Mary Wollstonecraft Reading Answers

Feb 9, 2023

Mary Wollstonecraft Reading Answers is an academic reading topic discussing in detail study about the works of Mary Wollstonecraft. The given IELTS topic has originated from the book named “IELTS Practice Tests”. The topic named Mary Wollstonecraft Reading Answers has a total of 13 wide range of questions included. The topic consists of two different sorts of questions, like, choose the correct heading, and choose the correct answer. The candidates should thoroughly read the IELTS reading passage to recognize the synonyms and identify the keywords and answer the questions below. IELTS reading practice papers can be taken into consideration by the candidates in order to score a good score in the reading section in which similar topics like Mary Wollstonecraft Reading Answers has been included.

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Section 1

Read the passage to answer the following questions

Mary Wollstonecraft Reading Answers

A In 1789 began the celebrated French Revolution, an event which shook the old certainties of European states and European monarchies to the core. It also raised debate on the desired structure of the state throughout whole populations to an unprecedented degree. In October the following year, Edmund Burke brought out his Reflections on the Revolution in France which sold 35,000 copies within weeks, then a huge number. It reinforced all the fears and prejudices of the traditional aristocracy. Immediately, more progressive authors began writing their responses including the celebrated Thomas Paine whose 'The Rights of Man' sold an amazing two million copies.

B But Paine's was not the first response. Less than a month after Burke's book was published there appeared the anonymous A Vindication of the Rights of Men. It sold so well that a second edition appeared only three weeks after the first. However, in this edition the author was named as Mary Wollstonecraft. The involvement of women in politics was almost unknown at the time and there was outrage. Horace Walpole called her "a hyena in petticoats".

C If she was intimidated by the outcry, it did not show. Only two years later, at the beginning of 1792, she produced another book with an even more inflammatory title: A Vindication of the Rights of Women. This has been a handbook for feminists ever since. Women tended to like her strong opinions while men were, not surprisingly, infuriated. What is surprising is that so many of the men who attacked this piece are usually thought of as politically advanced. Even William Godwin, for example, supported the idea that men and women were different and complementary and this required a political arrangement where men led and women followed. Wollstonecraft attacked this notion and demanded independence and equality for women.

D This rebellious streak led her in quite a different direction from most of her contemporaries. As bloodshed in Paris reached its peak during 1792 and 1793, and most British fled from France, Wollstonecraft moved to Paris to live. She stayed while most of her French friends were killed. Quite why is not clear since she clearly preferred the society of the bourgeois intellectuals who were dying to the street revolutionaries who were killing them. Perhaps it was only after this experience that she appreciated some of the practical pitfalls of unchecked liberty.

E The reality of revolution seemed to change her in a number of other ways. A feature of her Vindication was to urge both men and women to subjugate passion to reason. Before her experience in France she had remained single and, single-mindedly, celibate despite the temptation offered by the painter Fuseli. But whilst in France she threw herself into a passionate affair with the American adventurer Gilbert Imlay. She even followed Imlay to Scandinavia in search of stolen silver treasure; a triumph of passion over reason if ever there was one! How ironic that she should suffer this fate in the middle of, what she hoped would be, the foundation of a better, more rational, society.

F She never entirely lost her principles, however, and clung to the belief that a better world based on equality and reason was attainable. Eventually she returned to Britain and, after a failed suicide bid, she married the very William Godwin who had so criticised her before. She died in childbirth not long after and pronounced herself "content to be wretched" but refused to be a nothing and discounted.

G Mary Wollstonecraft's life was revolutionary in many ways, even for her time. She may have been inconsistent and contradictory but this cannot diminish the effect she had on the political thoughts of her contemporaries. We cannot ignore too, the degree to which she has influenced later thought, even down to the present day. Her son-in-law, Percy Shelley, was a fervent admirer who immortalised her in verse in The Revolt of Islam. De Beauvoir's The Second Sex and Greer's The Female Eunuch both owe their origins to Wollstonecraft's pioneering writing. The notions of equality we take for granted today first appeared in her work.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 28-33

Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs A-C. Choose the most suitable headings for

paragraphs A - G from the list of headings below.

Paragraph headings

A tragic ending
A revolutionary life
Being different
Contradictory behavior
The work of Thomas Paine
Reactions to revolution
A life in perspective
The first reaction to Burke
Asserting the rights of women

Example: Paragraph A

Answer vi

Question 28. Paragraph B

Answer: viii
Supporting sentence: Less than a month after Burke's book was published
Keyword : Less, month, Burke's book, published
Keyword location: paragraph B, lines 1-2
Explanation: The first two lines of paragraph B says that however,, Paine's wasn't the initial response. Burke's book was released less than a month after the anonymous A Vindication of the Rights of Men. A second edition was released only three weeks after the first because of how well it sold.

Question 29. Paragraph C

Answer: ix
Supporting sentence: she produced another book with an even more inflammatory title: A Vindication of the Rights of Women.
Keyword : produced, inflammatory, title, Rights of Women.
Keyword location: paragraph C, lines 1-2
Explanation: Paragraph C says that a vindication of women's rights was the title of her second work. She published it just two years later, at the start of 1792. Since then, this has served as a guide for feminism.

Question 30. Paragraph D

Answer: iii
Supporting sentence: This rebellious streak led her in quite a different direction from most of her contemporaries.
Keyword : rebellious, streak, direction, contemporaries
Keyword location: paragraph D, line 1
Explanation: Line 1 of paragraph 1 says that in stark contrast to most of her classmates, she was driven by a rebellious streak. Wollstonecraft travelled to Paris to live when the bloodshed in the city reached its peak in 1792 and 1793 and the majority of British people fled France.

Question 31. Paragraph E

Answer: iv
Supporting sentence: The reality of revolution seemed to change her in a number of other ways.
Keyword : reality, revolution, change, ways
Keyword location: paragraph E, line 1
Explanation: The first line of paragraph E explains that Mary appeared to have changed in a variety of other ways as a result of the revolution's actuality. Mary Wollstonecraft urged both men and women in her Vindication to tame passion and reason.

Question 32. Paragraph F

Answer: i
Supporting sentence: She died in childbirth not long after
Keyword : She, died, childbirth, long after
Keyword location: paragraph F, lines 3-4
Explanation: Lines 3-4 of paragraph F states that Mary wed William Godwin, the same man who had previously reprimanded her harshly. She declared herself "willing to be wretched" and died shortly after giving birth, refusing to be nothing and being disregarded.

Question 33. Paragraph G

Answer: vii
Supporting sentence: Mary Wollstonecraft's life was revolutionary in many ways, even for her time.
Keyword : Mary Wollstonecraft, life, revolutionary, time
Keyword location: paragraph G, lines 1-3
Explanation: Lines 1-3 of paragraph G says that even for her time, Mary Wollstonecraft's life was revolutionary in many respects. She may have been inconsistent and contradictory, but this does not lessen the impact she had on her contemporaries' political beliefs.

Questions 34-40

Choose the appropriate answers A - D and write them in boxes 34 - 40 on your answer sheet.

Question 34. The revolution in France

A frightened everybody

B prejudiced the aristocracy

C concerned everybody

D challenged the established order

Answer: D
Supporting sentence: Edmund Burke brought out his Reflections on the Revolution in France which sold 35,000 copies
Keyword : Edmund Burke, Revolution, France, 35,000 copies
Keyword location: paragraph A, lines 4-5
Explanation: Lines 4-5 of paragraph A says about the French Revolution. In just a few weeks after its publication, Edmund Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution sold a staggering 35,000 copies. It reaffirmed all of the traditional aristocracy's phobias and preconceptions.

Question 35. Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Men

A was an immediate best seller

B sold only slowly at first

C hardly sold at all

D was only read by women

Answer: A
Supporting sentence: It sold so well that a second edition appeared only three weeks after the first.
Keyword : sold, second edition, three, weeks
Keyword location: paragraph B, lines 2-3
Explanation: Lines 2-3 of paragraph B says that the initial response was not Paine's. Burke's book was released less than a month after the anonymous A Vindication of the Rights of Men. A second edition was released only three weeks after the first because of how well it sold.

Question 36. The response to A Vindication of the Rights of Men

A intimidated Mary

B made Mary flee to France

C attracted William Godwin

D made Mary write another book.

Answer: D
Supporting sentence: Burke's book was published there appeared the anonymous A Vindication of the Rights of Men.
Keyword : book, published, Vindication, Rights of Men
Keyword location: paragraph B, lines 1-2
Explanation: Paragraph B implies that Burke's book was released less than a month after the anonymous A Vindication of the Rights of Men. A second edition was released only three weeks after the first because of how well it sold. The author was identified in this version as Mary Wollstonecraft, nevertheless.

Question 37. Men objected to the book because

A it was written by a woman

B it challenged established ideas about men and women

C she published before them

D the writer was a female politician

Answer: B
Supporting sentence: Women tended to like her strong opinions while men were, not surprisingly, infuriated.
Keyword : Women, tended, opinions, infuriated
Keyword location: paragraph C, lines 3-4
Explanation: Lines 3-4 of paragraph C describes that A vindication of women's rights was the title of her second work. She published it just two years later, at the start of 1792. Since then, this has served as a guide for feminism. Men were, unsurprisingly, enraged by her strong opinions, while women tended to like them. The fact that so many of the individuals who criticized this post were unexpectedly politically accomplished is astonishing.

Question 38. Mary's personal life

A always matched her published beliefs

B sometimes contradicted her published beliefs

C never contradicted her published beliefs

D never matched her published beliefs.

Answer: B
Supporting sentence: She may have been inconsistent and contradictory
Keyword : She, inconsistent, contradictory
Keyword location: paragraph G, lines 1-2
Explanation: The first two lines of paragraph G portrays that even for her time, Mary Wollstonecraft's life was revolutionary in many respects. She may have been inconsistent and contradictory, but this does not lessen the impact she had on her contemporaries' political beliefs.

Question 39. In refusing to be discounted she meant

A women should be taught literacy and numeracy

B the role of women should not be reduced

C she was not to be overlooked for being a woman

D she was happy as she was

Answer: C
Supporting sentence: She died in childbirth not long after and pronounced herself "content to be wretched" but refused to be a nothing and discounted.
Keyword : She, refused, nothing, discounted
Keyword location: paragraph F, lines 3-5
Explanation: Paragraph F implies that when When Mary eventually made it back to Britain, she wed William Godwin. He is the man who had previously criticised her so harshly, after an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Shortly after, she declared herself "willing to be wretched" and died in labour, refusing to be nothing and disregarded.

Question 40. Mary Wollstonecraft's writing

A was constant and contemporary

B inspired modern feminist writers

C took equality for granted

D was ignored

Answer: B
Supporting sentence: Women tended to like her strong opinions
Keyword : Women, tended, strong, opinions
Keyword location: paragraph C, lines 3-4
Explanation: Lines 3-4 of paragraph C implies that from her writing, feminism has used this as a manual. Men were, unsurprisingly, enraged by her strong opinions, while women tended to like them.