IELTS has four sections in total, which include Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking, and each one works to identify a different skill. Reading is where you sit with a passage and answer questions that show whether you actually understood it, not just skimmed the words.
Radiocarbon Dating is a passage built around the researcher Nancy Athfield and her work studying ancient remains found in Cambodia. Students searching for Radiocarbon Dating reading answers usually come here for the exact exam key, so let's start with that. It covers her unusual path into science, her research trip to the ruins of Angkor Wat, and the questions her findings raised about a royal family long thought to be buried there. This passage comes from IELTS Recent Actual Test 5, Academic Reading Test 3, Passage 1.
The original passage carries 13 questions, split across two formats. Questions 1 to 7 are True, False, Not Given, and Questions 8 to 13 are flow chart completion. Here's the exact Radiocarbon Dating IELTS reading answers key from the original exam paper.
Question
Answer
Question Type
1
False
True/False/Not Given
2
Not Given
True/False/Not Given
3
Not Given
True/False/Not Given
4
False
True/False/Not Given
5
False
True/False/Not Given
6
Not Given
True/False/Not Given
7
True
True/False/Not Given
8
university
Flow Chart Completion
9
rat
Flow Chart Completion
10
diet
Flow Chart Completion
11
archaeologist
Flow Chart Completion
12
funding
Flow Chart Completion
13
database
Flow Chart Completion
This is the answer key for the original exam passage. Further down on this page, you'll find a paraphrased version of the passage along with a fresh set of practice questions, so you can test yourself properly instead of just recognising answers you've already seen.
Want to understand the complete IELTS test before practising Reading passages? Check the IELTS Exam page for the test format, sections, duration, and key details.
Radiocarbon Dating IELTS Reading Passage for Practice
Ever wonder how scientists figure out the age of something with no label, no date, nothing written down anywhere? Radiocarbon dating is one of the tools that makes this possible, and this passage follows a researcher named Nancy Athfield who used it to study ancient remains in Cambodia.
Her path into science wasn't planned out from the start, and neither was the mystery she ended up chasing at Angkor Wat. Both threads run through the passage below.
What follows is a paraphrased version of the original passage, written fresh so you have new material to practise with similar types of questions. Read it carefully before you move to the questions.
Radiocarbon Dating Passage
A: People have always been curious about how old things really are. Rocks, fossils, and ancient objects can carry a much longer history than anyone realises just by looking at them. Radiocarbon dating gives scientists a way to work out an object's age using the particles found inside it, and researcher Nancy Athfield became known for using this method on remains uncovered in Cambodia. Local people had found many of these remains themselves, long before any scientist arrived to study them properly.
B: Nancy's chance to study these objects came through an unusual route. She was part of a documentary crew, made up of scientists and filmmakers, who were already in Cambodia for a film project. Their goal was to gather evidence for a long-running historical debate, whether Cambodia was truly the resting place of the royal family from Angkor. Old records disagreed on this point, and people around the world held different views on where the royal family had actually been buried.
C: Using radiocarbon dating on objects from the Angkor Wat site, Nancy traced their age back as far as 1620. This created a problem. Historical accounts placed the royal family's remains at a much later date, so the findings raised doubt about whose remains these actually were. The mystery stayed unsolved when Nancy's team left, though new remains have since been found at the same site, keeping the question open for future research.
D: Long before any of this, Nancy's career looked nothing like a scientist's. She moved between short-term jobs and community work, without any clear direction. A friend eventually convinced her to apply to a nearby university, something she wasn't confident about at all. She got in anyway, and it was there she crossed paths with Willard Libby, the scientist who had invented radiocarbon dating. That meeting changed everything for her.
E: After finishing her degree, Nancy's career in science took off. She married, and her husband landed a position at a well-known organisation called GNN, where she eventually became a lab manager herself. Her PhD research focused on a species of rat that had recently made its way into New Zealand, and through this work, she found that earlier lab studies had gotten their results wrong because they hadn't accounted for the animal's diet.
F: Nancy didn't stay in one lane for long. She moved into anthropology and built a career as an archaeologist, and it was during this stretch that she joined the Cambodia project. When the documentary crew eventually ran short on money and packed up, Nancy chose to stay behind and keep working.
G: The film wrapped up in 2003 without any firm conclusions, but Nancy kept going. Funding stayed hard to come by, and government paperwork slowed things down further. Even so, she pushed through the setbacks and stayed committed to finishing what she had started.
H: Her persistence paid off. Nancy eventually built a full database covering the radiocarbon dating results from the Cambodian materials, despite starting out with almost no background in the region's geology. That database now stands as a genuine contribution to the study of Cambodia's ancient history, and radiocarbon dating remains one of the field's most valuable tools because of work like hers.
Now that you've made it through the paraphrased passage, it's time for a genuine practice round. These questions are written fresh, targeting different details from the ones tested in the original exam, so you'll need to actually reason your way through instead of recalling answers from the key above.
A few answers sit right there in the text, and a few need a bit more digging since the wording won't always match exactly. Read each question fully before deciding on your answer.
Questions 1–7: True, False, Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information in the passage above?
Write: TRUE if the statement agrees with the passage FALSE if the statement contradicts the passage NOT GIVEN if the passage doesn't say either way
The local population in Cambodia found the ancient remains before any scientist examined them.
Nancy's PhD research took place in Cambodia, before her involvement in the Angkor Wat project.
The dating results Nancy found conflicted with what historical records suggested about the royal family.
Willard Libby personally travelled to Cambodia to assist Nancy's research.
Nancy gave up on her Cambodia research once the film crew left due to a lack of funding.
Nancy had studied Cambodian geology in depth before she began her database project.
The film crew's documentary was still being made when new remains were found at Angkor Wat.
Questions 8–13: Flow Chart Completion
Complete the flow chart below using ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
The Career of Nancy Athfield
Nancy joined a documentary crew that included both scientists and 8 ___________.
↓
She traced the age of objects from Angkor Wat back to the year 9 ___________.
↓
A friend convinced her to apply, even though she doubted her own 10 ___________.
↓
At university, she met the inventor of radiocarbon dating, whose name was 11 ___________.
↓
Her husband found work at an organisation called 12 ___________, where she became a lab manager.
↓
Despite setbacks, she finished building a full 13 ___________ of the Cambodian materials.
Radiocarbon Dating Reading Answers with Explanation
Now that you've worked through the fresh practice questions above, check them against the answers below and see exactly why each one fits. This is a different question set from the original exam key at the top of this page, built specifically so you have something new to test yourself with. Every entry below also works as Radiocarbon Dating reading answers with location, since each one is tied to its exact paragraph.
Read through every explanation, even for the ones you got right. That's what actually builds your accuracy for the next passage, not just knowing you picked the correct letter this time.
H3: Answers 1–7: True, False, Not Given
This set covers the personal and investigative details scattered across the passage, so match each statement back to its exact paragraph rather than relying on a general impression. Think of this as the Radiocarbon Dating reading answers with location breakdown, since every answer points straight to where it came from.
Q1: The local population in Cambodia found the ancient remains before any scientist examined them. A: TRUE Location: Paragraph A Explanation: The passage says local people had already found many of the remains long before any scientist arrived to study them. That matches the statement directly.
Q2: Nancy's PhD research took place in Cambodia, before her involvement in the Angkor Wat project. A: FALSE Location: Paragraph E Explanation: Her PhD research was on a species of rat in New Zealand, not Cambodia. The passage keeps these two chapters of her career separate, so this statement gets both the place and the order wrong.
Q3: The dating results Nancy found conflicted with what historical records suggested about the royal family. A: TRUE Location: Paragraph C Explanation: The passage says her results traced the objects back to 1620, while historical accounts placed the royal family's remains much later. That gap is exactly what created the doubt described in the passage.
Q4: Willard Libby personally travelled to Cambodia to assist Nancy's research. A: NOT GIVEN Location: Paragraph D Explanation: Willard Libby appears only in the part of the passage about Nancy's university years. There's no mention of him being involved in the Cambodia project at all, so this can't be confirmed either way.
Q5: Nancy gave up on her Cambodia research once the film crew left due to a lack of funding. A: FALSE Location: Paragraph F Explanation: The passage says the opposite happened. When the filmmakers ran out of money and left, Nancy chose to stay behind and keep working, not walk away.
Q6: Nancy had studied Cambodian geology in depth before she began her database project. A: FALSE Location: Paragraph H Explanation: The passage says she started the database with almost no background in the region's geology. That directly contradicts the idea of having studied it in depth beforehand.
Q7: The film crew's documentary was still being made when new remains were found at Angkor Wat. A: NOT GIVEN Location: Paragraph C Explanation: The passage says new remains were found after Nancy's team studied the site, but it never says exactly when this happened relative to the documentary's production. There's no timing detail to confirm or rule this out.
Answers 8–13: Flow Chart Completion
This section moves through Nancy's career and the Cambodia project in order, so the paragraph locations here follow the same sequence as the flow chart itself.
Q8: Nancy joined a documentary crew that included both scientists and ___________. A: filmmakers Location: Paragraph B Explanation: The passage says the crew was made up of scientists and filmmakers working on a documentary together. That's exactly who made up the team.
Q9: She traced the age of objects from Angkor Wat back to the year ___________. A: 1620 Location: Paragraph C Explanation: The passage gives this exact date as how far back the dating results went, which is the number driving the whole mystery in the passage.
Q10: A friend convinced her to apply, even though she doubted her own ___________. A: confidence Location: Paragraph D Explanation: The passage says she wasn't confident about her chances before applying, even though her friend pushed her to try anyway. Confidence is the exact quality being described.
Q11: At university, she met the inventor of radiocarbon dating, whose name was ___________. A: Libby Location: Paragraph D Explanation: The passage names Willard Libby directly as the inventor of radiocarbon dating, and says meeting him at university changed things for her.
Q12: Her husband found work at an organisation called ___________, where she became a lab manager. A: GNN Location: Paragraph E Explanation: The passage names this organisation directly as where her husband worked, and where she later became a lab manager herself.
Q13: Despite setbacks, she finished building a full ___________ of the Cambodian materials. A: database Location: Paragraph H Explanation: The passage says she completed this despite having little background in local geology, and names exactly what she built from the radiocarbon results.
How to Approach Radiocarbon Dating IELTS Reading Questions?
This passage mixes a personal career story with a scientific mystery, and that combination is exactly what trips people up. A detail about Nancy's PhD can sit right next to a detail about the Cambodia dig, so it's easy to grab the wrong one if you're moving too fast. The section below breaks down exactly where students lose marks on this passage and how to avoid each trap.
1. Split the Passage into Two Tracks Before You Start
Before answering a single question, separate the passage into its two running storylines. Every paragraph belongs to one or the other, and knowing which track you're on cuts your search time in half.
Track
What it covers
Paragraphs
Personal career
University, PhD, job titles, Willard Libby
D, E, F
Cambodia investigation
Documentary, Angkor Wat, dating results, database
A, B, C, G, H
If a question mentions a PhD or a university, go straight to the personal career track. If it mentions the royal family or Angkor Wat, go straight to the investigation track. Don't let your eyes wander into the wrong track just because a paragraph is nearby.
2. Learn to Tell False Apart from Not Given
This is where this passage catches the most students out. Use this check every time:
If the passage...
Your answer
States the same idea as the statement
TRUE
States the opposite of the statement
FALSE
Never mentions this detail at all
NOT GIVEN
A useful habit: before you commit to False, find the actual sentence in the passage that contradicts the statement. If you can't point to one, it's Not Given, not False.
Question 4 is a clean example; the passage never mentions Willard Libby being anywhere near Cambodia, so there's nothing to contradict and nothing to confirm.
3. Follow the Cause, Not Just the Event
A few answers in this passage aren't testing what happened; they're testing why it happened. Skip the reason, and you'll land on a detail that sounds right but answers the wrong question.
Take the earlier research mistake as an example. It wasn't random. The passage points to one specific cause behind it, and that cause is the actual answer, not the mistake itself.
A simple four-step pattern works well here:
Step
What to do
1. Spot the effect
Find the outcome or mistake mentioned in the question
2. Locate the paragraph
Go to where that outcome is described
3. Find the cause phrase
Look for words like "because," "due to," or "the reason"
4. Confirm the exact cause
Match that cause word for word against your answer
The most common slip here is grabbing the first matching word in the paragraph and moving on, instead of tracing it back to the actual cause. That shortcut is exactly what this passage is designed to catch.
4. Match Names and Numbers to the Right Point in the Story
The flow chart section in this passage depends on getting specific names and numbers exactly right, not general ideas.
Detail
What does it refer to
Filmmakers
Who made up the documentary crew alongside scientists
1620
The age of the dating results traces back to
Libby
The inventor of radiocarbon dating met at the university
GNN
The organisation where her husband worked
If a question is asking for a name or a date, don't settle for a general word nearby. Go back to the exact sentence and pull out the precise detail being asked for, not just the closest noun you can find.
H3: 5. Use Rare Names as Your Fastest Scanning Clues
Some words in this passage show up once, and once only. Those are worth far more than a common word for scanning quickly.
Clue
Points you to
Willard Libby
Nancy's university years, Paragraph D
GNN
Her early career, Paragraph E
1620
The dating results at Angkor Wat, Paragraph C
2003
The point she returned to Cambodia, Paragraph F
Scan for a name, a number, or a specific term like this before you scan for general words like "research" or "study." A general word can show up in three or four paragraphs, but a name like Willard Libby only ever points to one.
6. Run a Final Check Before You Commit to an Answer
Right before you write down an answer, give it a five-second gut check. Most mistakes on this
Passage doesn't come from misunderstanding it, they come from rushing past a detail that would've stopped you.
Ask yourself
Why it matters
Is this actually stated, or am I assuming it?
The passage never rewards a guess that "sounds right"
Which track does this belong to, career or Cambodia?
Answering from the wrong track is the easiest way to go wrong here
For flow chart answers, is it spelled exactly as in the passage and just one word?
A near-miss spelling or an extra word still costs the mark
For True, False, Not Given, can I point to the sentence proving it?
If you can't point to it, you probably don't have it yet
Five seconds per question, and you'll catch the kind of error that has nothing to do with your reading skill and everything to do with speed.
Looking for more IELTS Reading practice? Read these answer guides to practise different passage topics and question types:
Radiocarbon Dating reading answers work two stories into one passage: Nancy Athfield's personal path into science and the mystery she chased in Cambodia. Getting the questions right means tracking both threads carefully instead of assuming one detail belongs where it doesn't.
Go back through the Radiocarbon Dating IELTS reading answers and explanations above, especially for anything you missed. Understanding why an answer works will help you far more than just memorising the key.
This passage follows researcher Nancy Athfield, covering her unconventional path into science and her work studying ancient remains in Cambodia. It also touches on a historical mystery involving the Angkor royal family and where they were actually buried.
How many questions are there in the Radiocarbon Dating reading answers set?
There are 13 questions in the original exam paper, and another 13 fresh practice questions on this page. Both sets are split between True, False, Not Given statements and a flow chart completion section.
What question types appear in the Radiocarbon Dating IELTS reading answers passage?
Questions 1 to 7 are True, False, Not Given, and Questions 8 to 13 are flow chart completion using one word only from the passage. Each type needs a slightly different reading approach.
Where can I find the Radiocarbon Dating reading answers with location?
They're right above, in the answers and explanation section. Each one includes the paragraph it comes from, along with a short explanation of why that answer fits.
Are the practice questions on this page the same as the original exam questions?
No. The passage on this page is a paraphrased version, and the practice questions further down test different details from the original exam. The answer key at the very top belongs to the real exam, so treat that separately from the practice set.
How should I practise using the Radiocarbon Dating IELTS reading answers?
Try the practice questions on your own first, without looking at the answers. Once you're done, check your answers and go through each explanation properly, especially for anything you got wrong.
Why is the Not Given category tricky in this passage?
Not Given comes up when the passage simply doesn't mention something, not when it disagrees with a statement. Question 4 in the practice set is a clear example, since Willard Libby is mentioned in the passage, but never in connection with Cambodia at all.
Is Radiocarbon Dating a difficult passage for IELTS Reading?
It sits somewhere in the moderate range. The vocabulary itself isn't overly complex, but following two storylines at once, Nancy's career and the Cambodia mystery, takes a careful read. This is exactly why students look up Radiocarbon Dating reading answers before attempting a timed run.
Can I use this passage for timed IELTS Reading practice?
Yes, it works well for that. Try finishing all 13 practice questions within about 18 to 20 minutes, then check them against the Radiocarbon Dating reading answers with location above to see how close you got.
What's the most common mistake students make with this passage?
Mixing up which timeline a detail belongs to is the biggest one. A detail from Nancy's PhD years can get confused with something from her later Cambodia work if you're not paying close attention to timing.
Is Radiocarbon Dating part of IELTS Academic or General Training Reading?
This passage belongs to IELTS Academic Reading. Passages built around researchers, scientific methods, or historical investigations like this one are typical of the Academic format, and the Radiocarbon Dating IELTS reading answers set follows that same pattern.
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