Watching Freedonia’s Borders Reading Answers

The IELTS Reading test checks whether you can find specific details, follow a writer’s argument, and understand what a study shows. The Watching Freedonia’s Borders IELTS passage is one such passage that describes a 1993 study that asked whether prisoners in Freedonia read and write worse than other adults. 

The passage is titled Literacy in Freedonia’s Prisons, and many students know it as Watching Freedonia’s Borders.

Below are the official IELTS answers for this passage’s questions: 

Question Number	Watching Freedonia’s Borders Reading Answers
11	Media
12	Prison officials
13	Overseas studies
14	Job application
15	Insurance applications
16	Newspaper articles
17	Train timetables
18	Bank account
19	E
20	F
21	C
22	2
23	1
24	A
25	C

Now that you have checked the official IELTS answer key, you can attempt our practice questions for this passage. Read the passage, answer the questions, and then check your answers against the explanations on this page.

Watching Freedonia’s Borders Reading Passage for Practice

This passage is titled Literacy in Freedonia’s Prisons, and it is also known as Watching Freedonia’s Borders, so you may see it under either name. 

It asks a simple question: do prisoners in Freedonia read and write worse than other adults? For a long time, many people assumed they do. Newspapers, prison officials, and some criminologists repeated the idea, but very little hard evidence supported it.

As you read, pay attention to how the results are described. The writer does not say prisoners are simply better or worse. Some tasks show them doing worse, while others show them doing better. 

Now, read the complete passage and attempt your IELTS Reading practice test that we have prepared for you: 

A. In 1993, Freedonia’s National Prisons Directorate (ND) ran a research project to find out how well the country’s prisoners could read and write.

B. Many people accept the idea that prisoners are poor readers and writers, even though little hard evidence backs it up. The media often describe prisoners as illiterate and poorly educated. The Freedonian, the country’s leading daily paper, printed the line “Freedonia’s jails are full of people who can’t read!” on 4 May 1992. The media are not the only critics. Prison officials also believe prisoners read poorly (McDonnell, 1989), and overseas studies have added weight to this view. In 1987, Kohl surveyed Canadian prisoners and found literacy rates between 15% and 55%. An Australian study that year found similar results.

C. Freedonian criminologists have also started to argue that crime comes from illiteracy (Bass, 1988; Katz & Wallport, 1989). The directorate commissioned its study to compare prisoners’ literacy with that of the general public, to see whether these views held up.

D. The Literacy Institute at the Freedonian National University ran the study. It tested 200 male prisoners from Yaxchilan Men’s Correctional Institute and 150 female prisoners from Monambak Women’s Prison. Each prisoner worked through a set of activities that measured three kinds of literacy. X-literacy means filling in forms or following written directions. Y-literacy means understanding reading passages. Z-literacy means reading text that is mostly numbers, which often involves some calculation. All the activities were the same as those used in a national adult literacy survey in 1990.

E. Prisoners did worse than the general public on X-literacy, but the gap was small. In one task, where people filled in mock job applications, 62% of female prisoners and 60% of male prisoners did it correctly. The national adult sample scored 66% (see figure 1). Insurance applications showed similar small gaps, although results varied a lot from person to person.

F. Some tasks showed bigger differences. Only 54% of male prisoners could pick out the main and secondary points of newspaper articles, compared with 64% of the general public. Female prisoners scored 61% on this task, which was close to the national average. Men also fell well behind on keeping a running total in a bank account, a fairly complex maths task. Prisoners did better than the general adult sample in other areas. Far fewer general adults than prisoners could read train timetables correctly. On directions printed on medical prescriptions, both male and female prisoners did slightly better than adults outside prison.

G. Overall, prisoners and the general adult public have roughly the same literacy level. Prisoners are weaker in some areas, but if the results reflect the whole prison population, it would be wrong to say prisoners are worse readers and writers. The study does not mean prisoners have no literacy problems. The general public did not do well on any of the tasks either. Wallport (1994) said the early view of prisoner literacy was not wrong. The mistake, he wrote, was in how people judged the skills of the general public.

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Watching Freedonia’s Borders Reading Questions

This section has 11 questions based on the passage. The questions check whether you can find facts, numbers, and the writer’s point of view. Read the whole passage once before you start, then return to each question and find its paragraph. 

Some answers are numbers, so check the figures carefully:

Questions 1–3: Short answer

Answer each question using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS or a number from the passage.

1. Which institute at the Freedonian National University carried out the study?
2. Which newspaper printed the claim that Freedonia’s jails are full of people who can’t read?
3. How many female prisoners took part in the study?

Questions 4–5: Complete the notes

Complete the notes below. Choose ONE word from the passage for each answer.

• X-literacy involves filling in (4) ________ or following written directions.
• Z-literacy involves text that is mostly (5) ________.

Questions 6–8: Summary completion

Complete the summary below. Write NO MORE THAN ONE NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

Prisoners in Canada were found to have literacy rates from 15% to (6) ________%. On the newspaper task, female prisoners scored (7) ________%. On the mock job application task, the national adult sample scored (8) ________%.

Questions 9–11: Multiple choice

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.

9. Why did the study use the same activities as the 1990 national survey?

• A To make the test harder for prisoners
• B To show that the 1990 survey was wrong
• C To make the results fair to compare
• D To save money on new tests

10. What does the writer say about the claim that prisoners are poor readers?

• A It is backed by strong evidence from many studies.
• B It is widely accepted, even though little hard evidence supports it.
• C It was first made by overseas researchers.
• D It is only believed by newspapers.

11. Why does the writer mention the Canadian and Australian studies?

• A To explain why people already believed prisoners read poorly
• B To prove that prisoners read well in every country
• C To show that the 1993 study used the wrong method
• D To explain the results of the 1990 survey

Check out: How to Register for the IELTS Exam 2026 in India?

Watching Freedonia’s Borders Reading Answers with Explanation

Each answer below comes from one paragraph of the passage. The explanation shows where to look, why the answer fits, and what the wrong options get wrong. 

Read the reasons even for the answers you got right, since the approach and direction of finding the correct answer may help you in your IELTS exam.

Answers 1–3: Short answer

1. Literacy Institute

Paragraph D names the group that ran the study. It was the Literacy Institute of the Freedonian National University. The question asks which institute, so you can drop “Freedonian National University” and write only the part that names the institute.

2. The Freedonian

Paragraph B quotes a line from the country’s leading daily paper. The paper is named as The Freedonian. Look for the words “daily paper” near the quote, because that is how the writer identifies the source.

3. 150

Paragraph D says the study tested 200 male prisoners and 150 female prisoners. Both numbers are close together, so check the word “female” before you write. The male number is 200, and that one is not the answer here.

Answers 4–5: Complete the Notes

4. forms

Paragraph D explains that X-literacy means being able to fill out forms or follow written directions. The note asks for the first of those two skills, and the passage uses the word “forms” directly.

5. number-based

Paragraph D says Z-literacy involves text that is “primarily number-based.” The hyphen joins the two parts into one word, so it counts as one word and fits the limit. Write it with the hyphen.

Answers 6–8: Summary Completion

6. 55

Paragraph B describes Kohl’s 1987 survey of Canadian prisoners and gives a range of 15% to 55%. The summary asks for the top of that range, which is the second number.

7. 61

Paragraph F says female prisoners scored 61% on identifying the main points of newspaper articles. Be careful with the male figure, 54%, which appears in the same sentence. The question is about female prisoners, so 61 is the right number.

8. 66

Paragraph E gives the national adult sample’s score on the mock job application task. It was 66%. Prisoners scored lower than that, at 62% for women and 60% for men, so the 66 belongs to the public and not to the prisoners.

Answers 9–11: Multiple choice

9. C (to make the results fair to compare)

Paragraph D says every activity was identical to the one used in the 1990 national survey. Using the same tests means any difference in scores comes from the people, not from the test. Option A is wrong because the study does not make the test harder. Option B is wrong because the passage never says the earlier survey was mistaken. Option D is not mentioned at all.

10. B (it is widely accepted, even though little hard evidence supports it)

Paragraph B says the idea that prisoners are poor readers is accepted with little questioning, despite a lack of hard evidence. Option B says this in plain words. Option A is the opposite of what the paragraph says. Option C is wrong because the paragraph shows the idea came from several groups, including local media and officials. Option D is too narrow, since prison officials also hold the view.

11. A (to explain why people already believed prisoners read poorly)

Paragraph B mentions the Canadian and Australian studies as examples that strengthened the belief that prisoners read poorly. They are used to explain why the view had support. Option B is not in the passage. Option C is wrong because the writer does not criticise the 1993 study’s method. Option D is wrong because the 1990 survey is only used as a comparison, not explained.

Also Read:
IELTS Syllabus	IELTS Test Format	IELTS Exam Pattern

How to Approach Watching Freedonia’s Borders Reading Questions?

The Watching Freedonia’s Borders reading passage has 11 questions based on a study. To answer them correctly, you need to identify key details, understand how the study was conducted, and compare the findings. 

The following steps can help you locate the relevant information without reading the passage repeatedly:

Step 1: Find the keywords in each question

Underline the main words in each question before looking for the answer in the passage.

• Questions 1–2: Look for information about “influences”.
• Questions 3–5: Identify the three literacy types (X, Y, and Z).
• Questions 6–8: Focus on the summary gaps and comparison words such as “furthest,” “better,” and “close”.
• Questions 9–11: Look for the study and the writer’s conclusion.

Step 2: Identify the Main Idea of Each Paragraph

The passage has seven paragraphs, labelled A to G. Knowing what each paragraph covers can help you find relevant information more quickly.

Paragraph	Main idea
A	Background to the research project
B	Common beliefs about prisoners
C	Purpose of the study
D	How the study was conducted
E	Findings for the first literacy type
F	Tasks showing larger gaps
G	The study’s overall conclusion

Step 3: Pay Attention to Words that Show Differences

Words such as “slight,” “marginally,” “significantly,” and “close” describe the size of a difference between results. Read these words carefully, especially when a question asks you to compare findings.

 Remember, a small change in wording can affect which answer is correct.

Step 4: Follow the word limit

Questions 1–5 have specific word limits. Check the instructions before writing each answer, as an answer that exceeds the limit may not receive a mark. 

Also, remember that a hyphenated word generally counts as one word.

Step 5: Review your Answers

Before moving to the next question, check the following:

• Have you found the information in the correct paragraph?
• Does your answer match the meaning of the passage?
• Have you followed the word limit?
• Is your spelling correct?

These checks can help you avoid losing marks for answers that contain the right information but do not follow the question instructions.

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