Andrea Palladio Italian Architect- IELTS Reading Answers

In the IELTS Academic Reading practice passage, “Andrea Palladio Italian architect”, there are various question types. Practise this passage which will help you enhance your reading and understanding capabilities. If you are interested in familiarising yourself with all the question types, don’t hesitate to take an IELTS reading practice test.

Reading Passage

 Andrea Palladio Italian architect

Questions 1-7

1 The building where the exhibition is staged has been newly renovated

2 Palazzo Barbaran da Porto typically represent Palladio’s design

3 Palladio’s father worked as an architect.

4 Palladio’s family refused to pay for his architectural studies

5 Palladio’s alternative design for the Ducal Palace in Venice was based on an English building.

6 Palladio designed both wealthy and poor people

7 The exhibition includes paintings of people by famous artists

Questions 8-13

Answer the questions below

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet

8 What job was Palladio training for before he became an architect?

9 Who arranged Palladio’s architectural studies?

10 Who was the first non-Italian architect influenced by Palladio?

11 What type of Ancient Roman buildings most heavily influenced Palladio’s work?

12 What did Palladio write that strengthened his reputation?

13 In the writer’s opinion, what feeling will visitors to the exhibition experience?

IELTS Reading Sample Answers 

1 Answer: Not given

Question type: True/False/Not given

Answer location: N/A

Answer explanation: There is no reference for the point where the renovation of buildings is made

2 Answer: True

Question type: True/False/Not given

Answer location: Paragraph B, first four lines

Answer explanation: “The exhibition has the special advantage of being held in one of Palladio’s buildings, Palazzo Barbaran da Porto. Its bold façade is a mixture of rustication and decoration set between two rows of elegant columns. On the second floor, the pediments are alternately curved or pointed, a Palladian trademark.” This clearly suggests that the Palazzo Barbaran da Porto was made and designed by Palladio and the building represents his design and finesse.

3 Answer: False

Question type: True/False/Not given

Answer location: Paragraph C, introductory line

Answer explanation “Palladio’s father was a miller who settled in Vicenza, where the young Andrea was apprenticed to a skilled stonemason.” This suggests that Palladio’s father was not an architect but a miller.

4 Answer: Not given

Question type: True/False/Not given

Answer location: N/A

Answer explanation: There is no reference made where the reference of Palladio’s family refusing to pay for his architectural studies is made.

5 Answer: False

Question type: True/False/Not given

Answer location: Paragraph E

Answer explanation: “He tried his hand at a bridges-his unbuilt version of the Rialto Bridge was decorated with the large pediment and columns of a temple – and, after a fire at the Ducal Palace, he offered an alternative design which bears an uncanny resemblance to the Banqueting House in Whitehall in London. Since it was designed by Inigo Jones, Palladio’s first foreign disciple, this is not as surprising as it sounds.” The reference made here is regarding the alternative designs he offered for the Ducal Palace that had a resemblance to Banqueting Hall (English Building) in London. However, it wasn’t based on that, rather his foreign disciple was inspired by him and created the Banqueting Hall later.

6 Answer: True

Question type: True/False/Not given

Answer location: Paragraph G, Introductory line

Answer explanation: “Palladio’s work for rich landowners alienates unreconstructed critics on the Italian left, but among the papers in the show are designed for cheap housing in Venice.”

7 Answer: True

Question type: True/False/Not given

Answer location: Paragraph H, Introductory lines

Answer explanation: “Vicenza’s show contains detailed models of the major buildings and is leavened by portraits of Palladio’s teachers and clients by Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto; the paintings of his Venetian buildings are all by Canaletto, no less.” This suggests that the exhibition at Vicenza includes the paintings of prominent artists.

8 Answer: STONEMASON

Question type: Sentence completion

Answer location: Paragraph C, introductory line

Answer explanation: “Palladio’s father was a miller who settled in Vicenza, where the young Andrea was apprenticed to a skilled stonemason.” This suggests that Palladio was getting trained to become a stonemason when he was young.

9 Answer: GIAN GIORGIO TRISSINO

Question type: Sentence completion

Answer location: Paragraph C, lines 4-8

Answer explanation: “He was plainly intelligent and lucky enough to come across a rich patron, Gian Giorgio Trissino, a landowner and scholar, who organized his education, taking him to Rome in the 1540s, where he studied the masterpieces of classical Roman and Greek architecture and the work of other influential architects of the time, such as Donato Bramante and Raphael.” This suggests that Palladio’s education was arranged by Gian Giorgio Trissino.
10 Answer: INIGO JONES

Question type: Sentence completion

Answer location: Paragraph E, last two lines

Answer explanation: “Since it was designed by Inigo Jones, Palladio’s first foreign disciple, this is not as surprising as it sounds.” This suggests that Inigo Jones was his first foreign disciple.

11 Answer: TEMPLE

Question type: Sentence completion

Answer location: Paragraph F, lines 4-7

Answer explanation: “What they show is how Palladio drew on the buildings of ancient Rome as models. The major theme of both his rural and urban building was temple architecture, with a strong pointed pediment supported by columns and approached by wide steps.” This suggests that Palladio’s architecture was inspired by the Temple architecture of ancient Rome.

12 Answer: QUATTRO LIBRI DELL’ ARCHITETTURA

Question type: Sentence completion

Answer location: Paragraph G, lines 2-4

Answer explanation: “In the wider world, Palladio’s reputation has been nurtured by a text he wrote and illustrated, “Quattro Libri dell’ Architettura”.” This clearly states that the text written by Palladio named “Quattro Libri dell’ Architettura” made him a well-known personality.

13 Answer: BENEVOLENT CALM

Question type: Sentence completion

Answer location: Paragraph H, lines 3-6

Answer explanation: “This is an uncompromising exhibition; many of the drawings are small and faint, and there are no sideshows for children, but the impact of harmonious lines and satisfying proportions is to impart in a viewer a feeling of benevolent calm.” This suggests that the visitors shall feel benevolence and calm upon visiting the exhibition.

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