William Henry Perkin Reading Answers: IELTS Reading Practice Test

This passage traces the life of William Henry Perkin, a British chemist who discovered the first synthetic dye, mauveine, commonly called mauve, while attempting to synthesise quinine in his home laboratory in 1856. It covers his early education, the accidental discovery, his decision to commercialize the dye, and his lasting influence on the chemical industry. 

The passage is sourced from Cambridge IELTS 9, Academic Test 4, Passage 1.

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–13, which are based on the passage below.

The passage contains two question types: 

• True/False/Not Given (Questions 1–7)  
• Summary Completion (Questions 8–13)

Paragraph A

William Henry Perkin was born on 12 March 1838 in the East End of London. As a boy, Perkin's curiosity was aroused by chemistry. He showed great ability in the subject, and in 1853, at the age of 15, he enrolled at the Royal College of Chemistry in London, which was then under the direction of the German chemist August Wilhelm Hofmann.

Paragraph B

Hofmann had strong opinions about the way chemistry should be applied. He believed strongly in the link between academic study and its commercial applications. He would become an important influence on the young Perkin. One of Hofmann's aims was to produce quinine, a drug used to treat malaria from coal tar, a black, oily by-product of the gas lighting industry. This was considered a challenge at the time, since quinine was only available from the bark of the cinchona tree, found in South America.

Paragraph C

Perkin set out to produce quinine from aniline, a compound derived from coal tar using a series of chemical reactions. In March 1856, while Hofmann was absent in Germany and Perkin was working at home during the Easter vacation, he reacted aniline with potassium dichromate. The result was an unexpected dark reddish-brown sludge. Perkin tried the experiment again using a simpler chemical, and this time obtained a purple solution. When applied to silk, this solution produced a brilliant color that did not wash out or fade in light. Perkin had accidentally discovered the first synthetic dye, which he called mauveine, or mauve.

Paragraph D

Perkin immediately grasped the commercial potential of his discovery. He contacted a firm of dye merchants, who confirmed that the colour was commercially viable if it could be produced in sufficient quantities at a reasonable price. At the age of 18, Perkin decided to set up a factory to produce his dye. His father and brother agreed to help him, and they built dye works in Greenford Green, west of London. The factory was in production by 1857.

Paragraph E

Although the color mauve had already been introduced to fashion by the French Empress Eugénie of France, Queen Victoria of Britain were known as admirers and it was Perkin's synthetic dye that brought it to a mass market. The dye was applied to silk and wool, and it also worked on cotton when a special preparatory process was used. Perkin promoted the dye vigorously, and by 1858 mauve had become fashionable across Europe, giving rise to what some contemporaries called "the mauve decade."

Paragraph F

Perkin's success attracted competition from German chemists, who were quick to see the potential of synthetic dyes. By the 1870s, the German chemical industry was producing a wide range of synthetic dyes and had overtaken the British industry. Despite this competition, Perkin's factory continued to operate profitably. In 1874, at the age of 36, Perkin sold his dye works and retired from the industry. He returned to pure scientific research and made further important contributions to chemistry, including the synthesis of coumarin, the first synthetic perfume compound, and work on the Perkin reaction in organic chemistry. In 1906, the 50th anniversary of the discovery of mauve, Perkin was awarded the first Hofmann Medal. He died on 14 July 1907.

Paragraph G

Perkin's accidental discovery launched an entire industry. Synthetic dyes replaced natural dyes derived from plants and insects, transforming the textile industry worldwide. His work also demonstrated that organic chemistry could produce commercially valuable substances from waste materials, a principle that shaped the modern chemical industry. The pharmaceutical and perfume industries also owe a great debt to the chain of research that Perkin's discovery set in motion.

Questions 1–7: True/False/Not Given

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage?

 Write:

• TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
• FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
• NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1. Perkin first became interested in chemistry at the Royal College of Chemistry.

2. Hofmann was not in favour of applying chemical research to commercial use.

3. Perkin discovered the first synthetic dye while working on a different research problem.

4. Perkin's original aim had been to find a cheaper way to produce mauve for the textile industry.

5. Perkin had to find a new method to apply mauve to cotton fabric.

6. German chemists became significant competitors in the synthetic dye market.

7. Perkin's synthesis of coumarin was more important to him than his work on mauve.

Questions 8–13: Summary Completion

Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

8. William Henry Perkin became interested in ____ at a young age. 

9. His research supervisor, Hofmann, wanted to synthesise quinine from ____. Perkin's experiment produced an unexpected result, a purple solution that, when applied to silk, created a brilliant colour. He named his discovery mauve. 

11. Recognizing its commercial value, Perkin set up ____ near London. 

12. By 1874, Perkin had ____ from his business and returned to pure research. 

13. His discovery is now seen as the starting point of the modern ____ industry.

(Note: Q10 asks for the colour of the solution Perkin discovered. The answer is: PURPLE / MAUVE.)