Cambridge IELTS 16 · General Training · Test 4 · Section 3
History Of Women’s Football In Britain — IELTS Reading Answers
All 13 answers for History Of Women’s Football In Britain, Cambridge IELTS 16 General Training Reading Test 4 Section 3, with the passage evidence and an explanation for each.
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History Of Women’s Football In Britain answer key at a glance
Questions 28–40. Tap an answer to see the evidence.
What this section tests
This section is tested with One Choice (Q28–31), Matching Features (Q32–37), Summary Completion (Q38–40). Each section below gives the strategy for that question type, the answers, and the sentence that proves them.
Questions 28–31: One Choice
Strategy: Read the question stem and predict the answer before looking at the options. Wrong options often repeat passage words while the correct one paraphrases them.
In the first paragraph, the writer says that in 18th-century Scotland
- Aonly unmarried women were allowed to play football.
- Bwomen’s football was more common than men’s football.
- Cwomen were sometimes forbidden to watch football matches.
- Dskill at football might be considered when choosing a wife.correct
“Some accounts say that the games were watched by a crowd of single men, who hoped to pick out a potential bride based on her footballing ability”
Option D: single men watched, hoping 'to pick out a potential bride based on her footballing ability', so skill mattered in marriage.
The writer says that Nettie J Honeyball was unwilling to
- Atake an active part in team sports.
- Bmix with people she considered lower class.
- Clet the public know of her involvement in football.correct
- Dtake a leadership role in the British Ladies’ Football Club.
“she was not keen to publicise her involvement with a contact sport”
Option C: she was 'not keen to publicise her involvement with a contact sport', preferring to keep it private.
The writer suggests that in Britain, between 1895 and 1914,
- Asociety was not yet ready for women’s football.correct
- Bthere were false reports of the decline of women’s football.
- Cthe media felt that women’s football should not be allowed.
- Dwomen’s football mainly attracted people because it was unusual.
“These initially attracted healthy numbers of supporters although early newspaper reports were not particularly generous, with one reporter suggesting 'when the novelty has worn off, I do not think women's football will attract the crowds”
Option A: a reporter predicted crowds would disappear 'when the novelty has worn off', implying the game was not yet accepted.
After the First World War broke out in 1914, factory managers
- Awere initially unwilling to employ women.
- Bplayed in matches against female employees.
- Callowed extra time for their employees to play football.
- Ddecided that women’s football might have positive effects.correct
“After some initial uncertainty, their superiors came to see these games as a means to boost morale and thus increase productivity”
Option D: managers 'came to see these games as a means to boost morale and thus increase productivity', positive effects.
Questions 32–37: Matching Features
Strategy: Match the statement to the named person or thing. Names can repeat, so check each option against what that person actually says.
It felt threatened by the rise of women’s football.
“the FA sought to assert itself”
Option C: 'the FA sought to assert itself' against women's football, so it felt threatened by the game's rise.
It was established by a male office worker.
“Watching from a window above the yard where they played, office worker Alfred Frankland spotted their talent and he set about forming a team”
Option B: 'office worker Alfred Frankland spotted their talent and... set about forming a team', founding a club.
It donated money from football matches to good causes.
“The BLFC arranged games between teams representing the north and the south of England, where money would be raised for those in need”
Option A: matches were arranged 'where money would be raised for those in need', donations to good causes.
It called for the ending of the ban on women’s football in Britain.
“It took pressure from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), to finally force the FA to end restrictions on women's football in 1971”
Option D: pressure from UEFA 'finally force the FA to end restrictions on women's football in 1971'.
It was accused of being old-fashioned.
“with the captain of Plymouth Ladies remarking that the FA was 'a hundred years behind the times' and calling its decision 'purely sex prejudice'”
Option C: the captain of Plymouth Ladies said the FA was 'a hundred years behind the times', an old-fashioned accusation.
It was led by a believer in women’s rights.
“Lady Florence Dixie, who was appointed president of the BLFC in 1895 and who was an ardent believer in equality between the sexes”
Option A: Lady Florence Dixie was 'an ardent believer in equality between the sexes', leading the BLFC.
Questions 38–40: Summary Completion
Strategy: Read the summary as a paragraph first to establish the logic, then locate the missing idea in the passage. With a lettered list, confirm the grammar fits.
“The FA banned its members from allowing women's football to be played at its grounds”
The gap names where matches were banned; the FA stopped members allowing women's football 'at its grounds'.
“The FA also forbade its members from acting as referees at women's games”
A plural noun for match officials fits; the FA 'forbade its members from acting as referees at women's games'.
“the captain of Plymouth Ladies remarking that the FA was 'a hundred years behind the times' and calling its decision 'purely sex prejudice'”
The gap names the attitude cited; the decision was called 'purely sex prejudice'.
Learn the question types in this section
Frequently asked questions
Where does the History Of Women’s Football In Britain passage come from?
It is Section 3 of Cambridge IELTS 16 General Training Reading Test 4, and it covers Questions 28–40.
What question types appear in History Of Women’s Football In Britain?
The section is tested with One Choice, Matching Features, Summary Completion. 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.