Anesthesiology - IELTS Reading Answers With Location and Explanations

Getting ready for the IELTS Reading exam can feel overwhelming, especially when you need to crack passages like “Anesthesiology.” 

This previously asked IELTS reading passage challenges you with its blend of context, words, and tricky question types! If you are aiming for a band 7, 8, or higher, this page will help you understand the passage more deeply and approach each question type with a proper strategy.

In this blog, we break down the “Anesthesiology” IELTS Reading passage and let you access its answers with easy-to-understand explanations given to boost your accuracy and confidence!

Types of Questions in “Anesthesiology” IELTS Reading Passage 

The question type in this ‘Anesthesiology’ IELTS Reading Passage includes:

• IELTS Reading Matching Information 
• IELTS Reading True False Not Given 

Reading Passage

You should spend about 20 minutes on the given questions 1 - 12.

Since the beginning of time, man has sought natural remedies for pain. Between 40 and 60 A.D., Greet? physician, Dioscorides traveled with the Roman armies, studying the medicinal properties of plants and minerals. His book, De materia medica, written in five volumes and translated into at least seven languages, was the primary reference source for physicians for over sixteen centuries. The field of anesthesiology1, which was once nothing more than a list of medicinal plants and makeshift remedies, has grown into one of the most important fields in medicine.

Many of the early pain relievers were based on myth and did little to relieve the suffering of an ill or injured person. The mandragora (now known as the mandrabe plant) was one of the first plants to be used as an anesthetic1. Due to the apparent screaming that the plant made as it was pulled from the ground, people in the Middle Ages believed that the person who removed the mandrabe from the earth would either die or go insane. This superstition may have resulted because the split root of the mandrabe resembled the human form. In order to pull the root from the ground, the plant collector would loosen it and tie the stem to an animal. It was believed that the safest time to uproot a mandrabe was in the moonlight, and the best animal to use was a black dog. In his manual, Dioscorides suggested boiling the root with wine and having a man drinb the potion to remove sensation before cutting his flesh or burning his skin. Opium and Indian hemp were later used to induce sleep before a painful procedure or to relieve the pain of an illness. Other remedies such as cocaine did more harm to the patient than good as people died from their addictions. President Ulysses S. Grant became addicted to cocaine before he died of throat cancer in 1885.

The modern field of anesthetics dates to the incident when nitrous oxide (more commonly known as laughing gas) was accidentally discovered. Humphrey Davy, the inventor of the miner’s lamp, discovered that inhaling the toxic compound caused a strange euphoria, followed by fits of laughter, tears, and sometimes unconsciousness. U.S. dentist, Horace Wells, was the first on record to experiment with laughing gas, which he used in 1844 to relieve pain during a tooth extraction. Two years later. Dr. William Morton created the first anesthetic machine. This apparatus was a simple glass globe containing an ether-soaked sponge. Morton considered ether a good alternative to nitrous oxide because the numbing effect lasted considerably longer. His apparatus allowed the patient to inhale vapors1 whenever the pain became unbearable. In 1846, during a trial experiment in Boston, a tumor2 was successfully removed from a man's jaw area while he was anesthetized with Morton’s machine.

The first use of anesthesia in the obstetric field occurred in Scotland by Dr. James Simpson. Instead of ether, which he considered irritating to the eyes, Simpson administered chloroform to reduce the pain of childbirth. Simpson sprinkled chloroform on a handkerchief and allowed laboring3 women to inhale the fumes at their own discretion. In 1853, Queen Victoria agreed to use chloroform during the birth of her eighth child. Soon the use of chloroform during childbirth was both acceptable and fashionable. However, as chloroform became a more popular anesthetic, knowledge of its toxicity surfaced, and it was soon obsolete.

After World War II, numerous developments were made in the field of anesthetics. Surgical procedures that had been unthinkable were being performed with little or no pain felt by the patient. Rather than physicians or nurses who administered pain relief as part of their profession, anesthesiologists became specialists in suppressing consciousness and alleviating pain. Anesthesiologists today are classified as perioperative physicians, meaning they take care of a patient before, during, and after surgical procedures. It takes over eight years of schooling and four years of residency until an anesthesiologist is prepared to practice in the United States. These experts are trained to administer three different types of anesthetics: general, local, and regional. General anesthetic is used to put a patient into a temporary state of unconsciousness. Local anesthetic is used only at the affected site and causes a loss of sensation. Regional anesthetic is used to block the sensation and possibly the movement of a larger portion of the body. As u/ell as controlling the levels of pain for the patient before and throughout an operation, anesthesiologists are responsible for monitoring and controlling the patient's vital functions during the procedure and assessing the medical needs in the post-operative room.

The number of anesthesiologists in the United States has more than doubled since the 1970s, as has the improvement and success of operative care. In addition, complications from anesthesiology have declined dramatically. Over 40 million anesthetics are administered in the United States each year, with only 1 in 250,000 causing death.

Questions

Questions 1-6

Do the following statements agree with the information in Passage 3? In boxes 1-6 on your Answer Sheet write

TRUE if the statement is true according to the passage.

FALSE if the statement contradicts the passage.

NOT GIVEN in here is no information about this in the passage.

1  Dioscorides’ book, De materia medica, fell out of use after 60 A.D.

2  Mandragora was used as an anesthetic during the Middle Ages.

3  Nitrous oxide can cause the user to both laugh and cry.

4  During the second half of the 19th century, most dentists used anesthesia.

5  Anesthesiologists in the United States are required to have 12 years of education and training.

6  There are fewer anesthesiologists in the United States now than in the past.

Questions 7-12

Match each fact about anesthesia with the type of anesthetic that it refers to.

There are more types of anesthetics listed than facts, so you won’t use them all.

Write the correct letter, A-H in boxes 7-12 on your Answer Sheet.

7 used by sprinkling on a handkerchief

8  used on only one specific part of the body

9  used by boiling with wine

10 used first during a dental procedure

11used to stop feeling over a larger area of the body

12 used in the first anesthetic machine

Tips for Answering the Question Types in the “Anesthesiology” IELTS Reading Answers

First, let’s start with IELTS exam preparation tips for band score of 8+ for each question type. It’ll help you understand how to approach each question type.

Matching Information

• Before you start, make sure you understand what you need to match. 

• Sometimes you will be asked to match headings to paragraphs or sections, so be clear about the task.

• Quickly read through the passage to get a general sense of the content and layout. This will help you identify where the information you need might be located.

• Look for keywords or key phrases in the question and the passage. These words are often repeated or paraphrased in the text and can guide you to the correct answer.

• As you find information that matches the question, underline or highlight it in the passage. This will make it easier to refer back to when answering the questions.

• Be aware of synonyms and paraphrases. Sometimes, the exact words from the question may not appear in the passage, but similar words or phrases will. Watch out for these. 

True/False/Not Given

True/False/Not Given questions are a type of IELTS Reading question that requires you to identify whether a statement is true, false, or not given in the passage.

• True statements are statements that are explicitly stated in the passage.

• False statements are statements that are explicitly contradicted in the passage.

• Not Given statements are statements that are neither explicitly stated nor contradicted in the passage

To answer True/False/Not Given questions, you need to be able to understand the passage and identify the key information. You also need to be able to distinguish between statements that are explicitly stated, contradicted, and not given.

Answers for Anesthesiology Reading Passage with Location and Explanations

Check out the answer key for this IELTS Reading passage, Anesthesiology, with detailed explanations for each of them.

1 Answer: False 

Question type: True/False/ Not Given 

Answer location: Paragraph A 

Answer explanation: We find references in paragraph A, where it is mentioned that between 40 and 60 AD, Dioscorides travelled with the Roman armies, and wrote the Roman armies book, De materia medica, which was written in five volumes and translated into at least seven languages. It was the primary reference source for physicians for over 16 centuries. Thus, the book, De Materia Medica, was a key reference source for physicians till the 16th century. As a result, the statement contradicts the information, so the answer is False. 

2 Answer: True 

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given 

Answer location: Paragraph B, Line 3 

Answer explanation: We understand from the 3rd line of paragraph B, that the Mandragora also known as the mandrabe plant was one of the first plants to be used as an anaesthetic. Thus, the statement agrees with the information in the text, so, the answer is True. 

3 Answer: True 

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given 

Answer location: Paragraph C, Line 5 

Answer explanation: The 5th line of paragraph C illustrates that inhaling nitrous oxide caused a strange euphoria, followed by fits of laughter, tears, and sometimes unconsciousness. Therefore, the statement agrees with the information in the text, so the answer is True. 

4 Answer: Not Given 

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given 

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 6

Answer explanation: We find reference to the dentist in 6th line of paragraph C, where it is mentioned that US dentist Horace Wells, was the first to experiment with laughing gas. He used it to relieve pain during a tooth extraction. In the same paragraph of the 15th line, we understand that a tumor was successfully removed from man’s jaw while he was anesthetized with Mortan’s machine in 1846. But, there’s no exact reference for the statement (most dentists used anaesthesia in the second half of the 9th century) in the reading passage. Thus, the answer is Not Given. 

5 Answer: True

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given 

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 9

Answer explanation: We understand from the 9th line of paragraph E that it takes over eight years of schooling and four years of residency, altogether 12 years of education and training to become a qualified Anesthesiologist to practice in the United States. Thus, the statement agrees with the information in the paragraph. So, the answer is True. 

6 Answer: False 

Question type: True/False/ Not Given 

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 1

Answer explanation: The introductory line of paragraph F illustrates that the number of Anesthesiologists in the US has more than doubled since the 1970s. Thus, the statement contradicts the information in the passage, so the answer is False. 

7 Answer: D

Question type: Matching Information 

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 4

Answer explanation: We understand from the fourth line of paragraph D, that Dr Simpson sprinkled chloroform on a handkerchief and allowed labouring women to inhale the fumes at their own discretion. Thus, it is evident that chloroform is used by sprinkling it on a handkerchief. So, the answer is D. 

8 Answer: B

Question type: Matching Information 

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 15 

Answer explanation: The fifteenth line of paragraph E states that a local anaesthetic was used only at the affected site, which caused a loss of sensation. These lines clearly indicate that local anaesthetics were used on only one specific part of the body. So, the answer is B. 

9 Answer: H

Question type: Matching Information 

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 12 – 13

Answer explanation: We find reference in the twelfth line of paragraph B, which states that the safest time to uproot a mandrabe was in the moonlight, and the best animal to use was a black dog, to which Dioscorides suggested in his manual that boiling the mandrabe root with wine and having a man drink the potion to remove sensation before cutting his flesh or burning his skin. Thus, these lines clearly indicate that Mandrabe was used by boiling with wine. So, the answer is H. 

10 Answer: F 

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 8 

Answer explanation: Paragraph C illustrates the introduction of Nitrous Oxide. We understand from the eighth line that a US dentist, Horace Wells, was the first to experiment with laughing gas (Nitrous oxide), which he used to relieve pain during tooth extraction. It is clear that Nitrous Oxide was first used during a dental procedure. Thus, the answer is F. 

11 Answer: C

Question type: Matching Information 

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 16

Answer explanation: We understand from the 16th line of paragraph E that a regional anaesthetic was used to block the sensation and possibly the movement of a larger portion of the body. These lines illustrate that a regional anaesthetic was used to stop feeling over a larger area of the body. So, the answer is C. 

12 Answer: E 

Question type: Matching Information 

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 10 – 11

Answer explanation: We understand from the 10th line of paragraph C that Morton created the first anaesthetic machine, an apparatus that was a simple glass globe containing an ether-soaked sponge. Morton considered ether as a good alternative to Nitrous oxide because the numbing effect lasted considerably longer. These lines specify that ether was used in the first anaesthetic machine. So, the answer is E. 

So now, we can finally say that IELTS Reading can be challenging, but it is also possible for you to crack it with proper practice. However, with proper preparation, common errors can be avoided. Additionally, expanding IELTS vocabulary, practising different question types like the ones in “Anesthesiology” IELTS Reading passage, and managing time efficiently are essential steps toward improvement.

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