# IELTS Reading short-answer questions: words from the text, in order

Reading short-answer questions ask about factual details, answered with words from the text inside a word limit. The answers follow the text. Three worked items and the mistakes that cost marks.

## Exercises

Exercises marked (free) are open to everyone; a free account opens the rest.

- [Whale Strandings, questions 14-17](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/whale-strandings) (free)
- [Roman tunnels, questions 11-13](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/roman-tunnels)
- [William Henry Perkin, questions 8-13](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/william-henry-perkin)
- [IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?, questions 18-20](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/is-there-anybody-out-there)
- [Classroom Noise and Auditory Function Deficits in Children, questions 7-10](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/classroom-noise-and-auditory-function-deficits-in-children)
- [AUSTRALIA'S SPORTING SUCCESS, questions 12-13](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/australias-sporting-success)
- [What Do Whales Feel?, questions 22-26](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/what-do-whales-feel)
- [Volcanoes - Earth-Shattering News, questions 18-21](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/volcanoes-earth-shattering-news)
- [Changing our Understanding of Health, questions 19-22](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/changing-our-understanding-of-health)
- [Why some women cross the finish line ahead of men, questions 24-27](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/why-some-women-cross-the-finish-line-ahead-of-men)
- [The Dover Bronze-Age Boat, questions 10-13](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/the-dover-bronze-age-boat)
- [The Flavor of Pleasure, questions 10-13](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/the-flavor-of-pleasure)
- [Building a Simple Water Clock, questions 38-40](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/building-a-simple-water-clock)

## The short answer

Reading short-answer questions ask about factual details in the text, and you answer each one in words or numbers taken from the text. A word limit is printed, such as NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER, and going over it loses the mark. The answers come in the same order as the information in the text. Each answer is one mark out of 40, in both Academic and General Training.

## Key facts

- **Paper:** Reading
- **Module:** Academic and General Training
- **Marks:** 1 per question, out of 40
- **Answer:** Words or numbers from the text
- **Numbers:** Figures (2) or words (two)
- **Order:** Answers follow the text

Formats, timings and marking come from IELTS's own test-format pages, checked 27 September 2026.

## How it's scored

IELTS says this type tests your ability to find and understand specific information in the text. The questions ask about facts, so the answers are names, numbers, places and things, not opinions.

Answers must be taken from words in the text. IELTS says numbers can be written as figures or as words, and a hyphenated word counts as one.

> Turn each question into what you expect to see before you scan. "When was it completed?" means scanning for a year, which is faster than reading for meaning.

## Reading short-answer questions examples

Worked examples written for this page. Answer each one before you open the model response: memorizing a response is scored as an irrelevant answer in the real test.

**Example 1 -- scanning for numbers**

> The Merrow Estuary barrier protects the town of Kellsby from tidal flooding. Completed in 1987, it has six steel gates that span 310 meters of the river. Most of the time the gates lie flat on the riverbed so that ships can pass over them. When forecasters expect a dangerous tide, the gates are turned upright, which takes about 40 minutes. The barrier was designed to close twice a year, but it closed eighteen times in the winter of 2024.
> 
> When was the barrier completed? {1}
> How many steel gates does it have? {2}

Prompt: Answer with ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the text. Type numbers as figures.

- Blank 1: 1987
- Blank 2: 6

Model response: 1987; 6 (six is also accepted).

Why it scores: Both answers are in the second sentence, one after the other, as the order rule predicts. 310 is the nearby number that answers a different question.

**Example 2 -- a place and a thing**

> The Merrow Estuary barrier protects the town of Kellsby from tidal flooding. Completed in 1987, it has six steel gates that span 310 meters of the river. Most of the time the gates lie flat on the riverbed so that ships can pass over them. When forecasters expect a dangerous tide, the gates are turned upright, which takes about 40 minutes. The barrier was designed to close twice a year, but it closed eighteen times in the winter of 2024.
> 
> Where do the gates lie most of the time? On the {1}
> What can pass over the gates when they are down? {2}

Prompt: Answer with ONE WORD ONLY from the text.

- Blank 1: riverbed
- Blank 2: ships

Model response: riverbed; ships.

Why it scores: "Where" wants a place and "what" wants a thing, and both sit in one sentence of the text. "On the" is printed, so you write only riverbed.

**Example 3 -- the design, or what happened**

> The Merrow Estuary barrier protects the town of Kellsby from tidal flooding. Completed in 1987, it has six steel gates that span 310 meters of the river. Most of the time the gates lie flat on the riverbed so that ships can pass over them. When forecasters expect a dangerous tide, the gates are turned upright, which takes about 40 minutes. The barrier was designed to close twice a year, but it closed eighteen times in the winter of 2024.
> 
> How long does it take to raise the gates? About {1} minutes
> How many times did the barrier close in the winter of 2024? {2}

Prompt: Answer with ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the text. Type numbers as figures.

- Blank 1: 40
- Blank 2: 18

Model response: 40; 18 (eighteen is also accepted).

Why it scores: The last sentence gives two frequencies: what the barrier was designed for and what happened. The question names the winter of 2024, so the answer is the real figure.

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## Common mistakes

| What costs marks | Do this instead |
| --- | --- |
| Answering in your own words. | Answers must be taken from words in the text. Copy them. |
| Writing a full sentence. | Write only the answer, inside the limit. Words printed after the question do not need repeating. |
| Taking a nearby number. | Texts give several numbers close together. Match the unit and the time the question asks about. |
| Searching from the start of the text every time. | The answers follow the text. Start where the last one was. |

**Know what the marks are worth** Reading and Listening are 40 marks each. The band calculator turns a mark out of 40 into a band, and four skill bands into your overall. [Open the IELTS band calculator](/ielts/band-score-calculator)

## How to practice

1. Before scanning, write next to each question what the answer will look like: a year, a number, a place, a name.
2. Take a factual article and write five short-answer questions about it. Writing them shows you where the answers hide.
3. After each set, circle every number in the text and note which question, if any, it answered.

## Common questions

### Can I write numbers as figures in IELTS Reading short answers?

Yes. IELTS says numbers can be written using figures (1, 2) or words (one, two).

### Do the answers come in the order of the text?

Yes. IELTS says the answers come in the same order as the information in the text.

### Must the answer use words from the text?

Yes. IELTS says answers must be taken from words in the text, inside the printed word limit.

**Sources**
- [IELTS: Academic Reading test format (checked 27 September 2026)](https://ielts.org/take-a-test/test-types/ielts-academic-test/ielts-academic-format-reading)
- [IELTS: General Training Reading test format (checked 27 September 2026)](https://ielts.org/take-a-test/test-types/ielts-general-training-test/ielts-general-training-format-reading)

[Practice Reading short-answer questions free](https://testmigo.com/ielts)