Cambridge IELTS 14 · Academic · Test 1 · Passage 1
The Importance of Children’s Play — IELTS Reading Answers
All 13 answers for The Importance of Children’s Play, Cambridge IELTS 14 Academic Reading Test 1 Passage 1, with the passage evidence and an explanation for each.
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The Importance of Children’s Play 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 (Q1–8), True / False / Not Given (Q9–13). Each section below gives the strategy for that question type, the answers, and the sentence that proves them.
Questions 1–8: 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.
“this fantasy is helping her take her first steps towards her capacity for creativity”
The note asks what the fantasy leads towards; the text says it helps her 'take her first steps towards her capacity for creativity'.
“when they tire of this and settle down with a board game, she’s learning about the need to follow rules and take turns with a partner”
Playing a board game teaches 'the need to follow rules and take turns', so rules is the noun required.
“over half the people in the world now live in cities”
The passage notes 'over half the people in the world now live in cities', the urban shift the note describes.
“Outdoor play is curtailed by perceptions of risk to do with traffic”
Outdoor play is limited by 'perceptions of risk to do with traffic', the first danger listed.
“parents’ increased wish to protect their children from being the victims of crime”
Parents increasingly wish 'to protect their children from being the victims of crime', the second reason given.
“greater competition in academic learning and schools”
The note needs the pressure in schooling; the text cites 'greater competition in academic learning and schools'.
“what they often lack is the evidence to base policies on”
Policymakers 'often lack ... the evidence to base policies on', so evidence is what is missing.
“there is very little data on the impact it has on the child’s later life”
Little data exists on the impact on 'the child's later life', the long-term outcome the note asks about.
Questions 9–13: 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.
Children with good self-control are known to be likely to do well at school later on.
“the ability to self-regulate has been shown to be a key predictor of academic performance”
TRUE: the ability to self-regulate 'has been shown to be a key predictor of academic performance', supporting the claim about later school success.
The way a child plays may provide information about possible medical problems.
“how observing children at play can give us important clues about their well-being and can even be useful in the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism”
TRUE: observing play gives 'important clues about their well-being' and helps in the 'diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism'.
Playing with dolls was found to benefit girls’ writing more than boys’ writing.
“Children wrote longer and better-structured stories when they first played with dolls representing characters in the story”
NOT GIVEN: dolls improved story writing generally, but the passage never compares benefits for girls' writing with boys' writing.
Children had problems thinking up ideas when they first created the story with Lego.
“With the Lego building, however, not a single child said this through the whole year of the project”
FALSE: with Lego, 'not a single child said this', meaning none reported difficulty generating ideas — the opposite of the statement.
People nowadays regard children’s play as less significant than they did in the past.
“Somehow the importance of play has been lost in recent decades. It’s regarded as something trivial, or even as something negative that contrasts with “work”.”
TRUE: the passage laments that play's importance 'has been lost in recent decades' and is now 'regarded as something trivial'.
Learn the question types in this passage
Frequently asked questions
Where does the The Importance of Children’s Play passage come from?
It is Passage 1 of Cambridge IELTS 14 Academic Reading Test 1, and it covers Questions 1–13.
What question types appear in The Importance of Children’s Play?
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.