Delhi is full of languages, yet many Indian children don't show the advantages multilingual children get in Europe. A Cambridge-led study of 1,000 pupils asks whether teaching in an unfamiliar language such as English holds poorer children back. Along the way it finds that slum children do better than expected.
The summary (14-19) is all paragraphs A and B, in order. YES / NO / NOT GIVEN (20-23) sits in C to E. The multiple choice (24-26) points you to F, G and H.
Summary completion (word list A-J)
Questions 14-19
How to attack this block: Ten options, six gaps. The options are two-word phrases, so every wrong one has a real word from the passage in it. Match meaning: 'more than 20 million people' is a dense population, and 'the overriding aim' is the primary objective. 'Distant country' is a trap, because people come from across India, not from abroad.
Question 14
Answer: IParagraph A, first two sentences
What does Delhi have, judging by its crowded streets?
The crowded and bustling streets of Delhi teem with life… as more than 20 million people go about their daily lives.
Question says → Passage says
a dense populationcrowded and bustling streets… teem with life / more than 20 million people
Why: Crowded streets and more than 20 million people describe a city packed with people, which is a dense population. The gap follows 'a', and only a few options fit that grammar and the meaning (I).
The trap: 'Thriving economy' (G) also fits 'a ___' and 'bustling' can suggest business. But this part of the passage is about how many people there are and what they speak. The economy is never described.
Question 15
Answer: JParagraph A, third sentence
How are the people who haven't always lived in Delhi described?
Many were born and raised here, and many millions more have recently made India's capital their home
Question says → Passage says
have spent their entire life in Delhiwere born and raised here
new immigrantshave recently made India's capital their home
Why: The summary contrasts lifelong residents with the rest. People who 'recently made' Delhi 'their home' after moving there are new immigrants (J).
The trap: 'Wealthy visitors' (C) are people from elsewhere too, but visitors don't make a city their home, and the passage says they come hoping for a better life, not because they're rich.
Question 16
Answer: HParagraph A, third sentence
Where, close by, might the newcomers have come from?
having moved from surrounding neighbourhoods, cities and states or across the country
Question says → Passage says
a nearby districtsurrounding neighbourhoods
the other side of Indiaacross the country
Why: The summary sets a close origin against a far one ('the other side of India'). 'Surrounding neighbourhoods' are nearby districts (H).
The trap: 'Distant country' (D) is the opposite idea, and the passage only talks about moving within India ('across the country'), not from abroad.
Question 17
Answer: BParagraph A, third sentence
What are the newcomers looking for?
often in the hope of gaining better jobs and a better life
Question says → Passage says
in search ofin the hope of gaining
improved employment opportunitiesbetter jobs
Why: 'In the hope of gaining' is 'in search of', and 'better jobs' is improved employment opportunities (B). The gap follows 'improved', so it needs a noun phrase.
The trap: 'Basic outlook' (A) could seem to fit 'a better life', but it means a general attitude, not something you move cities to find.
Question 18
Answer: EParagraph B, second sentence
What does the summary call the research's main aim?
The overriding aim of the four-year project, called 'Multilingualism and Multiliteracy', is to find out why
Question says → Passage says
The ___ of the researchThe overriding aim of the four-year project
to discover whyto find out why
Why: 'Overriding' means most important, so the 'overriding aim' is the primary objective (E). 'To discover why' matches 'to find out why'.
The trap: 'Basic outlook' (A) also sounds like it could describe a project's approach, but an outlook isn't an aim, and 'the basic outlook of the research is to discover' doesn't work.
Question 19
Answer: FParagraph B, second sentence
What do Indian multilingual children not get, compared with children in Europe?
the many benefits of speaking more than one language, observed in schools in Europe for instance, do not apply to many of India's schoolchildren
Question says → Passage says
do not experiencedo not apply to
similar advantages to thosethe many benefits… observed in schools in Europe
Why: 'Benefits' are advantages, and the summary's 'to those that… in Europe experience' needs a word that compares. 'Similar advantages' (F) gives both the meaning and the grammar.
The trap: 'Employment opportunities' (B) is a kind of benefit too, and it fits the grammar, but it's already used in gap 17, and the passage talks about the benefits of speaking more than one language, not jobs.
YES / NO / NOT GIVEN (writer's claims)
Questions 20-23
How to attack this block: Question 20 needs you to compare two figures, and question 23 flips what the researchers plan to do. Only one is NOT GIVEN. It's about recruiting female students, which the passage never discusses. Girls come up only in the dropout figures.
Question 20
Answer: NOParagraph C, first sentence
Do ten-year-olds do better in literacy than numeracy tests?
over 50% of children in Standard 5 [ten-year-olds] cannot read a Standard 2 [seven-year-olds] task fluently, and just under 50% of them cannot solve a Standard 2 subtraction task
Question says → Passage says
literacy testscannot read a Standard 2 [seven-year-olds] task fluently
numeracy testscannot solve a Standard 2 subtraction task
Why: More children fail the reading task ('over 50%') than the subtraction task ('just under 50%'). So they do slightly worse in literacy, not better. The statement reverses the figures, so NO.
The trap: The two numbers are so close that many people call it NOT GIVEN. 'Over 50%' failing reading against 'just under 50%' failing maths is still a comparison, and it goes the other way.
Question 21
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph C, last sentence
Did Tsimpli struggle to get some girls to join the study?
low educational achievement can lead to many of these students dropping out of school - a problem disproportionately affecting female students
Question says → Passage says
female studentsfemale students
Why: Female students are mentioned only as the group hit hardest by dropping out of school. Nothing is said about recruiting anyone for the study, so NOT GIVEN.
The trap: 'Female students' is repeated exactly, which makes the statement feel connected. The passage's problem is dropping out of school, not refusing to take part in research.
Question 22
Answer: YESParagraph D, first sentence
Did the team want to know if being taught in an unfamiliar language links to poor results?
Tsimpli and her colleagues are investigating whether these low learning outcomes could be caused by an Indian school system where the language that children are taught in often differs from the language used at home
being taught in an unfamiliar languagethe language that children are taught in often differs from the language used at home
Why: Investigating whether low outcomes 'could be caused by' the school language is asking about a connection. A language different from the one at home is an unfamiliar one. YES.
Question 23
Answer: NOParagraph E, second and third sentences
Have the researchers decided not to study how teaching methods affect results?
They intend to look not only at test results, but also at variables such as the standard of schooling, the environment and the teaching practices themselves.
Why: The researchers 'intend to look at' teaching practices, and even suggest a lack of pupil-centred methods may be a cause of low performance. That's the opposite of deciding against it, so NO.
The trap: Paragraph F says the findings are only preliminary, which might make you think teaching methods are being left out for now. Paragraph E clearly lists them as part of the plan.
Multiple choice
Questions 24-26
How to attack this block: Question 25 quotes Tsimpli's 'that ship has sailed'. Read the words right before it: she is not asking for English to be withdrawn. Question 26 asks what surprised the researchers, so look for 'unanticipated' or 'unexpected', not the first finding in the paragraph.
Question 24
Answer: CParagraph F
What point does paragraph F make about primary schools in India?
English instruction for children from low socio-economic areas might not be the best way for them to learn, at least in the first three years of primary education
Question says → Passage says
poor childrenchildren from low socio-economic areas
may be disadvantaged further by being instructed in Englishmay hold back those children / might not be the best way for them to learn
Why: Being taught in English 'may hold back' children with little exposure to it, and that's especially true for children from poor areas. Being held back is being disadvantaged, so C.
The trap: A twists the paragraph: the passage says children with little exposure to English outside school are held back, which suggests that exposure helps, not that it's of limited benefit. D's 'little consistency' clashes with paragraph G, which complains of 'too much uniformity'.
Question 25
Answer: DParagraph G, fourth sentence
What does Tsimpli mean by 'that ship has sailed'?
We are not suggesting that English be withdrawn - that ship has sailed - but we perhaps have to think more about learner needs.
Question says → Passage says
too late to remove English completelynot suggesting that English be withdrawn - that ship has sailed
Why: 'That ship has sailed' is an idiom for 'it's too late for that'. It sits right next to 'we are not suggesting that English be withdrawn', so the chance to remove English has passed. D.
The trap: B matches what she says after the idiom ('think more about learner needs'), but that's her next point, not what 'that ship has sailed' means. C is never mentioned: she suggests English as a separate subject, she doesn't say it has failed.
Question 26
Answer: DParagraph H, first sentence
What surprised the researchers in paragraph H?
an unanticipated finding has been that children from slum backgrounds do not seem to lag behind children from other urban poor backgrounds - and in some cases outperform them (e.g. in numeracy and literacy tasks)
Question says → Passage says
surprisedan unanticipated finding / this unexpected finding
are not lower thando not seem to lag behind… and in some cases outperform them
Why: 'Unanticipated' tells you which finding was the surprise: slum children don't lag behind other poor urban children in literacy and numeracy, and sometimes do better. D.
The trap: A is true, since there's no difference in general intelligence, but that sits in the 'While…' clause before the surprise. The passage doesn't say it was unexpected. C is wrong because the passage says slum children's life experiences differ.
Over half the ten-year-olds can't read a younger child's text, and just under half can't do the subtraction. Reading is the weaker skill, so 'better at literacy' is NO.
Option A is also true (no difference in intelligence), but it isn't the surprise. The unanticipated finding is that slum children don't lag behind other poor urban children (D).
Some arrive from surrounding neighbourhoods, which is a nearby district (H). 'Distant country' fails because the other movers come from across India, not from abroad.
Words from this passage worth keeping
teem with(A)
be full of people or things moving around
din(A)
a loud, unpleasant, continuous noise
overriding(B)
more important than anything else
disproportionately(C)
to a greater degree than is fair or expected
embark on(E)
start something new or important
medium of instruction(F)
the language used for teaching
lag behind(H)
be slower or less advanced than others
to the detriment of(I)
causing harm to
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 21 Test 4 reading paper: all three passages, 60 minutes, marked the second you finish with a review of every answer. Already done it? Take it again and see if the same traps still get you.
Cambridge IELTS 21, Test 4, Reading Passage 2. The passage and questions belong to Cambridge University Press and are not reproduced here. We quote short extracts only as evidence for our own commentary, and the answers are published for self-marking. Get the book for the full text, or sit the test on Langujet.
FAQ
How could multilingualism benefit India's poorest schoolchildren?: quick answers
"How could multilingualism benefit India's poorest schoolchildren?" is Reading Passage 2 of Cambridge IELTS 21, Test 4. It covers questions 14-26 (13 marks).
Questions 14-19: Summary completion, questions 20-23: YES / NO / NOT GIVEN and questions 24-26: Multiple choice.
1 YES, 2 NO and 1 NOT GIVEN.
Our review highlights questions 20, 26 and 16. Each one is explained in "Questions worth a second look" above.
