Do Literate Women Make Better Mothers? — IELTS Reading Answers

“By 1985, about 300,000 illiterate adults from all over the country, many of whom had never attended primary school, had learnt how to read, write and use numbers”

The gap needs those who learned: 'about 300,000 illiterate adults ... had learnt how to read, write and use numbers' — men and women.

“Now a long-term study carried out in Nicaragua has eliminated these factors by showing that teaching reading to poor adult women, who would otherwise have remained illiterate, has a direct effect on their children's health and survival”

The gap needs the study's focus: 'teaching reading to poor adult women ... has a direct effect on their children's health and survival' — maternal literacy.

“During this period, researchers from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the Central American Institute of Health in Nicaragua, the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua and the Costa Rican Institute of Health interviewed nearly 3,000 women, some of whom had learnt to read as children,”

The gap needs the international research body: researchers came from Liverpool, Nicaragua's Central American Institute and Costa Rica's health institute.

“Most literate women learnt to read in primary school, and the fact that a woman has had an education may simply indicate her family's wealth or that it values its children more highly.”

The gap needs what education may merely indicate: a woman's schooling 'may simply indicate her family's wealth', matching option J.

“showing that teaching reading to poor adult women, who would otherwise have remained illiterate, has a direct effect on their children's health and survival”

The gap needs the factor directly affecting children: the study showed 'teaching reading to poor adult women' improved children's health and survival — maternal literacy.

About a thousand of the women interviewed by the researchers had learnt to read when they were children.

“During this period, researchers from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the Central American Institute of Health in Nicaragua, the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua and the Costa Rican Institute of Health interviewed nearly 3,000 women, some of whom had learnt to read as children,”

Nearly 3,000 women were interviewed, 'some of whom had learnt to read as children', but no figure of about a thousand is given.

Before the National Literacy Crusade, illiterate women had approximately the same levels of infant mortality as those who had learnt to read in primary school.

“In the late 1970s, the infant mortality rate for the children of illiterate mothers was around 110 deaths per thousand live births For women educated in primary school, however, the infant mortality rate was significantly lower, at 80 per thousand”

Illiterate mothers had about 110 deaths per thousand against 80 for primary-educated women, so the levels were not approximately the same.

Before and after the National Literacy Crusade, the child mortality rate for the illiterate women stayed at about 110 deaths for each thousand live births.

“In the late 1970s, the infant mortality rate for the children of illiterate mothers was around 110 deaths per thousand live births In 1985, after the National Literacy Crusade had ended,”

In 1985 'the infant mortality figures for those who remained illiterate ... remained more or less unchanged' from the late-1970s level of 110.

The women who had learnt to read through the National Literacy Crusade showed the greatest change in infant mortality levels.

“In the late 1970s, the infant mortality rate for the children of illiterate mothers was around 110 deaths per thousand live births. At this point in their lives, those mothers who later went on to learn to read had a similar level of child mortality (105/1000).”

Crusade learners fell from 105 to 84 per thousand, a 21-point drop, the greatest change among the groups compared.

The women who had learnt to read through the National Literacy Crusade had the lowest rates of child mortality.

“For women educated in primary school, however, the infant mortality rate was significantly lower, at 80 per thousand For those women who learnt to read through the campaign, the infant mortality rate was 84 per thousand, an impressive 21 points lower than for those women who were still illiterate”

Primary-educated women had 80 per thousand, lower than the 84 of crusade learners, so the crusade group did not have the lowest rate.

After the National Literacy Crusade, the children of the women who remained illiterate were found to be severely malnourished.

“The children of the newly-literate mothers were also better nourished than those of women who could not read”

Newly literate mothers' children were 'better nourished', but the passage never says the remaining illiterate women's children were severely malnourished.

“The results of the study lend support to the World Bank's recommendation that education budgets in developing countries should be increased, not just to help their economies, but also to improve child health 'But we thought that even if we started educating girls today, we'd have to wait a generation for the pay-off.”

C and E fit: an international team ran the study, and its key finding was lower child mortality, supporting the call to fund education.