Thomas Young IELTS Reading Academic with Answers

Thomas Young- The Last Man Who Knew Everything IELTS Reading Academic with Answers

The IELTS Academic Reading passage Thomas Young – The Last Man Who Knew Everything highlights the life and achievements of Thomas Young—a true polymath whose contributions spanned medicine, physics, and linguistics. This passage tests a range of IELTS Reading skills including identifying main ideas, matching headings, and locating specific information.

In this article, you’ll find the complete set of reading answers along with question types and strategies to help you perform well in this academic-level task.

Reading Passage 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

Real IELTS Exam Question, Reported On:

India	29th September 2022
Uzbekistan	12th April 2025
India	17th June 2021

Thomas Young

The Last True Know-It-AU

A
Thomas Young (1773-1829) contributed 63 articles to the Encyclopedia Britannica, including 46 biographical entries (mostly on scientists and classicists) and substantial essays on “Bridge,” “Chromatics,” “Egypt,” “Languages” and “Tides”. Was someone who could write authoritatively about so many subjects a polymath, a genius or a dilettante? In an ambitious new biography, Andrew Robinson argues that Young is a good contender for the epitaph “the last man who knew everything.” Young has competition, however: The phrase, which Robinson takes for his title, also serves as the subtitle of two other recent biographies: Leonard Warren’s 1998 life of paleontologist Joseph Leidy (1823-1891) and Paula Findlen’s 2004 book on Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), another polymath.

B
Young, of course, did more than write encyclopedia entries. He presented his first paper to the Royal Society of London at the age of 20 and was elected a Fellow a week after his 21st birthday. In the paper, Young explained the process of accommodation in the human eye —on how the eye focuses properly on objects at varying distances. Young hypothesized that this was achieved by changes in the shape of the lens. Young also theorized that light traveled in waves and ho believed that, to account for the ability to see in color, there must be three receptors in the eye corresponding to the three “principal colors” to which the retina could respond: red, green, violet. All these hypotheses Were subsequently proved to be correct. IELTS Xpress

C
Later in his life, when he was in his forties, Young was instrumental in cracking the code that unlocked the unknown script on the Rosetta Stone, a tablet that was “found” in Egypt by the Napoleonic army in 1799. The stone contains text in three alphabets: Greek, something unrecognizable and Egyptian hieroglyphs. The unrecognizable script is now known as demotic and, as Young deduced, is related directly to hieroglyphic. His initial work on this appeared in his Britannica entry on Egypt. In another entry, he coined the term Indo-European to describe the family of languages spoken throughout most of Europe and northern India. These are the landmark achievements of a man who was a child prodigy and who, unlike many remarkable children, did not disappear into oblivion as an adult.

D
Born in 1773 in Somerset in England, Young lived from an early age with his maternal grandfather, eventually leaving to attend boarding school. He had devoured books from the age of two, and through his own initiative, he excelled at Latin, Greek, mathematics and natural philosophy. After leaving school, he was greatly encouraged by his mother’s uncle, Richard Brocklesby, a physician and Fellow of the Royal Society. Following Brocklesby’s lead, Young decided to pursue a career in medicine. He studied in London, following the medical circuit, and then moved on to more formal education in Edinburgh, Gottingen and Cambridge. After completing his medical training at the University of Cambridge in 1808, Young set up practice as a physician in London. He soon became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and a few years later was appointed physician at St. George’s Hospital.

E
Young’s skill as a physician, however, did not equal his skill as a scholar of natural philosophy or linguistics. Earlier, in 1801, he had been appointed to a professorship of natural philosophy at the Royal Institution, where he delivered as many as 60 lectures in a year. These were published in two volumes in 1807. In 1804 Young had become secretary to the Royal Society, a post he would hold until his death. His opinions were sought on civic and national matters, such as the introduction of gas lighting to London and methods of ship construction. From 1819 he was superintendent of the Nautical Almanac and secretary to the Board of Longitude. From 1824 to 1829 he was physician to and inspector of calculations for the Palladian Insurance Company. Between 1816 and 1825 he contributed his many and various entries to the Encyclopedia Britannica, and throughout his career, he authored numerous books, essays and papers. IELTSXPRESS

F
Young is a perfect subject for a biography — perfect, but daunting. Few men contributed so much to so many technical fields. Robinson’s aim is to introduce non-scientists to Young’s work and life. He succeeds, providing clear expositions of the technical material (especially that on optics and Egyptian hieroglyphs). Some readers of this book will, like Robinson, find Young’s accomplishments impressive; others will see him as some historians have —as a dilettante. Yet despite the rich material presented in this book, readers will not end up knowing Young personally. We catch glimpses of a playful Young, doodling Greek and Latin phrases in his notes on medical lectures and translating the verses that a young lady had written on the walls of a summerhouse into Greek elegiacs. Young was introduced into elite society, attended the theatre and learned to dance and play the flute. In addition, he was an accomplished horseman. However, his personal life looks pale next to his vibrant career and studies.

G
Young married Eliza Maxwell in 1804, and according to Robinson, “their marriage was a happy one and she appreciated his work,” Almost all we know about her is that she sustained her husband through some rancorous disputes about optics and that she worried about money when his medical career was slow to take off. Very little evidence survives about the complexities of Young’s relationships with his mother and father. Robinson does not credit them, or anyone else, with shaping Young’s extraordinary mind. Despite the lack of details concerning Young’s relationships, however, anyone interested in what it means to be a genius should read this book. ieltsxpre ss

Questions 1-7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN If there is no information on this

1 ‘The last man who knew everything’ has also been claimed to other people.
2 All Young’s articles were published in Encyclopedia Britannica.
3 Like others, Young wasn’t so brilliant when growing up.
4 Young’s talent as a doctor surpassed his other skills.
5 Young’s advice was sought by people responsible for local and national issues.
6 Young took part in various social pastimes.
7 Young suffered from a disease in his later years.

Questions 8-13
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

8 How many life stories did Young write for the Encyclopedia Britannica?
9 What aspect of scientific research did Young focus on in his first academic paper?
10 What name did Young introduce to refer to a group of languages?
11 Who inspired Young to start his medical studies?
12 Where did Young get a teaching position?
13 What contribution did Young make to London?

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Thomas Young – The Last Man Who Knew Everything IELTS Reading Answers

1. TRUE

2. FALSE

3. FALSE

4. NOT GIVEN

5. TRUE

6. TRUE

7. NOT GIVEN

8. 46

9. humaneye/ human eye accommodation

10. Indo-European

11. Richard Brocklesby

12. Royal Institution

13. gas lighting

Thomas Young – The Last Man Who Knew Everything IELTS Reading Answers Explanation

1. Answer: True
Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer explanation: The selected lines say that “Young has competition, however: The phrase, which Robinson takes for his title, also serves as the subtitle of two other recent biographies: Leonard Warren’s 1998 life of paleontologist Joseph Leidy (1823-1891) and Paula Findlen’s 2004 book on Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), another polymath.” This tells us that the statement agrees with the information that other people like Young, Leidy and Kircher have also claimed the title of ‘The last man who knew everything’. Hence, the answer is True.

2. Answer: False
Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer explanation: In the quoted lines of Paragraph B, it is said that “Young, of course, did more than write encyclopedia entries. He presented his first paper to the Royal Society of London…” This points to the fact that besides writing articles for Encyclopedia Britannica, Young had written and published papers for the Royal Society of London. Hence, the answer is False.

3. Answer: False
Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer explanation: In the highlighted line of Paragraph D, it is said that “He had devoured books from the age of two, and through his own initiative, he excelled at Latin, Greek, mathematics and natural philosophy.” This proves the fact that Young was brilliant from his childhood. Hence, the answer is False.

4. Answer: Not Given
Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer explanation: As there is no information regarding Young’s talent as a doctor which surpassed his other skills, the answer is Not Given.

5. Answer: True
Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer explanation: In Paragraph E, it is said that “His opinions were sought on civic and national matters, such as the introduction of gas lighting to London and methods of ship construction.”. In this way, it is shown that the statement agrees with the information that people responsible for local (civic) and national issues sought Young’s advice. Hence, the answer is True.

6. Answer: True
Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer explanation: The mentioned line informs that “Young was introduced into elite society, attended the theatre and learned to dance and play the flute. In addition, he was an accomplished horseman.”. As it is clear that the statement agrees with the information that Young took part in various social pastimes like attending theatre, learning how to dance and play the flute, the answer is True.

7. Answer: Not Given
Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer explanation: As there is no information on whether Young suffered from a disease in his later years or not, the answer is Not Given.

8. Answer: 46
Question type: Short Answer type

Answer explanation: The quoted line of Paragraph A indicates that “Thomas Young (1773-1829) contributed 63 articles to the Encyclopedia Britannica, including 46 biographical entries (mostly on scientists and classicists)…”. It is clear that Young wrote 46 life (biological) stories for the Encyclopedia Britannica. Hence, the answer is ‘46/forty-six’.

9. Answer: human eye accommodation
Question type: Short Answer type

Answer explanation: The given lines of Paragraph B say that “He presented his first paper to the Royal Society of London at the age of 20 and was elected a Fellow a week after his 21st birthday. In the paper, Young explained the process of accommodation in the human eye…”. It is clear that the aspect of scientific research Young focused on in his first academic paper is accommodation in the human eye. Since more than three words are not allowed, the answer is ‘human eye accommodation’.

10. Answer: Indo-European
Question type: Short Answer type

Answer explanation: The given line of Paragraph C says that “In another entry, he coined the term Indo-European to describe the family of languages spoken throughout most of Europe and northern India.”. It is clear that Young introduced the term ‘Indo-European’ to refer to a group of languages. Hence, the answer is ‘Indo-European’.

11. Answer: Richard Brocklesby
Question type: Short Answer type

Answer explanation: The given lines in Paragraph D say that “After leaving school, he was greatly encouraged by his mother’s uncle, Richard Brocklesby, a physician and Fellow of the Royal Society. Following Brocklesby’s lead, Young decided to pursue a career in medicine.” In light of the fact that Richard Brocklesby, Young’s mother’s uncle, inspired Young to start his medical studies, the answer is ‘Richard Brocklesby’.

12. Answer: Royal Institution
Question type: Short Answer type

Answer explanation: The suggested line of Paragraph J says that “Earlier, in 1801, he had been appointed to a professorship of natural philosophy at the Royal Institution, where he delivered as many as 60 lectures in a year.”. From this reference, we can conclude that Young got a teaching position in the Royal Institution in 1801. Hence, the answer is ‘Royal Institution’.

13. Answer: gas lighting
Question type: Short Answer type

Answer explanation: In Paragraph E, it is noted that “His opinions were sought on civic and national matters, such as the introduction of gas lighting to London and methods of ship construction.”. Based on these references, we can conclude that Young’s contribution to London is the introduction of gas lighting and certain methods of ship construction. Hence, the answer is ‘gas lighting’.

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