The Rosetta Stone and the Decipherment of Hieroglyphs: Reading Answers & Explanations
IELTS Reading practice test · 14 questionsAcademicmedium
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About this passage
The passage opens: “For centuries the writing of ancient Egypt was a closed book. The elegant picture-signs known as hieroglyphs covered the walls of temples and tombs, but no one living could read them, and scholars could only guess at their meaning.”
- Passage length: about 741 words
- Questions: 14
- Question types: True / False / Not Given, Multiple Choice, Short Answer
“The Rosetta Stone and the Decipherment of Hieroglyphs” 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 Rosetta Stone and the Decipherment of Hieroglyphs 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
Before the stone was studied, many scholars wrongly believed that each hieroglyph stood for a complete idea rather than a sound.
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Answer: TRUE
Why: This sentence confirms the statement, so the answer is TRUE.
Evidence · Paragraph 1 “Many assumed that each sign stood for a whole idea rather than a sound, an assumption that made translation impossible.”
- 2
The soldiers who found the stone were building a new temple at the time.
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Answer: FALSE
Why: This sentence directly contradicts the statement, so the answer is FALSE.
Evidence · Paragraph 2 “The men were strengthening the defences of a fort when they came across the slab built into an old wall.”
- 3
Scholars of the period were able to read the ancient Greek section of the inscription.
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Answer: TRUE
Why: This sentence confirms the statement, so the answer is TRUE.
Evidence · Paragraph 3 “Because scholars of the period could still read ancient Greek, they could understand what the whole inscription said.”
- 4
Thomas Young believed that most hieroglyphs represented sounds rather than ideas.
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Answer: FALSE
Why: This sentence directly contradicts the statement, so the answer is FALSE.
Evidence · Paragraph 4 “Yet Young continued to believe that most hieroglyphs were symbolic rather than phonetic, and this assumption held back his progress.”
- 5
Champollion could speak several modern European languages fluently.
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Answer: NOT GIVEN
Why: The statement claims Champollion could speak several modern European languages fluently, but the passage never confirms or denies this, only mentioning his knowledge of Coptic and his work on ancient Egyptian scripts.
Closest related text · Paragraph 5 “Champollion was helped by his knowledge of Coptic, a later form of the Egyptian language still used in church services, which preserved clues to how ancient Egyptian words had been pronounced.”
- 6
The stone was moved to London after British forces defeated the French in Egypt.
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Answer: TRUE
Why: This sentence confirms the statement, so the answer is TRUE.
Evidence · Paragraph 7 “After British forces defeated the French in Egypt, the object was handed over under the terms of a treaty and transported to London.”
Question 7: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
- A. It was the largest inscription ever discovered in Egypt.
- B. It presented the same text in three different scripts.
- C. It was the only surviving example of Demotic writing.
- D. It had been written by the king Ptolemy V himself.
- 7
Why was the Rosetta Stone especially useful to scholars?
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Answer: B — It presented the same text in three different scripts.
Why: This is the part of the passage that supports B — It presented the same text in three different scripts..
Evidence · Paragraph 3 “What made the Rosetta Stone so valuable was that it presented the same text three times, in three different scripts.”
Question 8: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
- A. a decree issued by priests in honour of Ptolemy V
- B. a list of the kings of ancient Egypt
- C. instructions for building a temple
- D. an account of a military victory
- 8
What did the text of the inscription actually record?
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Answer: A — a decree issued by priests in honour of Ptolemy V
Why: This is the part of the passage that supports A — a decree issued by priests in honour of Ptolemy V.
Evidence · Paragraph 3 “The text turned out to be a decree issued by priests in 196 BC in honour of the young king Ptolemy V, recording the privileges granted to him and to the temples.”
Question 9: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
- A. that it was entirely made up of pictures standing for ideas
- B. that it had been copied from the Greek alphabet
- C. that it combined signs for sounds with signs indicating categories
- D. that it could only be used to write royal names
- 9
What was Champollion's crucial insight about the hieroglyphic script?
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Answer: C — that it combined signs for sounds with signs indicating categories
Why: This is the part of the passage that supports C — that it combined signs for sounds with signs indicating categories.
Evidence · Paragraph 5 “Champollion's crucial insight was that the hieroglyphic script was not purely a system of pictures standing for ideas, nor purely a set of signs standing for sounds, but a combination of the two.”
Question 10: Multiple Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
- A. because the decree it records is unusually detailed
- B. because it made the recovery of an entire written civilisation possible
- C. because it is the oldest object in the museum
- D. because it was the first stone slab ever discovered in Egypt
- 10
According to the passage, why is the Rosetta Stone important?
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Answer: B — because it made the recovery of an entire written civilisation possible
Why: This is the part of the passage that supports B — because it made the recovery of an entire written civilisation possible.
Evidence · Paragraph 8 “By providing the same text in a known language alongside two unknown scripts, it gave scholars the foothold they needed to recover an entire written civilisation.”
Questions 11–14: Short Answer
Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
- 11
Near which town in the Nile delta was the stone discovered?(max 2 words)
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Answer: Rosetta
Why: The answer “Rosetta” is taken from this sentence — copy the word(s) exactly as they appear. It fits the 2-word limit.
Evidence · Paragraph 2 “The stone was found in 1799 by soldiers of a French expedition in Egypt, near the town that Europeans called Rosetta, in the delta of the Nile.”
- 12
What is the name of the cursive Egyptian script used for everyday documents?(max 2 words)
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Answer: Demotic
Why: The answer “Demotic” is taken from this sentence — copy the word(s) exactly as they appear. It fits the 2-word limit.
Evidence · Paragraph 3 “…in the middle was a cursive Egyptian script known as Demotic, used for everyday documents.”
- 13
What are the oval rings that enclose royal names called?(max 2 words)
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Answer: cartouches (also accepted: cartouche)
Why: The answer “cartouches” is taken from this sentence — copy the word(s) exactly as they appear. It fits the 2-word limit.
Evidence · Paragraph 4 “Young correctly recognised that the oval rings, or cartouches, that appear in royal inscriptions enclosed the names of rulers.”
- 14
Knowledge of which later form of the Egyptian language helped Champollion?(max 2 words)
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Answer: Coptic
Why: The answer “Coptic” is taken from this sentence — copy the word(s) exactly as they appear. It fits the 2-word limit.
Evidence · Paragraph 5 “Champollion was helped by his knowledge of Coptic, a later form of the Egyptian language still used in church services.”
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 Rosetta Stone and the Decipherment of Hieroglyphs” under exam conditions
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