Barbie Around The World – IELTS Reading Passage with Answers

When it comes to taking the reading test, time management for IELTS Reading is a tricky aspect that you need to master. With just 60 minutes to tackle 40 questions across three dense passages, time management becomes a crucial skill. To do that, you need to practice reading samples like ‘Barbie Around The World Reading Answers’ and track your progress.

Barbie Around The World Reading Answers is an IELTS Academic Reading passage that discusses Barbie, once a simple toy, that evolved into a global symbol of an idealized beauty and lifestyle, influencing cultures worldwide despite resistance.

Here, you will find questions of this IELTS Reading recent actual test, along with explanations and locations for the answers, and tips on how to approach IELTS Reading with strategies. Let’s get started!

Reading Passage for Barbie Around The World Reading Answers

Go through the Barbie Around The World IELTS Reading Answers passage given below and prepare yourself for the reading section with this IELTS Reading practice test.

Barbie Around the World

A Barbie started as a toy, the kind of toy that got whisked off store shelves faster than Mattel, the doll’s first maker. Now, thanks to Barbie, the world’s largest toy manufacturer can restock those shelves. Barbie’s star rose with the post-war U.S. hegemony that made everyone in the world want fast food, appliances, Coca-Cola, and, if you were a woman, blonde hair, big breasts, impossibly long legs, and the latest in sunglasses and sports cars. Barbie never got pregnant, fat, or old. She stood her own in stores as the mute, brassy standard not just of beauty but of lifestyle.

B Around the world, she became an icon inspired to by both mothers and their daughters; mothers and daughters who, no matter what size, shape, color, language, or culture, identified desperately with the rich, blonde Barbie from that rich, blonde country. With their purchasing power, they voted against their own perceived repulsive shapes, colors, and cultural identity. Barbie the bimbo, Barbie the liberated woman, it didn’t matter. Barbie found herself in the bizarre position of defining culture.

C While there have been significant and frequent Yankee Go Home uprisings, wars of liberation, and all sorts of anti-imperial hatred spewed and spat at the United States since it first asserted itself as a world power, there has been no corresponding popular movement against the Barbie culture. Book burnings, flag burnings, hostage taking, terrorist bombs, and hijacking, all aimed to force the Yankee home forever. Barbie, however, maintained her hegemony. Barbie has not only survived the flames, but she has also been rescued from them by women everywhere yearning to be free, beautiful, and cosmopolitan – just like Barbie. So tenacious is Barbie’s popularity that government ministries of culture and moody consumer associations have stepped in with strategies to control or alter the appetites of their female citizens.

D In Malaysia, the Consumers’ Association of Penang has called for Barbie dolls to be banned outright. The doll’s blonde, leggy, and non-Asian appearance promotes the wrong aesthetics, they said. Also, the Barbie doll does not encourage creativity and the use of imagination in children, because dolls are “fixed” and ready-made. The proposal immediately drew strong and angry reactions from the local press and members of the public. Whether this is because of doll demand or of public distaste for bureaucratic intervention in private consumption habits is open for debate.

E In Iran, the government condemned the forever young and childless-by-choice Barbie (and her long-time boyfriend Ken. No plans for marriage… ever.) as a threat to traditional culture. Barbie doesn’t define herself in relation to children or family as Iranian women supposedly do. Banning the pair hasn’t worked, so the government has come up with a pair of its own, allegedly more suited to Iranian culture. Sara and Dara, who are brother and sister, were designed and marketed by the government-sponsored Amusement Department of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults. Meanwhile, Barbie dolls openly sell for $700 in Teheran stores. Even though $700 is seven times the average monthly salary in Iran, the tall, blonde, saucy, freewheeling Barbie sells briskly.

F During an era when the world is seeking to reclaim its cultures, Mattel has done its entrepreneurial share to churn out multicultural dolls to counter the criticism that Barbie is too one-dimensional in her tall blondeness. After all, if only 15 percent of American women are naturally blonde, how many could there possibly be in the world? Not that Mattel has targeted these brown, black, and yellow Barbies to an international audience reflecting those skin tones; Mattel’s marketing has been to young girls, presumably white girls in suburbs who can now play with Japanese, Mexican, and Indian Barbies, and “learn more about the history and different cultures”.

G The brilliance of Mattel’s co-optation of criticism is that Mattel retained Barbie’s idealized image of beauty. Yes, consumers can now buy darker-haired, darker-skinned Barbies but without the ethnic features that distinguish the darker-skinned women of the world. The fact that Mexican Barbie is brown maybe even more insidious if Mexican girls think they must grow up to be tall, thin, buxom, and leggy. African-American Barbies have lighter skin than most of the black population, playing into an often-heard complaint of black women that the lighter their skin, the more attractive they are.

H And Barbie, no matter what her color, continues to be clothed in attire that proclaims her trendy, swinging, Independently wealthy lifestyle. Take, for example, the recent line of Filipino Barbie dolls. She’s called “Philippine Island Barbie”. She’s dark-haired with darker skin tones and dressed in form-fitting gowns with the Maria Clara butterfly sleeves. She lives juxtaposed in a country with an annual per capita income of $US 580.

I Nor do the best-selling Barbies smile anymore. After all, the toothy-grinned Barbie of yesterday fails to capture the “mystique” of today’s modern woman. No matter what their culture or color, how heavy or slim, women around the world will be laced into the corset of the beauty myth if Barbie is their symbol of freedom. If Barbie seems to be free, maybe it’s because doors open for that certain woman who is impossibly tall, impossibly blonde, who always wears the right outfit, and keeps her mouth shut.

Barbie Around The World Reading Answers Questions

There are 14 questions in Barbie Around The World Reading Answers, which include four different IELTS Reading question types. They are:

• IELTS Reading Table Completion (Q 1 – 7)
• IELTS Reading Short Answer Questions (Q. 8 – 11)
• IELTS Reading True/False/Not Given (Q. 12 – 13)
• IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Questions (Q. 14)

Set a timer and answer the questions before the time runs out!

Questions 1 – 7

Questions 8-11

8 Who saved Barbie from burning?

9 What did Mattel change to appear more in line with multiculturalism?

10 What makes dark-skinned Barbies free from distinguishing the darker-skinned women around the world?

11 What doesn’t Barbie do anymore?

Questions 12-13

12 Barbie’s relationship with Ken was a threat to the Iranian lifestyle.

13 Most American women look like Barbie.

Question 14

14 Why did the writer write this?

A to say how popular Barbie is

B to say that Barbie is a bad role model

C to say that Barbie represents freedom

D to say how good Mattel is at marketing Barbie

Barbie Around The World IELTS Reading Answers with Location and Explanation

Take a look at the Barbie Around The World answer key with detailed explanations and answer location. It will help you tally your answers as well as give you an idea of which question type to focus on achieving a good IELTS band score in the reading module.

1 Blonde

Answer Location: Para F, Line 2

Answer Explanation: Barbie has blonde hair, as mentioned in paragraph F.

2 15 percent

Answer Location: Para F, Line 3

Answer Explanation: The passage states that only 15 percent of American women are naturally blonde.

3 Creativity

Answer Location: Para D, Line 3

Answer Explanation: Also, the Barbie doll does not encourage creativity and the use of imagination in children, because dolls are “fixed” and ready-made.

4 Imagination

Answer Location: Para D, Line 3

Answer Explanation: As mentioned in the above answer – Since the creation of Barbie dolls didn’t promote creativity and imagination per se, so the proposal to ban them brought in a diabolical reaction.

5 Angry

Answer Location: Para D, Line 6

Answer Explanation: The proposal to ban Barbie dolls in Malaysia drew strong and angry reactions from the public, as mentioned in paragraph D.

6 Traditional culture

Answer Location: Para E, Line 1

Answer Explanation: The Iranian government condemned Barbie as a threat to traditional culture, as mentioned in paragraph E.

7 $700

Answer Location: Para E, Line 6

Answer Explanation: Barbie dolls openly sell for $700 in Tehran stores, as mentioned in paragraph E.

8 Women everywhere

Answer Location: Para C, Line 6

Answer Explanation: Women everywhere yearning to be free, beautiful, and cosmopolitan saved Barbie from burning, as mentioned in paragraph C.

9 Skin Tone

Answer Location: Para G, Line 2

Answer Explanation: Yes, consumers can now buy darker-haired, darker-skinned Barbies but without the ethnic features that distinguish the darker-skinned women of the world.

10 Ethnic Features

Answer Location: Para G, Line 2

Answer Explanation: Mattel while creating the new Barbie Dolls kept in his mind the distinction he must provide to bring in multiculturalism. And that was to focus on the ethnic features that distinguish the darker-skinned women of the world.

11 Smile

Answer Location: Para I, Line 1

Answer Explanation: The best-selling Barbies don’t smile anymore, as mentioned in paragraph I.

12 FALSE

Answer Location: Paragraph E, Line 1

Answer Explanation: The passage does not provide information about Barbie’s relationship with Ken being a threat to the Iranian lifestyle.

13 Not Given

Answer Location: NA

Answer Explanation: The passage does not provide information about the appearance of most American women.

14 B

Answer Location: Para I, Line 1

Answer Explanation: The passage doesn’t explicitly state why the writer wrote this, but it discusses various aspects of Barbie’s impact around the world, from cultural perceptions to marketing strategies.

Tips for Answering the Question Types in Barbie Around The World Reading Answers

Now that you have the answers and explanations for Barbie Around The World Reading Answers, let's explore some IELTS exam preparation tips for band score of 8+ and answering the four question types.

Table Completion

1. Use context clues: Contextual information can be a valuable resource when completing the table. The sentences or paragraphs before and after the gap may provide clues to the missing data. Look for relationships and patterns in the text.
2. Identify key information: Pay attention to the headings and column labels in the table. They can guide you on what specific information to look for in the passage. Highlight or underline keywords and numbers in the table to stay focused.
3. Skim the passage first: Before diving into the table, skim the entire passage quickly. Look for keywords, headings, and relevant information that can help you locate the data needed to complete the table.
4. Pay attention to synonyms and paraphrasing: The passage might not use the exact same words or phrases as the table. Be on the lookout for synonyms or paraphrased versions of the required information. Understanding context and recognizing synonyms can be crucial for successful completion.
5. Maintain accuracy: Ensure that the information you fill in the table is accurate. Double-check your answers, especially if they involve numbers, dates, or specific details. Remember that incorrect answers can result in a lower score.

Short Answer Type Questions

1. Paraphrase and summarize: Rewrite the information from the passage in your own words while staying within the word limit. Be concise and accurate. Avoid copying entire sentences.
2. Scan the passage: Quickly skim through the passage to identify the relevant paragraph or section containing the information needed to answer the question. Pay attention to keywords and synonyms.
3. Read the instructions carefully: Start by reading the instructions for the short answer questions. Ensure you understand the word limit and whether you need to use singular or plural forms.
4. Focus on question words: Look for question words like “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” “why,” and “how.” These words will guide you in finding the specific information you need.
5. Check your spelling and grammar: Mistakes in spelling and grammar can cost you points, so review your answers for errors before moving on to the next question.

True/False/Not Given

1. Focus on keywords: Identify the keywords in the statement and look for those exact words or synonyms in the passage.
2. Refer to the passage: For each statement, go back to the passage and carefully locate the relevant information. Pay close attention to the wording of the statement and compare it to the information in the passage.
3. Read the instructions carefully: Understand the difference between “True,” “False,” and “Not Given.” “True” means the information is directly stated in the passage, “False” means it contradicts the information in the passage, and “Not Given” means the information isn’t mentioned in the passage.
4. Beware of paraphrasing: Sometimes, the statement is paraphrased in the passage, so be vigilant about synonyms and rephrased sentences.
5. Watch out for distractors: The passage may contain information that seems related to the statement but isn’t directly addressing it. Don’t be tricked by these distractors; the answer should directly match the statement.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Consider the context: Pay attention to the context of the passage. Sometimes, a choice that seems correct out of context may not be when placed within the context of the passage.
2. Identify keywords: Identify keywords in the question and focus on finding these keywords in the passage. This will help you narrow down the relevant information.
3. Read all options: Always read all the options before selecting your answer. Sometimes, the first option that seems correct may not be the best choice after considering all the options.
4. Eliminate wrong choices: After reading all the options, eliminate the ones that are clearly incorrect. This can make it easier to choose the correct answer among the remaining options.
5. Guess if unsure: If you’re unsure about an answer, make an educated guess. There is no penalty for incorrect answers in the IELTS Reading test, so it’s better to make an educated guess than to leave it blank.

To sum up, it is essential that you prepare for the IELTS Reading test with sample answers like Barbie Around The World Reading Answers. These will help you adjust to the test format, enhance your reading speed, and identify areas for improvement. For this reason, you should continue taking these tests so that you can achieve your goals.

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