The Engineering of the Gothic Cathedral: Reading Answers & Explanations
IELTS Reading practice test · 14 questionsAcademicmedium
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About this passage
The passage opens: “The great cathedrals built in Europe during the later Middle Ages remain among the most ambitious structures ever raised by human hands. Soaring far above the towns that surrounded them, with walls of coloured glass and ceilings that seem to float overhead, these buildings represented a dramatic break from the heavier…”
- Passage length: about 718 words
- Questions: 14
- Question types: True / False / Not Given, Multiple Choice, Short Answer
“The Engineering of the Gothic Cathedral” 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
The Engineering of the Gothic Cathedral answers with explanations
Questions 1–6: True / False / Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.
- 1
Romanesque buildings had thick walls and small windows.
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Answer: TRUE
Why: This sentence confirms the statement, so the answer is TRUE.
Evidence · Paragraph 2 “…generally known as Romanesque, relied on thick, solid walls and rounded arches... the windows cut into them were necessarily small, so that the interiors tended to be dim and cavernous.”
- 2
A pointed arch exerts more outward pressure on its supports than a rounded arch.
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Answer: FALSE
Why: This sentence directly contradicts the statement, so the answer is FALSE.
Evidence · Paragraph 3 “A pointed arch directs the weight it carries more steeply downwards than a rounded one, allowing it to span wider spaces and to be built taller while exerting less outward pressure on its supports.”
- 3
The ribbed vault spread the weight of the ceiling evenly along the whole length of the walls.
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Answer: FALSE
Why: This sentence directly contradicts the statement, so the answer is FALSE.
Evidence · Paragraph 4 “…the ribbed vault concentrated the load onto a skeleton of ribs, which channelled it down to specific points... the roof no longer needed to be supported by a solid wall along its whole length.”
- 4
The flying buttress transferred the outward thrust to supports standing away from the building.
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Answer: TRUE
Why: This sentence confirms the statement, so the answer is TRUE.
Evidence · Paragraph 5 “The flying buttress solved this by transferring the outward thrust to sturdy supports standing away from the building, connected to it by arched bridges of stone.”
- 5
The stained glass was more expensive than the stone used in the walls.
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Answer: NOT GIVEN
Why: The statement claims that stained glass was more expensive than stone, but the passage does not confirm or deny this, only describing the visual and narrative roles of stained glass in Gothic cathedrals.
- 6
Some cathedrals took more than a hundred years to build.
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Answer: TRUE
Why: This sentence confirms the statement, so the answer is TRUE.
Evidence · Paragraph 7 “Construction could continue for many decades, and in some cases well over a century, so that those who laid the foundations never saw the finished building.”
Question 7: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
- A. how to build faster and more cheaply
- B. how to build higher and let in more light without collapse
- C. how to decorate walls with paintings
- D. how to keep buildings warm in winter
- 7
What central problem did Gothic engineering aim to solve?
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Answer: B — how to build higher and let in more light without collapse
Why: This is the part of the passage that supports B — how to build higher and let in more light without collapse.
Evidence · Paragraph 1 “…how to build higher, and to let in more light, without the whole structure collapsing.”
Question 8: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
- A. they had to be made even thicker
- B. they could be opened up with enormous windows
- C. they were removed entirely
- D. they were painted with religious scenes
- 8
What happened to the walls once the flying buttress took the outward thrust?
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Answer: B — they could be opened up with enormous windows
Why: This is the part of the passage that supports B — they could be opened up with enormous windows.
Evidence · Paragraph 5 “Freed from the need to be thick and solid, the walls could now be opened up with enormous windows.”
Question 9: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
- A. it kept out the cold
- B. it supported the weight of the roof
- C. it told stories and conveyed religious teaching to an illiterate population
- D. it reflected sunlight away from the interior
- 9
Besides its beauty, what practical purpose did the stained glass serve?
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Answer: C — it told stories and conveyed religious teaching to an illiterate population
Why: This is the part of the passage that supports C — it told stories and conveyed religious teaching to an illiterate population.
Evidence · Paragraph 6 “For a largely illiterate population, the scenes depicted in the glass also served to tell stories and to convey religious teaching in visual form.”
Question 10: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
- A. the windows became too small
- B. towers or vaults collapsed and had to be rebuilt
- C. the master builders abandoned the projects
- D. the cathedrals were left without roofs
- 10
What sometimes happened when builders reached for ever greater height?
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Answer: B — towers or vaults collapsed and had to be rebuilt
Why: This is the part of the passage that supports B — towers or vaults collapsed and had to be rebuilt.
Evidence · Paragraph 8 “…there were occasions when towers or vaults collapsed and had to be rebuilt. These failures taught hard lessons that were absorbed into later designs.”
Questions 11–14: Short Answer
Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
- 11
What name is given to the architectural style that came before the Gothic?(max 2 words)
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Answer: Romanesque
Why: The answer “Romanesque” is taken from this sentence — copy the word(s) exactly as they appear. It fits the 2-word limit.
Evidence · Paragraph 2 “The architecture that preceded the Gothic style, generally known as Romanesque, relied on thick, solid walls and rounded arches.”
- 12
What type of arch replaced the rounded arch in Gothic buildings?(max 3 words)
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Answer: the pointed arch (also accepted: pointed arch / pointed)
Why: The answer “the pointed arch” is taken from this sentence — copy the word(s) exactly as they appear. It fits the 3-word limit.
Evidence · Paragraph 3 “The first was the pointed arch, which replaced the rounded arch of the earlier style.”
- 13
What framework of stone carried the weight of the Gothic ceiling?(max 3 words)
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Answer: the ribbed vault (also accepted: ribbed vault / ribs)
Why: The answer “the ribbed vault” is taken from this sentence — copy the word(s) exactly as they appear. It fits the 3-word limit.
Evidence · Paragraph 4 “The second innovation was the ribbed vault, a framework of stone ribs that carried the weight of the ceiling.”
- 14
What material was used to hold the pieces of stained glass together?(max 2 words)
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Answer: lead
Why: The answer “lead” is taken from this sentence — copy the word(s) exactly as they appear. It fits the 2-word limit.
Evidence · Paragraph 6 “…small pieces of coloured glass held together by strips of lead and arranged to form pictures and patterns.”
Estimated band score for this test
Your raw score out of 14 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 |
|---|---|
| 14 / 14 | 9.0 |
| 13 / 14 | 8.5 |
| 12 / 14 | 7.5 |
| 11 / 14 | 7.0 |
| 10 / 14 | 6.5 |
| 8–9 / 14 | 6.0 |
| 7 / 14 | 5.5 |
| 6 / 14 | 5.0 |
| 5 / 14 | 4.5 |
| 4 / 14 | 4.0 |
| 3 / 14 | 3.5 |
| 2 / 14 | 3.0 |
| 1 / 14 | 2.0 |
| 0 / 14 | 0.0 |
Full-test score? Use the IELTS band calculator.
Tips for the question types in this test
True / False / Not Given
- Read the statement first and underline the key idea, especially any qualifiers like "all", "only", "never", "always", "more than" or dates and numbers.
- Because the questions follow the order of the passage, scan for the paragraph that deals with the same topic rather than re-reading everything.
Common trap: Confusing "False" with "Not Given": choose False only when the passage actively contradicts the statement; if the passage is silent, it is Not Given.
Full True / False / Not Given 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 strategyShort Answer
- Read the instructions and note the exact word limit; going over it means zero marks even if the meaning is right.
- Turn each question into a set of keywords and predict what kind of answer it needs (a person, a date, a place, a noun).
Common trap: Exceeding the word limit (writing four words when only three are allowed).
Full Short Answer strategyPractise “The Engineering of the Gothic Cathedral” under exam conditions
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