How Painters Learned to Show Depth: The Invention of Perspective: Reading Answers & Explanations
IELTS Reading practice test · 13 questionsAcademichard
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About this passage
The passage opens: “Looking at a painting made in medieval Europe, a modern viewer is often struck by a curious flatness. Figures seem to float against gold or plain backgrounds, buildings are shown from impossible angles, and there is little sense of a believable space receding into the distance.”
- Passage length: about 713 words
- Questions: 13
- Question types: Matching Headings, Sentence Completion, Multiple Choice
“How Painters Learned to Show Depth: The Invention of Perspective” is an original IELTS-style practice passage written by IELTS-Bank. It is not taken from an official IELTS or Cambridge test, so these answers only apply to our version.
Answer key at a glance
How Painters Learned to Show Depth: The Invention of Perspective answers with explanations
Questions 1–6: Matching Headings
The passage has six paragraphs, A-F. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
- i. A method written down so others could learn it
- ii. Pictures without convincing depth
- iii. The first striking demonstration
- iv. Lines that appear to meet at one point
- v. Applying the new technique to a wall
- vi. One way of seeing among many
- vii. The rediscovery of ancient pigments
- viii. Training the hand rather than the eye
- ix. The rising cost of paint and panels
- 1
Paragraph A
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Answer: ii — Pictures without convincing depth
Why: Paragraph A describes how medieval paintings lacked a sense of believable space and depth, focusing instead on symbolic meaning rather than realistic representation, aligning with the heading "Pictures without convincing depth.
Where to find it · Paragraph A “Figures seem to float against gold or plain backgrounds, buildings are shown from impossible angles, and there is little sense of a believable space receding into the distance.”
- 2
Paragraph B
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Answer: iii — The first striking demonstration
Why: Paragraph B is about Brunelleschi's first convincing demonstration of linear perspective, where he painted a Florentine building and used an optical experiment to show the accurate depiction of depth on a flat surface.
Where to find it · Paragraph B “According to the traditional account, Brunelleschi painted a small panel showing a well-known Florentine building and devised an ingenious optical experiment, using a mirror, by which a viewer could compare his painted image directly with the real building behind it.”
- 3
Paragraph C
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Answer: iv — Lines that appear to meet at one point
Why: Paragraph C explains the concept of linear perspective, where parallel lines appear to converge at a vanishing point, aligning with the heading "Lines that appear to meet at one point.
Where to find it · Paragraph C “In linear perspective, lines that are in reality parallel, such as the two edges of a straight road or the sides of a building, appear to draw closer together as they recede, until they seem to meet at a single point on the horizon.”
- 4
Paragraph D
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Answer: i — A method written down so others could learn it
Why: Paragraph D is about how Leon Battista Alberti wrote a treatise that explained perspective principles in teachable steps, transforming it into a body of knowledge accessible to any educated artist.
Where to find it · Paragraph D “The most important of these was the scholar and architect Leon Battista Alberti, who set out the principles of perspective in a written treatise on painting.”
- 5
Paragraph E
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Answer: v — Applying the new technique to a wall
Why: The correct answer is v because paragraph E describes how the painter Masaccio applied the new technique of perspective to create an illusion of depth on a church wall.
Where to find it · Paragraph E “The painter Masaccio, working in Florence at the same period, applied the new geometry to a religious fresco on a church wall, creating so convincing an illusion of depth that visitors felt they were looking into a chapel that did not really exist, its architecture apparently extending back into the solid wall.”
- 6
Paragraph F
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Answer: vi — One way of seeing among many
Why: Paragraph F discusses how medieval artists used a different approach to space and size in paintings, focusing on meaning rather than realistic optics, illustrating one way of seeing among many.
Where to find it · Paragraph A “Space, in this tradition, was arranged according to meaning rather than optics, and a painter's task was to make the sacred order of the world visible, not to trick the eye into seeing a room or a landscape that was not really there.”
Questions 7–12: Sentence Completion
Complete the sentences below using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
- 7
In medieval painting, the size of a figure often showed its ______ rather than its distance.(max 2 words)
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Answer: importance
Why: The answer comes from the first paragraph, which explains that in medieval painting, the size of a figure indicated its significance or importance, not its proximity or distance.
Where to find it · Paragraph A “The size of a figure in such a painting frequently indicated not how near it stood but how important it was: a saint or a king might tower over lesser mortals, regardless of where each was supposed to be standing.”
- 8
The first convincing demonstration of linear perspective is credited to ______.(max 2 words)
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Answer: Brunelleschi (also accepted: Filippo Brunelleschi)
Why: The answer is found in Passage B, which states that Brunelleschi is recognized for the initial successful demonstration of what is now known as linear perspective.
Where to find it · Paragraph B “Its central figure was an architect and goldsmith named Filippo Brunelleschi, who is credited with the first convincing demonstration of what we now call linear perspective.”
- 9
Brunelleschi's experiment made use of a ______ to compare the painting with the real building.(max 2 words)
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Answer: mirror
Why: In paragraph B, the passage explains that Brunelleschi used a mirror in his optical experiment to allow viewers to directly compare his painted image with the actual building.
Where to find it · Paragraph B “According to the traditional account, Brunelleschi painted a small panel showing a well-known Florentine building and devised an ingenious optical experiment, using a mirror, by which a viewer could compare his painted image directly with the real building behind it.”
- 10
In perspective, parallel lines appear to converge on a single ______.(max 2 words)
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Answer: vanishing point (also accepted: point)
Why: The answer is found in Passage C, which explains that in linear perspective, parallel lines seem to come together at a single point on the horizon, known as the vanishing point.
Where to find it · Paragraph C “In linear perspective, lines that are in reality parallel, such as the two edges of a straight road or the sides of a building, appear to draw closer together as they recede, until they seem to meet at a single point on the horizon.”
- 11
The rules of perspective were set out in a ______ written by Alberti.(max 2 words)
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Answer: treatise
Why: The answer is found in section D, where it mentions that Leon Battista Alberti wrote a treatise on painting, outlining the principles of perspective in a structured manner.
Where to find it · Paragraph D “The most important of these was the scholar and architect Leon Battista Alberti, who set out the principles of perspective in a written treatise on painting.”
- 12
The painter ______ applied the new geometry to a religious fresco on a church wall.(max 2 words)
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Answer: Masaccio
Why: The answer is found in section E, where it states that Masaccio used the new geometric principles in a religious fresco on a church wall.
Where to find it · Paragraph E “The painter Masaccio, working in Florence at the same period, applied the new geometry to a religious fresco on a church wall, creating so convincing an illusion of depth that visitors felt they were looking into a chapel that did not really exist, its architecture apparently extending back into the solid wall.”
Question 13: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
- A. It is the only correct way to represent space, and other methods are mistakes.
- B. It is one set of conventions among several ways of depicting space.
- C. It was quickly abandoned by later European painters.
- D. It was invented independently in many different cultures.
- 13
What is the main point the writer makes about perspective in the final paragraph?
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Answer: B — It is one set of conventions among several ways of depicting space.
Why: The passage explains that perspective is a powerful technique for creating the illusion of depth, but it is just one method among various ways artists have depicted space throughout history.
Where to find it · Paragraph F “It is one method among several, a set of conventions developed in a particular place and time to achieve a particular effect.”
Estimated band score for this test
Your raw score out of 13 scaled to the 40-question IELTS Reading (Academic) conversion table. This is the same estimate the practice page shows after you submit. A single passage is a small sample, so treat it as a guide.
| Correct answers | Estimated band |
|---|---|
| 13 / 13 | 9.0 |
| 12 / 13 | 8.5 |
| 11 / 13 | 7.5 |
| 10 / 13 | 7.0 |
| 9 / 13 | 6.5 |
| 8 / 13 | 6.0 |
| 7 / 13 | 5.5 |
| 5–6 / 13 | 5.0 |
| 4 / 13 | 4.0 |
| 3 / 13 | 3.5 |
| 2 / 13 | 3.0 |
| 1 / 13 | 2.0 |
| 0 / 13 | 0.0 |
Full-test score? Use the IELTS band calculator.
Tips for the question types in this test
Matching Headings
- Read the list of headings first so you know the options, and notice how they differ from one another — often two headings are deliberately similar.
- Read the first paragraph and ask yourself: "In one sentence, what is this paragraph mainly saying?" before you look back at the headings.
Common trap: Picking a heading because it repeats a word from the paragraph, when that word only appears in a minor detail.
Full Matching Headings strategySentence Completion
- Circle the word limit before reading anything else.
- Predict the missing word class: noun, verb, adjective, number or short phrase.
Common trap: Exceeding the word limit.
Full Sentence Completion strategyMultiple Choice
- Read the question stem carefully before the options so you know exactly what is being asked.
- Because multiple-choice questions follow passage order, locate the relevant section and read it in full — the answer usually depends on more than one sentence.
Common trap: Distractors that use exact words from the passage but distort the meaning.
Full Multiple Choice strategyPractise “How Painters Learned to Show Depth: The Invention of Perspective” under exam conditions
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