The Voynich Manuscript Reading Answers

Oct 13, 2025

The Voynich manuscript Reading Answer is part of the IELTS General Reading section, featuring 14 questions that assess comprehension, summary completion, and statement identification. Candidates should complete the Voynich manuscript IELTS reading passage in approximately 20 minutes. This reading segment explores the Voynich manuscript, housed in Yale's Beinecke Library, which is a mysterious 240-page book filled with unknown text and drawings. In this passage, you’ll answer question types such as choosing no more than two words only, true/false/not given, and multiple choice. Use this IELTS reading passage to sharpen your vocabulary identification, keyword matching, and logical reasoning abilities.

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The starkly modern Beinecke Library at Yale University is home to some of the most valuable books in the world: first folios of Shakespeare, Gutenberg Bibles and manuscripts from the early Middle Ages, Yet the library's most controversial possession is an unprepossessing vellum manuscript about the size of a hardback book, containing 240-odd pages of drawings and text of unknown age and authorship. Catalogued as MS408, the manuscript would attract little attention were it not for the fact that the drawings hint at esoteric knowledge, while the text seems to be some sort of code - one that no-one has been able to break. It's known to scholars as the Voynich manuscript, after the American book dealer Wilfrid Voynich, who bought the manuscript from a Jesuit college in Italy in 1912.

Over the years, the manuscript has attracted the attention of everyone from amateur dabblers to top codebreakers, all determined to succeed where countless others have failed. Academic research papers, books and websites are devoted to making sense of the contents of the manuscript, which are freely available to all "Most other mysteries involve secondhand reports,' says Dr Gordon Rugg of Keele University, a leading Voynich expert. But this is one that you can see for yourself.

It is certainly strange: page after page of drawings of weird plants, astrological symbolism and human figures, accompanied by a script that looks like some form of shorthand. What does it say and what are the drawings about? Voynich himself believed that the manuscript was the work of the 13th century English monk Roger Bacon, famed for his knowledge of alchemy, philosophy and science. In 1921 Voynich's view that Bacon was the writer appeared to win support from the work of William Newbold, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, who claimed to have found the key to the cipher system used by Bacon. According to Newbold, the manuscript proved that Bacon had access to a microscope centuries before they were supposedly first invented. They claim that this mediaeval monk had observed living cells created a sensation. It soon became clear, however, that Newbold had fallen victim to wishful thinking. Other scholars showed that his 'decoding' methods produced a host of possible interpretations.

The Voynich manuscript has continued to defy the efforts of world-class experts. In 1944, a team was assembled to tackle the mystery, led by William Friedman, the renowned American codebreaker. They began with the most basic code breaking task: analysing the relative frequencies of the characters making up the text, looking for signs of an underlying structure. Yet Friedman's team soon found themselves in deep water. The precise size of the 'alphabet' of the Voynich manuscript was unclear: it's possible to make out more than 70 distinct symbols among the 170,000-character text. Furthermore, Friedman discovered that some words and phrases appeared more often than expected in a standard language, casting doubt on claims that the manuscript concealed a real language, as encryption typically reduces word frequencies.

Friedman concluded that the most plausible resolution of this paradox was that "Voynichese' is some sort of specially created artificial language, whose words are devised from concepts, rather than linguistics. So, could the Voynich manuscript be the earliest known example of an artificial language? Friedman's hypothesis commands respect because of the lifetime of crypt analytical expertise he brought to bear,' says Rob Churchill, co-author of TheVoynich Manuscript, that still leaves a host of questions unanswered, however, such as the identity of the author and the meaning of the bizarre drawings. 'It does little to advance our understanding of the manuscript as a whole,' says Churchill. Even though Friedman was working more than 60 years ago, he suspected that major insights would come reality that the device that had already transformed codebreaking: the computer. In this he was right - it is now the key tool for uncovering clues about the pleasure from manuscript's language.

The insights so far have been perplexing. For example, in 2001 another leading Voynich scholar, Dr Gabriel Landin of Birmingham University in the UK, published the results of his study of the manuscript using a pattern-detecting method called spectral analysis. This revealed evidence that the manuscript contains genuine words, rather than random nonsense, consistent with the existence of some underlying natural language. Yet the following year, Voynich expert Ren Zandbergen of the European Space Agency in Darmstadt, Germany showed that the entropy of the text (a measure of the rate of transfer of information) was consistent with Friedman's suspicions that an artificial language had been used.

Many are convinced that the Voynich manuscript isn't a hoax. For how could a medieval hoaxer create so many telltale signs of a message from random nonsense? Yet even this has been challenged in new research by Rugg. Using a system, first published by the Italian mathematician Girolamo Cardano in 1150 in which a specially constructed grille issued to pick out symbols from a table, Rugg found he could rapidly generate text with many of the basic traits of the Voynich manuscript. Publishing his results in 2004 Rugg stresses that he hadn't set out to prove the manuscript a hoax. 'I simply demonstrated that it's feasible to hoax something this complex in a few months, he says. Inevitably, others beg to differ. Some scholars, such as Zandbergen, still suspect the text has genuine meaning, though believe it may never be decipherable. Others, such as Churchill, have suggested that the sheer weirdness of the illustrations and text hint at an author who had lost touch with reality. What is clear is that the book-sized manuscript kept under lock and key at Yale University has lost none of its fascination. "Many derive great intellectual pleasure from solving puzzles,' says Rugg. The Voynich manuscript is as challenging a puzzle as anyone could ask for.

Questions 27-30

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

TRUE - if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE - if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN - if there is no information on this

27. It is uncertain when the Voynich manuscript was written.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: “…containing 240-odd pages of drawings and text of unknown age and authorship.”

Keywords: unknown, age

Keyword Location: Paragraph 1, Line 2

Explanation: The passage directly mentions that both the age and authorship of the manuscript are unknown, indicating uncertainty about when it was written. This confirms the statement as true.

28. Wilfrid Voynich donated the manuscript to the Beinecke Library.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: “…after the American book dealer Wilfrid Voynich, who bought the manuscript from a Jesuit college in Italy in 1912.”

Keywords: bought, Jesuit college

Keyword Location: Paragraph 1, Line 5

Explanation: Voynich purchased the manuscript; there's no mention of him donating it to Yale. The statement contradicts the text and is therefore false.

29. Interest in the Voynich manuscript extends beyond that of academics and professional codebreakers.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: “...the manuscript has attracted the attention of everyone from amateur dabblers to top codebreakers...”

Keywords: amateur dabblers

Keyword Location: Paragraph 2, Line 1

Explanation: The inclusion of amateurs indicates that people outside academic or professional circles are also intrigued by the manuscript, making the statement true.

30. The text of the Voynich manuscript contains just under 70 symbols

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: “...it's possible to make out more than 70 distinct symbols among the 170,000-character text.”

Keywords: more than 70

Keyword Location: Paragraph 4, Line 5

Explanation: The phrase "more than 70" directly contradicts the claim "just under 70," making the statement false.

Questions 31 - 34

Look at the following statements and the list of people below. Match each statement with the correct person, A-H. Write the correct letter, A-H.

31. The number of times that some words occur make it unlikely that the manuscript is based on an authentic language.

Answer: D. William Friedman

Supporting statement: “...some words and phrases appeared more often than expected in a standard language...”

Keywords: word frequencies, standard language

Keyword Location: Paragraph 4, Line 6

Explanation: Friedman observed unusual word frequency patterns that challenge the idea of a real underlying language. Hence, this matches with him.

32. Unlike some other similar objects of fascination, people can gain direct access to the Voynich manuscript.

Answer: A. Gordon Rugg

Supporting statement: “Most other mysteries involve secondhand reports,’ says Dr Gordon Rugg... ‘But this is one that you can see for yourself.’”

Keywords: secondhand reports, see for yourself

Keyword Location: Paragraph 2, Line 3

Explanation: Rugg notes the uniqueness of the manuscript in being publicly accessible, which aligns with the idea of people gaining direct access.

33. The person who wrote the manuscript may not have been entirely sane.

Answer: E. Rob Churchill

Supporting statement: “...the sheer weirdness of the illustrations and text hint at an author who had lost touch with reality.”

Keywords: lost touch with reality

Keyword Location: Paragraph 7, Line 5

Explanation: Churchill speculates that the manuscript's bizarre nature could reflect the mental state of its author, suggesting possible insanity.

34. It is likely that the author of the manuscript is the same person as suggested by Wilfrid

Voynich

Answer: C. William Newbold

Supporting statement: “...Voynich's view that Bacon was the writer appeared to win support from the work of William Newbold...”

Keywords: support, Bacon, writer

Keyword Location: Paragraph 3, Line 3

Explanation: Newbold endorsed Voynich’s belief that Roger Bacon authored the manuscript, fitting this match.

LIST OF PEOPLE

A. Gordon Rugg

B. Roger Bacon

C. William Newbold

D. William Friedman

E. Rob Churchill

F. Gabriel Landini

G. Ren Zandbergen

H. Girolamo Cardano

Questions 35-39

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each.

VOYNICH RESEARCHERS

William Newbold believed that the author of the Voynich manuscript had been able to look at cells through a 35………………,

Answer: microscope

Supporting statement: “According to Newbold, the manuscript proved that Bacon had access to a microscope...”

Keywords: Bacon, access, microscope

Keyword Location: Paragraph 3, Line 4

Explanation: Newbold suggested the manuscript proved Bacon used a microscope to observe cells, which was part of his controversial interpretation. “Microscope” is the correct two-word answer.

Other researchers later demonstrated that there were flaws in his argument. William Friedman concluded that the manuscript was written in an artificial language that was based on 36.........

Answer: concepts

Supporting statement: “...whose words are devised from concepts, rather than linguistics.”

Keywords: devised from concepts

Keyword Location: Paragraph 4, Line 9

Explanation: Friedman believed the artificial language was based on ideas or concepts instead of typical linguistic rules, supporting “concepts” as the correct answer.

He couldn't find out the meaning of this language but he believed that the 37…………..

Answer: computer

Supporting statement: “...major insights would come reality that the device that had already transformed codebreaking: the computer.”

Keywords: transformed codebreaking, computer

Keyword Location: Paragraph 4, Line 11

Explanation: Friedman foresaw the computer as crucial in future codebreaking advancements, even if he couldn’t decipher the manuscript himself.

would continue to bring advances in code breaking. Dr Gabriel Landini used a system known as 38…………….

Answer: spectral analysis

Supporting statement: “...published the results of his study... using a pattern-detecting method called spectral analysis.”

Keywords: Landini, spectral analysis

Keyword Location: Paragraph 5, Line 2

Explanation: Landini applied spectral analysis to identify consistent patterns suggesting real words, validating “spectral analysis” as the answer.

in his research, and claims to have demonstrated the presence of genuine words. Dr Gordon Rugg's system involved a grille, that made it possible to quickly select symbols that appeared in a 39………….

Answer: table

Supporting statement: “...in which a specially constructed grille is used to pick out symbols from a table...”

Keywords: grille, pick out, table

Keyword Location: Paragraph 6, Line 3

Explanation: Rugg used a historical technique involving a grille and a table to simulate how meaningless but structured text could be produced, supporting “table” as the correct answer.

Rugg's conclusion was that the manuscript lacked genuine meaning.

Question 40

Choose the correct letter.

The writer's main aim in this passage is to

A. explain the meaning of the manuscript.

B. determine the true identity of the manuscript's author.

C. describe the numerous attempts to decode the manuscript.

D. identify which research into the manuscript has had the most media coverage.

Answer: C. describe the numerous attempts to decode the manuscript

Supporting statement: Entire passage covers various researchers and methods tried over time

Keywords: attempts, decode, manuscript

Keyword Location: Whole passage

Explanation: The passage systematically explores the work of multiple scholars—Newbold, Friedman, Rugg, Landini—each trying to crack the Voynich manuscript. The consistent theme is the range of decoding efforts, making (C) the best fit.

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