended to affect the child's development was stress from the family side that led to poor quality of parent-child 9) __________ and interaction.

 

Moreover, it included families where both parents are 10) __________ and families where one parent is at home.

 

 

Early Childhood Education Reading Answers with Explanation (6-10)

 

 

Type of question: Note completion questions 


 

Note completion questions task you with filling in the gaps in notes or summaries using information from the reading passage. 

 

How to Best Answer:

 

  • Know what details are required to fill in the blanks.
  • Quickly read through the passage to grasp its main ideas and locate relevant information.
  • Pay attention to keywords or phrases in the notes provided.
  • Look for synonyms or paraphrased versions of the keywords in the passage.
  • Confirm that the completed notes make sense and fit logically within the context of the passage.


 

6. New Zealand

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph I, "There is alarming evidence in New Zealand that children belonging to poorer socio-economic backgrounds are performing less."

 

Explanation: This line explicitly mentions New Zealand and the poor performance of children from socio-economic backgrounds, making it the correct answer.


 

7. Necessity

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph B, "Though education is a necessity, parents don't send children to pre-schools until they attain three years of age."

 

Explanation: This line states that education is considered a necessity, directly matching the answer.


 

8. Child core

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph F, "Parent resource centres offered study materials for families and facilitators for the child core."

 

Explanation: This line mentions the resources provided for the child core, which aligns with the answer.


 

9. Relationship

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph H, "The one component that tended to affect the child's development was stress from the family side that led to poor quality of parent-child relationship and interaction."

 

Explanation: This line describes the negative impact of stress on the parent-child relationship, fitting the answer perfectly.

 

10. Working

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph E, "Moreover, it included families where both parents are working and families where one parent is at home."

 

Explanation: This line discusses the family dynamics, including families where both parents are working, directly aligning with the answer.

Questions and Answers 11-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
Based on your understanding of the passage, mark the statement:

  • YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
  • NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
  • NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

 

 

11. The children with the same age group were more skilled in language proficiency than their counterparts.

 

12. The children for the pilot study were selected based on their socio-economic background only. 

 

13. The children’s performance in education is associated with the food they intake.

 

 

Early Childhood Education Reading Answers with Explanations (11-13)

 

Type of question: Yes/No/Not Given
 

Yes/No/Not Given questions require you to determine if a statement agrees with the information in the passage (Yes), contradicts the information in the passage (No), or if there is insufficient information to decide (Not Given). 
 

How to best answer:

 

  • Grasp the meaning of the statement provided in the question.
  • Highlight key terms and phrases in the statement to locate them in the passage.
  • Find the section that discusses the topic of the statement.
  • Ensure the passage’s information supports, contradicts or does not address the statement.
  • Determine if the statement agrees (Yes), contradicts (No), or is not addressed (Not Given).

 

 

11. Yes

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph G "The children with the same age group were more advanced in language proficiency than their counterparts. They showed greater potential in problem-solving techniques and other intellectual skills."

 

Explanation: This line indicates that children in the pilot program showed better language proficiency and intellectual skills, confirming the statement.


 

12. No

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph E "The four-year pilot study involved around 380 families who have one child, and are from a cross-section of socio-economic background, etc. The other factors include age and family configurations."

 

Explanation: This line clarifies that the study included families from various socio-economic backgrounds, not a specific socio-economic group, making the statement incorrect.


 

13. Not Given

 

Reference:

 

Entire passage

 

Explanation: The statement regarding a specific aspect of the program is not found or addressed in the passage, thus it is not given.

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FAQs

Q. Can I write in the question paper during my IELTS Reading test?

Ans. Yes, you can make notes or jot down in your question booklet. For a paper-based Reading test, you will receive the questions on paper. However, this is impossible for a computer-based test where the questions and passages appear on a screen. You can make notes on your rough sheet. Make sure you do not spend too much time making notes.

Q. Is there a fixed time limit for each section in the IELTS Reading test?

Ans. No, there isn’t any fixed time constraint to attempt each section in your IELTS Reading test. The total duration of the Reading test is one hour. You can divide this time between each section according to your preferences. Since you have three sections in total, it is better to cover each section within a maximum time of 20 minutes.

Q. Are the IELTS Reading passages too academic?

Ans. Yes, the reading passages in the IELTS Academic Reading test are related to academic topics. They are generally taken from academic texts such as textbooks, journals, and articles. You don't need to know the topics beforehand. The information necessary to answer the questions will be available in the passage itself. The IELTS General Reading test passages are related to everyday topics and are shorter and easier.