The life and work of Marie Curie: reading answers and analysis
A short biography of Marie Curie, from her childhood in Poland and her studies at the Sorbonne to her work with Pierre on radioactivity. It covers her two Nobel Prizes, her wartime X-ray units, her fundraising and the radium supply that helped later discoveries, before her death from radiation-caused leukaemia.
Both blocks follow the passage in order. The TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN statements (1-6) run from the first paragraph to her later career, and the notes (7-13) start with her radioactivity research and end in the last paragraph.
Answer key and self-check
Type what you wrote and hit mark. Hide the key first if you haven't done the passage yet. Every question number jumps to its explanation.
How to attack this block: Words like 'both', 'stopped' and 'interest' are what you're testing. Two NOT GIVENs mix a real detail (her childhood, Bronia's medical studies) with something the passage never says.
Question 1
Answer: FALSEParagraph 1, third sentence
Did Pierre share both of Marie's Nobel Prizes?
With her husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel, she was awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics, and was then sole winner of the 1911 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Question says → Passage says
a joint winnerWith her husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel
both… Nobel Prizeswas then sole winner of the 1911 Nobel Prize
Why: Pierre shared the 1903 prize, but Marie was the 'sole winner' in 1911. So he didn't share both. Paragraph 6 also tells you he died in 1906, before the second prize.
The trap: The first prize really was shared, so a half-check gives TRUE. 'Both' is the word to test.
Question 2
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 2, first sentence
Did Marie's interest in science start in childhood?
From childhood, Marie was remarkable for her prodigious memory, and at the age of 16 won a gold medal on completion of her secondary education.
Question says → Passage says
when she was a childFrom childhood
Why: What stood out in her childhood was her memory, and she won a medal at school. Nothing says when she became interested in science.
The trap: 'From childhood' matches the statement's time so neatly that people stop reading. The thing she was remarkable for is memory, not interest in science.
Question 3
Answer: TRUEParagraphs 2-3
Did Bronia's money make it possible for Marie to go to the Sorbonne?
on the understanding that Bronia would, in turn, later help her to get an education. In 1891 this promise was fulfilled and Marie went to Paris and began to study at the Sorbonne
Question says → Passage says
because of her sister's financial contributionBronia would, in turn, later help her… this promise was fulfilled
was able to attend the Sorbonnebegan to study at the Sorbonne
Why: Marie paid for Bronia's studies on the understanding that Bronia would later help her. 'This promise was fulfilled' and Marie went to the Sorbonne. The help is financial, since it repays Marie's financial help.
The trap: Some students say NOT GIVEN because 'money' isn't repeated in paragraph 3. 'In turn' tells you Bronia returns the same kind of help Marie gave: paying for studies.
Question 4
Answer: FALSEParagraph 5, first sentence
Did Marie take a break from research for years when her daughters were born?
The births of Marie's two daughters, Irène and Eve, in 1897 and 1904 failed to interrupt her scientific work.
Question says → Passage says
when her children were bornThe births of Marie's two daughters
stopped doing researchfailed to interrupt her scientific work
Why: 'Failed to interrupt' means her work carried on. The statement says she stopped, which is the opposite.
The trap: 'Failed' is a negative-sounding word, and some students read it as her work failing. It means the births didn't succeed in interrupting her.
Question 5
Answer: TRUEParagraph 6, second sentence
Did Marie take over her husband's teaching post?
she was appointed to the professorship that had been left vacant on her husband's death
Question says → Passage says
took overwas appointed to
the teaching position her husband had heldthe professorship that had been left vacant on her husband's death
Why: A professorship left vacant by Pierre's death was his post, and she was appointed to it. The same sentence calls her 'the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne', confirming it was a teaching job.
The trap: Paragraph 5 has her as 'chief assistant' in Pierre's laboratory, which is a different job. The professorship is the one that answers this.
Question 6
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraphs 2 and 8
Did Bronia study the medical uses of radioactivity?
she was able to finance her sister Bronia's medical studies in Paris… the inauguration in 1932 in Warsaw of the Radium Institute, where her sister Bronia became director
Question says → Passage says
Bronia studiedBronia's medical studies
radioactivitythe Radium Institute, where her sister Bronia became director
Why: Bronia studied medicine and later ran the Warsaw Radium Institute. But the passage never says what her studies covered, and nothing links her to medical uses of radioactivity specifically.
The trap: 'Medical studies' plus 'Radium Institute' invites you to join them up. That's your link, not the writer's. It's Marie who 'researched… their medical applications'.
Note completion (ONE WORD ONLY)
Questions 7-13
How to attack this block: The notes are in passage order and each needs one word. Several passage phrases are two words ('wounded soldiers'), so take only the noun. Check whether the note wants an element, a mineral or a disease.
Question 7
Answer: thoriumParagraph 4, second and third sentences
Which element did Marie find was also radioactive?
Marie Curie decided to find out if the radioactivity discovered in uranium was to be found in other elements. She discovered that this was true for thorium.
Question says → Passage says
had the same propertythis was true for
When uranium was discovered to be radioactivethe radioactivity discovered in uranium
Why: She tested other elements for uranium's radioactivity and found it in thorium. One word, from the passage.
The trap: Polonium and radium come later in the paragraph, and they were discovered, not tested. 'Pitchblende' is a mineral, and it's the next answer.
Question 8
Answer: pitchblendeParagraph 4, middle
Which mineral's radioactivity led to two new elements?
Turning her attention to minerals, she found her interest drawn to pitchblende, a mineral whose radioactivity, superior to that of pure uranium
Question says → Passage says
the mineral known aspitchblende, a mineral
led to the discovery of two new elementsled to the discovery of the new elements, polonium and radium
Why: Pitchblende's unusually high radioactivity pointed to an unknown substance, and solving that led to polonium and radium.
The trap: 'Uranium' sits right next to it, but uranium is an element, and the note says 'mineral'.
Question 9
Answer: radiumParagraph 6, last sentence
Which element was Marie honoured for in 1911?
In 1911 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the isolation of a pure form of radium.
Question says → Passage says
received recognitionwas awarded the Nobel Prize
for her work on the elementfor the isolation of a pure form of
Why: The 1911 Nobel Prize was for isolating pure radium. The year in the note sends you straight to this sentence.
The trap: Polonium was discovered alongside radium, but the 1911 prize names only radium.
Question 10
Answer: soldiersParagraph 7, first sentence
Who was X-radiography used to treat?
including the mobile units which came to be known as 'Little Curies', used for the treatment of wounded soldiers
Question says → Passage says
used as a medical technique forused for the treatment of
Marie and Irène Curie developed X-radiographyMarie Curie, with the help of her daughter Irène, devoted herself to the development of the use of X-radiography
Why: The gap follows 'for', and the passage says 'treatment of wounded soldiers'. With one word only, 'soldiers' is the answer.
The trap: 'Wounded soldiers' is two words, which breaks the ONE WORD limit. And 'Little Curies' is the name of the units, not who they treated.
Question 11
Answer: illnessParagraph 9, first sentence
Apart from research, what were radioactive stocks needed for?
the need to accumulate intense radioactive sources, not only to treat illness but also to maintain an abundant supply for research
both for research and for cases ofnot only to treat… but also to maintain an abundant supply for research
Why: 'Not only… but also' gives two uses; the note already has research, so the other is treating 'illness'.
The trap: 'Research' is the other half of the pair, but the note already uses it. Some students write 'treatment', which doesn't fit after 'cases of'.
Question 12
Answer: neutronParagraph 9, middle
What particle was discovered in the 1930s thanks to the Paris radium stock?
This work prepared the way for the discovery of the neutron by Sir James Chadwick
Question says → Passage says
contributed to the discoveriesmade a decisive contribution… prepared the way for the discovery of
The radioactive material stocked in Parisa stock of 1.5 grams of radium
Why: The radium stock helped experiments around 1930, which prepared the way for two discoveries. The note gives artificial radioactivity, so the gap is the 'neutron'.
The trap: 'Radium' is the stocked material, not what was discovered. Don't write 'Chadwick' either: the note wants the thing, after 'the'.
Question 13
Answer: leukaemiaParagraph 9, middle
Also accepted: leukemia
What disease did radiation exposure cause Marie?
Marie Curie died as a result of leukaemia caused by exposure to radiation
Question says → Passage says
was exposed to radiationexposure to radiation
as a result she suffered fromdied as a result of
Why: The sentence links exposure to radiation and leukaemia directly. 'Leukaemia' (British) or 'leukemia' (American) are both accepted, but spell it carefully.
The trap: 'Illness' is in the same paragraph and appears earlier in the notes. The gap needs the named disease.
'Wounded soldiers' breaks the one-word limit. Write 'soldiers'.
Words from this passage worth keeping
prodigious(Paragraph 2)
remarkably great
on the understanding that(Paragraph 2)
on the agreed condition that
superior to(Paragraph 4)
higher or greater than
devoted himself(Paragraph 4)
gave all his time and effort
henceforth(Paragraph 6)
from that time on
vacant(Paragraph 6)
empty, not filled by anyone
in earnest(Paragraph 7)
seriously, with full effort
accumulate(Paragraph 9)
gather and build up over time
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The full Cambridge 9 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 9, Test 4, Reading Passage 1. 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.
The rest of Cambridge 9 Test 4
Passage 1 · Questions 1-13 · You're hereThe life and work of Marie Curie
