Its a Boy, Not an Old Wives' Tale Reading Answers

Jul 25, 2025

Its a Boy, Not an Old Wives' Tale Reading Answers contain 14 questions and belong to the assessment system of the IELTS General Reading test. Its a Boy, Not an Old Wives' Tale Reading Answers must be answered within 20 minutes. In this IELTS reading section, question types include: Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each, Do the following statements agree with the information given and Complete the summary using the list of words.

Its a Boy, Not an Old Wives' Tale Reading Answers offers a comprehensive overview of how a study links parental age difference to the sex of first-born babies, revealing surprising insights. To practice similar reading tests, candidates can refer to the IELTS Reading Practice Test section.

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Topic:

Old wives’ tales abound for influencing or predicting the sex of a baby. If the myths are to be believed, hopeful parents should be moving their bed to face a particular compass point, timing the precise point of ovulation, judging the shape of the growing ‘bump’ or studying swinging wedding rings suspended over the expectant mother’s palm. A report in the 25 September 1997 issue of the science magazine Nature tells how older husbands might be more reliable predictors of the sex of a child than are old wives.

To be precise, it is the difference between the ages of parents that seems to have a small but significant effect on the sex of their first child. The effect was discovered by Dr John T. Manning and his colleagues from the Population Biology Research Group at the University of Liverpool, UK, within historical population records from England and Wales. The bigger the parental age difference, the more biased the child sex ratio, with comparatively older fathers producing more boys.

Their results stem from a noticeable change in marriage and birth patterns around wartime. Manning and his team say that “The proportion of male to female births increases during and shortly after periods of war”, with male births rising to around 51.5 per cent around the First and Second World Wars. They also found that the average age difference between spouses changed in favour of older husbands around those times.

Using statistical tests they linked the two observations, claiming that the age difference between spouses was strongly correlated with the sex ratio between the years 1911 and 1952. The bigger the age difference between parents, the stronger the effect.

Looking at the first-born child, the researchers found an excess of daughters when the mother was older than the father and an excess of sons when the father was older than the mother. The latter category is more noticeable because that parental age bias was the more common around war time. To some extent, the second-born child restores the balance, with a very small excess of daughters for older fathers and younger mothers, although this effect was much less prominent than the bias of the first-born child, and did not overcome the general trend towards more boy babies.

But statistics yields only trends, not reasons. Why should the sex bias occur? Intuitively it seems natural to increase the birth rate of boys when the male population was depleted during the two World Wars. In general, there is a small bias towards male births, which may compensate for the slightly lower male life-expectancy. But the mechanisms that cause the bias are a mystery.

Rank and dominance in some animals is related to the sex of offspring. The researchers suggest that the bias may be the result of women preferring to marry older men with higher rank. Perhaps the hormonal or other influences of rank and status might also influence early miscarriage or the implant rates of embryos of a particular sex. Another possibility is that somehow the mother might influence the movement of sperm carrying the male (Y) or female (X) chromosome.

But before anyone goes to trade their partner for one of the appropriate age, be warned. The effect is small and noticeable only on the scale of whole populations, not individuals. As the swinging wedding band may turn out to be a more reliable guide.

By the way, if it swings from side-to-side, it’s a boy, and circling means a girl – according to old wives.

Questions 1–5

Do the following statements agree with the information in the IELTS reading sample text?

TRUE – if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE – if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN – if there is no information on this

There are very few myths about manipulating or determining the sex of a child.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: "Old wives’ tales abound for influencing or predicting the sex of a baby..."

Keywords: old wives’ tales, abound, influencing, predicting

Keyword Location: Paragraph 1, Line 1

Explanation: The statement in the passage clearly indicates that there are many myths ("abound"), not few, hence the statement contradicts the text.

Husbands are better than their wives at predicting the gender of a child.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: "...older husbands might be more reliable predictors of the sex of a child than are old wives."

Keywords: older husbands, reliable predictors, old wives

Keyword Location: Paragraph 1, Line 4

Explanation: The sentence refers to statistical associations—not actual predictions made by husbands. Therefore, it is incorrect to say husbands are better predictors than wives.

One observation was that times of great conflict affect marriage patterns.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: "Their results stem from a noticeable change in marriage and birth patterns around wartime."

Keywords: change, marriage patterns, wartime

Keyword Location: Paragraph 3, Line 1

Explanation: The passage explicitly states that wartime influenced marriage and birth patterns, confirming this observation as true.

Another discovery of the researchers was that women seemed to opt for younger spouses at wartime.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: "...average age difference between spouses changed in favour of older husbands around those times."

Keywords: older husbands, age difference, wartime

Keyword Location: Paragraph 3, Line 3

Explanation: The text contradicts this statement; it indicates women married older men, not younger.

Despite the results, the researchers are unsure about why the phenomenon was like that.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: "But the mechanisms that cause the bias are a mystery."

Keywords: mechanisms, cause, mystery

Keyword Location: Paragraph 6, Line 3

Explanation: The researchers observed trends, but they admit they do not understand the reasons behind them, affirming this statement.

Questions 6–7

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each.

It was Dr. Manning and associates who _________ the relation between the age of the parents and the gender of their firstborn.

Answer: discovered

Supporting statement: “The effect was discovered by Dr John T. Manning and his colleagues…”

Keywords: discovered, relation, age of parents

Keyword Location: Paragraph 2, Line 2

Explanation: The text directly states that Manning and his team discovered the effect.

When studying first-born children, there seemed to be _________ of female children when the father was younger than the mother.

Answer: an excess

Supporting statement: “...found an excess of daughters when the mother was older than the father...”

Keywords: excess of daughters, mother older

Keyword Location: Paragraph 5, Line 1

Explanation: The research showed a surplus of daughters in cases where the father was younger, confirming the phrase.

Questions 8-9

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each.

8. The researchers noticed that a particular ………………… occurred more at times of conflict.

Answer: marriage pattern

Supporting statement: “Their results stem from a noticeable change in marriage and birth patterns around wartime.”

Keywords: change, marriage patterns, wartime

Keyword Location: Paragraph 3, Line 1

Explanation: The passage highlights that wartime affected marriage patterns, making this the most accurate 3-word phrase.

9. Both World Wars ………………. the number of men.

Answer: depleted

Supporting statement: “...increase the birth rate of boys when the male population was depleted during the two World Wars.”

Keywords: male population, depleted, World Wars

Keyword Location: Paragraph 6, Line 2

Explanation: The wars reduced the male population, hence “depleted” is the right word.

Questions 10-14

Complete the summary using the list of words, A - L, below.

A. determining

B. creature

C. wisdom

D. exchange

E. traditional

F. dependable

G. affect

H. faking

I. wealth

J. delete

K. guessing

L. reliability

In some animals, their position and dominance (10).....................

Answer: affect

Supporting statement: "Rank and dominance in some animals is related to the sex of offspring."

Keywords: rank, dominance, sex of offspring

Keyword Location: Paragraph 6, line 1

Explanation: The passage discusses how, in animals, rank and dominance are linked to the gender of their offspring, suggesting a cause-and-effect relationship. The word “affect” best fits this context as it describes influence.

the gender of their children. One idea is that women may prefer an older spouse because of their (11)............

Answer: wealth

Supporting statement: "The researchers suggest that the bias may be the result of women preferring to marry older men with higher rank."

Keywords: women, older men, higher rank

Keyword Location: Paragraph 6, line 2

Explanation: The passage links higher rank with attractiveness in older men, often associated with wealth or status, making “wealth” the most suitable word here.

Another reason may be that the woman is somehow (12).............

Answer: determining

Supporting statement: "Another possibility is that somehow the mother might influence the movement of sperm..."

Keywords: mother, influence, movement of sperm

Keyword Location: Paragraph 6, line 4

Explanation: This suggests the mother may have a role in selecting sperm carrying specific chromosomes, thus determining the baby's sex.

the movement of sperm. Regardless, the author cautions everyone not to (13).............

Answer: exchange

Supporting statement: "But before anyone goes to trade their partner for one of the appropriate age, be warned."

Keywords: trade partner, appropriate age

Keyword Location: Paragraph 7, line 1

Explanation: The term “trade” is synonymous with “exchange,” and the warning implies people shouldn't act on this information hastily.

Partners right away. Since the effect is small, the myths such as the swinging wedding band might be more (14)..................

Answer: dependable

Supporting statement: "As the swinging wedding band may turn out to be a more reliable guide."

Keywords: reliable, wedding band, guide

Keyword Location: Paragraph 7, last line

Explanation: The word “dependable” is a synonym for “reliable” and fits best when discussing the accuracy of myths compared to scientific results.

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