IELTS Reading Practice: The Printing Press
IELTS · ReadingA history passage on Gutenberg and the spread of books, with True / False / Not Given questions.
1Read the text
Before the fifteenth century, books in Europe were copied by hand. A single book could take a skilled scribe many months to finish, so books were rare and expensive, and most people never owned one. Knowledge stayed mainly in the hands of the Church, the universities and wealthy families.
Printing was not new. Printers in East Asia had made pages from carved wooden blocks for centuries. The key change in Europe came around 1450, when a German goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg developed a system of movable metal type. Each letter was cast separately, so the letters could be arranged into a page, printed many times, and then rearranged for the next page.
The most famous result was the Gutenberg Bible, completed in the mid-1450s. The new method was much faster than copying by hand, and the price of books began to fall. Within a few decades, printing workshops had opened in cities across Europe, and printed books were being produced in large numbers.
Historians continue to debate how far printing alone caused later changes such as the spread of scientific ideas and the growth of literacy. Some argue that cheaper books made it easier for ideas to travel and to be checked by many readers. Others point out that literacy had been rising before Gutenberg and that other factors, such as growing trade, were also at work.
2True, false or not given Tap an answer. You see why straight away.
1. Books in Europe were copied by hand before the fifteenth century.
2. Gutenberg was the first person in the world to invent printing.
3. Gutenberg printed each page from a single carved wooden block.
4. The price of books started to fall after the new method was introduced.
5. Gutenberg became rich from selling his Bible.
6. Printing workshops opened first in Germany and then in Italy.
Done. Your first lesson is on its way.
Answer key — IELTS Reading Practice: The Printing Press
- TRUE — The passage begins: "Before the fifteenth century, books in Europe were copied by hand."
- FALSE — The passage says "Printing was not new" and that printers in East Asia had made pages from carved wooden blocks for centuries.
- FALSE — The passage says he developed "movable metal type", with each letter cast separately, not wooden blocks.
- TRUE — The passage says the new method was faster "and the price of books began to fall."
- NOT GIVEN — The passage mentions the Gutenberg Bible but says nothing about how much money he earned.
- NOT GIVEN — The passage only says workshops opened "in cities across Europe" within a few decades; it does not say in which order or countries.