Cambridge IELTS 20 · Academic · Test 4 · Passage 1
Georgia O’Keeffe — IELTS Reading Answers
All 13 answers for Georgia O’Keeffe, Cambridge IELTS 20 Academic Reading Test 4 Passage 1, with the passage evidence and an explanation for each.
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Georgia O’Keeffe answer key at a glance
Questions 1–13. Tap an answer to see the evidence.
What this passage tests
This passage is tested with Note Completion (Q1–7), True / False / Not Given (Q8–13). Each section below gives the strategy for that question type, the answers, and the sentence that proves them.
Questions 1–7: Note Completion
Strategy: Predict the word class from the note, find the paraphrase of the note's keyword in the passage, then copy the answer exactly within the word limit.
“she became an art teacher and taught in elementary schools, high schools, and colleges in Virginia, Texas, and South Carolina from 1911 to 1918”
She 'became an art teacher and taught in elementary schools, high schools, and colleges', so the gap is 'teacher'.
“During this period, O'Keeffe began to experiment with creating abstract compositions in charcoal, and produced a series of innovative drawings that led her art in a new direction”
She experimented with 'abstract compositions in charcoal', producing a series of innovative drawings.
“By the mid-1920s, O'Keeffe was recognized as one of America's most important and successful artists, widely known for the architectural pictures that dramatically depict the soaring skyscrapers of New York”
She was known for pictures that 'dramatically depict the soaring skyscrapers of New York', so the gap is 'skyscrapers'.
“In her magnified images depicting flowers, begun in 1924, O'Keeffe brings the viewer right into the picture.”
Her 'magnified images depicting flowers, begun in 1924', are the subject the note records.
“at first, it was the numerous sun-bleached bones she came across in the state's rugged terrain that sparked her imagination”
It was 'the numerous sun-bleached bones she came across in the state's rugged terrain that sparked her imagination'.
“However, it was the region's spectacular landscape, with its unusual geological formations, vivid colours, clarity of light, and exotic vegetation, that held the artist's imagination for more than four decades”
It was 'the region's spectacular landscape... that held the artist's imagination for more than four decades'.
“Flying in planes inspired her last two major series - aerial views of rivers and expansive paintings of the sky viewed from just above clouds.”
Flying inspired 'aerial views of rivers and expansive paintings of the sky', so the gap is 'rivers'.
Questions 8–13: True / False / Not Given
Strategy: Judge the whole statement against the text. FALSE contradicts the passage; NOT GIVEN means the passage never addresses that specific claim.
Georgia O’Keeffe’s style was greatly influenced by the changing fashions in art over the seven decades of her career.
“Remarkably, she remained independent from shifting art trends and her work stayed true to her own vision”
She 'remained independent from shifting art trends', so changing fashions did not influence her style.
When O’Keeffe finished high school, she had already made her mind up about the career that she wanted.
“By the time she graduated from high school in 1905, she had determined to make her way as an artist”
By graduating from high school in 1905 'she had determined to make her way as an artist'.
Alfred Stieglitz first discovered O’Keeffe’s work when she sent some abstract drawings to his gallery in New York City.
“She sent some of these drawings to a friend in New York, who showed them to art collector and photographer Alfred Stieglitz in January 1916”
She sent the drawings to a friend, 'who showed them to... Alfred Stieglitz', so she did not send them to his gallery herself.
O’Keeffe was the subject of Stieglitz’s photographic work for many years.
“The ups and downs of their personal and professional relationship were recorded in Stieglitz's celebrated black-and-white portraits of O'Keeffe, taken over the course of twenty years (1917-37)”
Stieglitz's celebrated portraits of O'Keeffe were 'taken over the course of twenty years (1917-37)', a long period.
O’Keeffe’s paintings of the patio of her house in Abiquiu were among the artist’s favourite works.
“one feature of the Abiquiú house - the large walled patio with its black door - was particularly inspirational. In more than thirty pictures between 1946 and 1960, she reinvented the patio into an abstract arrangement of geometric shapes”
The patio inspired more than thirty pictures, but the passage never says these were among her favourite works.
O’Keeffe produced a greater quantity of work during the 1950s to 1970s than at any other time in her life.
“The last two decades of the artist's life were relatively unproductive as ill health and blindness hindered her ability to work”
The last two decades were 'relatively unproductive', but no comparison of output across her whole life is made.
Learn the question types in this passage
Frequently asked questions
Where does the Georgia O’Keeffe passage come from?
It is Passage 1 of Cambridge IELTS 20 Academic Reading Test 4, and it covers Questions 1–13.
What question types appear in Georgia O’Keeffe?
The passage is tested with Note Completion, True / False / Not Given. Each type is explained on this page, alongside the answers.
Are these reading answers reliable?
Every answer is paired with the sentence that proves it, so you can check each one against the passage yourself. Use the page after a timed attempt, not instead of one.
Cambridge IELTS is published by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Band9Prep is not affiliated with Cambridge. This page is an independent study aid: it gives the answer key, the passage evidence and an explanation so you can review an attempt you have already made.