Children’s Literature IELTS Reading Passage

Children’s Literature IELTS Reading with Answers

Real IELTS Exam Question, Reported On:

India

26th November 2022

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Reading Passage 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

Children’s Literature

Stories and poems aimed at children have an exceedingly long history:lullabies, for example, were sung in Roman times, and a few nursery games and rhymes are almost as ancient. Yet so far as written-down literature is concerned, while there were stories in print before 1700 that children often seized on when they had the chance, such as translations of Aesop’s fables, fairy-stories and popular ballads and romances, these were not aimed at young people in particular. Since the only genuinely child-oriented literature at this time would have been a few instructional works to help with reading and general knowledge, plus the odd Puritanical tract as an aid to morality, the only course for keen child readers was to read adult literature. This still occurs today, especially with adult thrillers or romances that include more exciting, graphic detail than is normally found in the literature for younger readers. ieltsxpress

By the middle of the 18th century there were enough eager child readers, and enough parents glad to cater to this interest, for publishers to specialize in children’s books whose first aim was pleasure rather than education or morality. In Britain, a London merchant named Thomas Boreham produced Cajanus, The Swedish Giant in 1742, while the more famous John Newbery published A Little Pretty Pocket Book in 1744.1ts contents—rhymes, stories, children’s games plus a free gift (‘A ball and a pincushion’)——in many ways anticipated the similar lucky-dip contents of children’s annuals this century. It is a tribute to Newbery’s flair that he hit upon a winning formula quite so quickly, to be pirated almost immediately in America.

Such pleasing levity was not to last. Influenced by Rousseau, whose Emile(1762) decreed that all books for children save Robinson Crusoe were a dangerous diversion, contemporary critics saw to it that children’s literature should be instructive and uplifting. Prominent among such voices was Mrs. Sarah Trimmer, whose magazine The Guardian of Education (1802) carried the first regular reviews of children’s books. It was she who condemned fairy-tales for their violence and general absurdity; her own stories, Fabulous Histories (1786) described talking animals who were always models of sense and decorum.

So the moral story for children was always threatened from within, given the way children have of drawing out entertainment from the sternest moralist. But the greatest blow to the improving children’s book was to come from an unlikely source indeed: early 19th century interest in folklore. Both nursery rhymes, selected by James Orchard Halliwell for a folklore society in 1842, and collection of fairy-stories by the scholarly Grimm brothers, swiftly translated into English in 1823,soon rocket to popularity with the young, quickly leading to new editions, each one more child-centered than the last. From now on younger children could expect stories written for their particular interest and with the needs of their own limited experience of life kept well to the fore. ieltsxpress

What eventually determined the reading of older children was often not the availability of special children’s literature as such but access to books that contained characters, such as young people or animals, with whom they could more easily empathize, or action, such as exploring or fighting, that made few demands on adult maturity or understanding.The final apotheosis of literary childhood as something to be protected from unpleasant reality came with the arrival in the late 1930s of child-centered best-sellers intend on entertainment at its most escapist. In Britain novelist such as Enid Blyton and Richmal Crompton described children who were always free to have the most unlikely adventures, secure in the knowledge that nothing bad could ever happen to them in the end. The fact that war broke out again during her books’ greatest popularity fails to register at all in the self-enclosed world inhabited by Enid Blyton’s young characters. Reaction against such dream-worlds was inevitable after World War II, coinciding with the growth of paperback sales, children’s libraries and a new spirit of moral and social concern. Urged on by committed publishers and progressive librarians, writers slowly began to explore new areas of interest while also shifting the settings of their plots from the middle-class world to which their chiefly adult patrons had always previously belonged.

Critical emphasis, during this development, has been divided. For some the most important task was to rid children’s books of the social prejudice and exclusiveness no longer found acceptable. Others concentrated more on the positive achievements of contemporary children’s literature. That writers of these works are now often recommended to the attentions of adult as well as child readers echoes the 19th-century belief that children’s literature can be shared by the generations, rather than being a defensive barrier between childhood and the necessary growth towards adult understanding. ieltsxpress

Question 1-5
Complete the table below.
Choose ‘NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS’ from the reading passage for each answer
Write your answers in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet

Questions 6-8
Look at the following people and the list of statements below.
Match each person with the correct statement. ieltsxpress
Write the correct letter A-E in boxes 6-8 on your answer sheet.

List of statements

A. Wrote criticisms of children’s literature
B. Used animals to demonstrate the absurdity of fairy tales
C. Was not a writer originally
D. Translated a book into English
E. Didn’t write in the English language

6. Thomas Boreham
7. Mrs. Sarah trimmer
8. Grimm Brothers

Questions 9-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

9. Children didn’t start to read books until 1700.
10. Sarah Trimmer believed that children’s books should set good examples.
11. Parents were concerned about the violence in children’s books.
12. An interest in the folklore changed the direction of the development of children’s books. ieltsxpress
13. Today children’s book writers believe their works should appeal to both children and adults.

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Children’s Literature IELTS Reading Answers

1. rhymes, stories / stories, rhymes

2. America

3. folklore

4. fairy-tales/fairy-stories

5. Undertaking

6. C

7. A

8. E

9. FALSE

10. TRUE

11. NOT GIVEN

12. TRUE ieltsxpress

13. TRUE

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Children’s Literature IELTS Reading Answers Explanation

Question: 1

Answer: Rhymes, stories
Keywords: Rhymes, stories, children’s games
Supporting Sentence: 1ts contents—rhymes, stories, children’s games plus a free gift (‘A ball and a pincushion’)——in many ways anticipated the similar lucky-dip contents of children’s annuals this century.
Keyword location: paragraph B line 3
Explanation – It is explained in the paragraph that by the 18th-century, children had enough interest to read storybooks and poems. It’s mentioned how the authors of children’s books and publishers had developed a winning formula to include education and morality in children’s storybooks rather than just being simple pleasure books.

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Question: 2

Answer: America ieltsxpress
Supporting Sentence: It is a tribute to Newbery’s flair that he hit upon a winning formula quite so quickly, to be pirated almost immediately in America.
Keywords: Newbery’s flair, formula, America, pirated.
Keyword location: Paragraph B last line
Explanation: The paragraph explains how John Newbery developed a formula to publish pretty little pocketbooks and how they almost copied it immediately in America. the procedure was winning one and eight to enabled children to have an interest in reading storybooks because filled them with education and morality instead of just being about pleasure

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Question: 3

Answer: Folklore
Keyword: But the most significant blow to the improving children’s book came from an unlikely source in folklore early in the 19th century.
Supporting Sentence: But the greatest blow to the improving children’s book was to come from an unlikely source indeed: early 19th century interest in folklore.
Keyword location: paragraph D line 2
Explanation: The paragraph tries to explain the shift in the type of stories published in children’s books. In the early 19th century, the stories changed from education to children centric and for their particular interest.

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Question: 4

Answer: fairy tales fairy stories
Keyword: Stories by scholarly Grimm brothers swiftly translated in English in 1823 and soon rocketed to popularity with the young quickly leading to new additions, each more child-centered than the last.
Supporting Sentence: Both nursery rhymes, selected by James Orchard Halliwell for a folklore society in 1842, and collection of fairy-stories by the scholarly Grimm brothers, swiftly translated into English in 1823,soon rocket to popularity with the young, quickly leading to new editions, each one more child-centered than the last
Keyword location: paragraph D line 3 ieltsxpress
Explanation: In this paragraph, the author explains the drastic shift in the kind of stories published in children’s books. From merely being about education or morality, the stories in the early 19th century, particularly 1823, which were published by the Grimm brothers, were all about children and had them at the center of it.

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Question: 5

Answer: Undertaking
Keyword – in Britain, novelists such as ended Blyden and Richmal Crompton describe children who were always free to have the most unlikely adventures forcing in the knowledge that good for nothing terrible could ever happen to them in the end.
Supporting Sentence: In Britain novelist such as Enid Blyton and Richmal Crompton described children who were always free to have the most unlikely adventures, secure in the knowledge that nothing bad could ever happen to them in the end
Keyword location – paragraph f Line 2 ieltsxpress
Explanation – This passage explains how literary books of the 1930s tried to protect childhood from unpleasant realities. Books of Richmond Crompton and Enid Blyton always made children believe that nothing could make nothing terrible could ever happen to them.

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Question: 6

Answer: C
Keyword: In British, a London merchant named Thomas Burham produces CAJANUS, the Swedish giant, in 1742.
Supporting Sentence: In Britain, a London merchant named Thomas Boreham produced Cajanus, The Swedish Giant in 1742, while the more famous John Newbery published A Little Pretty Pocket Book in 1744
Keyword location: paragraph B line 2
Explanation: In the passage, it states very clearly how Thomas Boreham was responsible for creating CAJANUS.

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Question: 7

Answer: A
Keyword: Mrs. Sarah trimmer who’s the magazine the guardian of education eighteen 02 carried the first regular views of children journals
Supporting Sentence: Prominent among such voices was Mrs. Sarah Trimmer, whose magazine The Guardian of Education (1802) carried the first regular reviews of children’s books.
Keyword location: paragraph C line 3
Explanation: In this paragraph, it is mentioned how Mrs. Sarah Dreamer, the owner of the magazine the guardian of education, published the first regular reviews of children’s books. She was responsible for condemning fairy tales for their violence and general absurdity. She even described these values in her own stories like great histories where animals were the models of sense and decorum.

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Question: 8

Answer: E
Keyword: fairy stories by these scholarly Grimm brothers rapidly translated into English in 1823.
Supporting Sentence: Both nursery rhymes, selected by James Orchard Halliwell for a folklore society in 1842, and collection of fairy-stories by the scholarly Grimm brothers, swiftly translated into English in 1823,soon rocket to popularity with the young, quickly leading to new editions, each one more child-centered than the last.
Keyword location – paragraph D line 3 ieltsxpress
Explanation: It’s mentioned in this paragraph that these stories of the Grimm brothers became very popular very early because they were child-centered. They soon translated them into English, and because of the Grimm brothers, children expected stories depending on their particular interests.

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Question: 9

Answer: FALSE
Keyword – there were stories in periodicals before 1700 that children often impounded on when they had the chance.
Supporting Sentence: Yet so far as written-down literature is concerned, while there were stories in print before 1700 that children often seized on when they had the chance, such as translations of Aesop’s fables, fairy-stories and popular ballads and romances, these were not aimed at young people in particular.
Keyword location – paragraph A-line 2
Explanation: The paragraph explains how these stories related to children’s words developed since ancient times. As early as 1700, there was print literature about children associated with Aesop’s fables, fairy stories such as ballads or romances.

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Question: 10

Answer: TRUE
Keyword – life it was she who criticized fairy tales for their savagery and general absurdity. Her flaws great histories describe talking animals who were always who’s off as decent and with a sense of morality.
Supporting Sentence: The Guardian of Education (1802) carried the first regular reviews of children’s books. It was she who condemned fairy-tales for their violence and general absurdity; her own stories, Fabulous Histories (1786) described talking animals who were always models of sense and decorum.
Keyword location: paragraph C last line ieltsxpress
Explanation – This paragraph explains how she always related Sarah trimmer and her stories to some sense of decorum. She never wrote stories that were just absurd and had violence, especially about children. she was the first one to publish children reviews in her magazine, the guardian of education

Question: 11

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: This paragraph explains how she always related Sarah trimmer’s children books whose first aim was pleasure rather than education or morality

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Question: 12

Answer: TRUE
Keyword – The most significant blow to improving children’s books came from an unlikely generator indeed early 19th-century interest in folklore.
Supporting Sentence: Both nursery rhymes, selected by James Orchard Halliwell for a folklore society in 1842, and collection of fairy-stories by the scholarly Grimm brothers, swiftly translated into English in 1823,soon rocket to popularity with the young, quickly leading to new editions, each one more child-centered than the last. From now on younger children could expect stories written for their particular interest and with the needs of their own limited experience of life kept well to the fore.
Keyword location: paragraph D Line 2
Explanation: This paragraph explains how the moral stories for children were threatened, and they were proved true Wendy nursery rhymes by Grimm brothers once very quickly translated into English.

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Question:13 ieltsxpress

Answer: TRUE
Keyword: that writers of these works are now often recommended to the attention of adults as well as child readers
Supporting Sentence: Others concentrated more on the positive achievements of contemporary children’s literature. That writers of these works are now often recommended to the attentions of adult as well as child readers echoes the 19th-century belief that children’s literature can be shared by the generations, rather than being a defensive barrier between childhood and the necessary growth towards adult understanding.
Keyword location: paragraph G line3
Explanation: This paragraph explains how we should share children’s literature among generations rather than just being a defensive boundary between children and their growth towards adults.

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