The Invention of the Supermarket: Reading Answers & Explanations
IELTS Reading practice test · 14 questionsAcademicmedium
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About this passage
The passage opens: “Not so long ago, buying groceries meant standing at a counter and asking for what you wanted. Behind the counter a shopkeeper or assistant would fetch each item in turn from shelves the customer could not reach, weigh out loose goods, add up the bill by hand and often write it down on credit to be settled later.”
- Passage length: about 745 words
- Questions: 14
- Question types: Matching Information, Summary Completion, Multiple Choice — Multiple Answers, True / False / Not Given
“The Invention of the Supermarket” 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 Invention of the Supermarket answers with explanations
Questions 1–5: Matching Information
The passage has five paragraphs, A-E. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-E.
- A. Paragraph A
- B. Paragraph B
- C. Paragraph C
- D. Paragraph D
- E. Paragraph E
- 1
a description of shopping before self-service existed
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Answer: Paragraph A
Why: Paragraph A describes shopping before self-service by detailing how customers interacted with shopkeepers who fetched items, weighed goods, and added bills by hand, emphasizing a slow, personal, and social shopping experience.
Where to find it · Paragraph A “Behind the counter a shopkeeper or assistant would fetch each item in turn from shelves the customer could not reach, weigh out loose goods, add up the bill by hand and often write it down on credit to be settled later.”
- 2
the name of the first self-service store and the man who opened it
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Answer: Paragraph B
Why: Paragraph B is correct because it states that Clarence Saunders opened the first self-service store called Piggly Wiggly in Memphis, introducing the novel concept of customers selecting items themselves.
Where to find it · Paragraph B “The break with this ancient pattern came in 1916, in the American city of Memphis, when a grocer named Clarence Saunders opened a store he called Piggly Wiggly.”
- 3
the reason self-service made lower prices possible
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Answer: Paragraph C
Why: Self-service reduced the need for assistants, allowing stores to save on labor costs and offer lower prices, which attracted more customers, as explained in Paragraph C.
Where to find it · Paragraph C “A store in which customers served themselves needed far fewer assistants, and the savings could be passed on as lower prices, which in turn drew still more customers.”
- 4
how the placement of goods encourages extra buying
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Answer: Paragraph D
Why: Paragraph D explains that the strategic placement of goods, such as placing staples at the back and profitable items at eye level, encourages extra buying by making customers pass by more products.
Where to find it · Paragraph D “Everyday staples such as milk and bread were placed at the back, so that customers had to walk the length of the shop, past hundreds of other products, in order to reach them.”
- 5
the growing importance of packaging and brand names
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Answer: Paragraph E
Why: Paragraph E explains the growing importance of packaging and brand names by stating that items had to sell themselves directly from the shelf, leading manufacturers to focus on striking packaging and strong brand names.
Where to find it · Paragraph E “With no assistant to describe or recommend a product, each item now had to sell itself directly from the shelf, and so the look of the packaging and the strength of the brand name became enormously important.”
Questions 6–10: Summary Completion
Complete the summary below.
Complete the summary using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Before self-service, a customer asked an assistant to fetch each item from behind a (6) ______ . This changed in 1916, when Clarence Saunders opened a store called (7) ______ in Memphis, where customers collected goods themselves and paid at a (8) ______ . The system needed fewer staff, so prices could fall, and shoppers who wandered the aisles bought more on (9) ______ . Stores were carefully arranged, with everyday staples placed at the (10) ______ so that customers walked past many other goods.
- 6
Before self-service, a customer asked an assistant to fetch each item from behind a ______ .(max 2 words)
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Answer: counter
Why: The answer "counter" comes from the first sentence of paragraph A, which describes how customers used to stand at a counter and request items from a shopkeeper or assistant.
Where to find it · Paragraph A “Behind the counter a shopkeeper or assistant would fetch each item in turn from shelves the customer could not reach, weigh out loose goods, add up the bill by hand and often write it down on credit to be settled later.”
- 7
This changed in 1916, when Clarence Saunders opened a store called ______ in Memphis, where customers collected goods themselves and paid at a ______ .(max 2 words)
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Answer: Piggly Wiggly
Why: The answer "Piggly Wiggly" is found in section B, where it describes how Clarence Saunders introduced the self-service concept by opening a store named Piggly Wiggly in Memphis, allowing customers to select items themselves.
Where to find it · Paragraph B “The break with this ancient pattern came in 1916, in the American city of Memphis, when a grocer named Clarence Saunders opened a store he called Piggly Wiggly.”
- 8
This changed in 1916, when Clarence Saunders opened a store called ______ in Memphis, where customers collected goods themselves and paid at a ______ .(max 2 words)
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Answer: checkout
Why: The answer "checkout" is found in section B, where it describes how customers at Piggly Wiggly collected items themselves and paid at a point near the door, which is referred to as the checkout.
Where to find it · Paragraph B “The break with this ancient pattern came in 1916, in the American city of Memphis, when a grocer named Clarence Saunders opened a store he called Piggly Wiggly.”
- 9
The system needed fewer staff, so prices could fall, and shoppers who wandered the aisles bought more on ______ .(max 2 words)
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Answer: impulse
Why: The answer "impulse" is found in section C, where it explains that self-service stores encouraged customers to make unplanned purchases, which increased sales by promoting buying on impulse.
Where to find it · Paragraph C “Self-service, in other words, quietly encouraged buying on impulse.”
- 10
Stores were carefully arranged, with everyday staples placed at the ______ so that customers walked past many other goods.(max 2 words)
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Answer: back (also accepted: the back)
Why: The answer "back" is found in paragraph A, where it describes how shopkeepers fetched items from shelves that customers could not reach, indicating these shelves were located behind the counter.
Where to find it · Paragraph D “Everyday staples such as milk and bread were placed at the back, so that customers had to walk the length of the shop, past hundreds of other products, in order to reach them.”
Question 11: Multiple Choice — Multiple Answers
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
- A. Fewer shop assistants were needed.
- B. Customers tended to buy more on impulse.
- C. Goods could more easily be sold on credit.
- D. Shopping took much longer than before.
- E. Every customer received personal advice.
- 11
Which TWO advantages of self-service does the passage mention? Choose TWO letters.
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Answer: A — Fewer shop assistants were needed.; B — Customers tended to buy more on impulse.
Why: The passage mentions that self-service required fewer assistants, reducing costs, and allowed customers to wander freely, leading to more impulse buying, which increased sales.
Where to find it · Paragraph C “Self-service, in other words, quietly encouraged buying on impulse.”
Questions 12–14: True / False / Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.
- 12
Clarence Saunders obtained a patent for the self-service system.
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Answer: TRUE
Why: The passage states that Clarence Saunders was proud of inventing self-service and took out a patent on it, confirming he obtained a patent for the self-service system.
Where to find it · Paragraph B “Saunders had invented self-service, and he was proud enough of the idea to take out a patent on it.”
- 13
The first self-service store was opened in New York.
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Answer: FALSE
Why: The passage states that the first self-service store was opened in Memphis, not New York, by a grocer named Clarence Saunders.
Where to find it · Paragraph B “The break with this ancient pattern came in 1916, in the American city of Memphis, when a grocer named Clarence Saunders opened a store he called Piggly Wiggly.”
- 14
Modern supermarkets deliberately avoid putting clocks on their walls.
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Answer: NOT GIVEN
Why: The statement claims that modern supermarkets avoid putting clocks on their walls, but the passage never confirms or denies this, focusing instead on how store layouts and features encourage shopping.
Closest related text · Paragraph D “Little about the layout of a modern supermarket is accidental; almost all of it is designed to keep shoppers moving, and buying.”
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
Matching Information
- Read each statement and identify exactly what kind of information you are looking for — a reason, a result, an example, a definition, a contrast.
- Note that the statements do NOT follow paragraph order, so treat each one as an independent search.
Common trap: Assuming the questions run in order — they do not, which makes linear reading inefficient.
Full Matching Information strategySummary Completion
- Read the full summary first and identify which passage section it covers.
- Predict the grammar and meaning required in every blank.
Common trap: Choosing an option only because it repeats a passage word.
Full Summary Completion strategyMultiple Choice — Multiple Answers
- Underline exactly how many answers are required.
- Locate the relevant passage section and read its full scope.
Common trap: Choosing too many or too few answers.
Full Multiple Choice — Multiple Answers strategyTrue / 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 strategyPractise “The Invention of the Supermarket” under exam conditions
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