B2CEFRReading18 min

Reading: The Nobel Prize Legacy

Awards, prizes and scholarships

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IELTS Academic Reading • 18 Min

The Nobel Prizes: Origins, Statistics and Values

Practice identifying claims, writer views, hedged language, and precise text evidence.

B2 Level

Academic Reading

📌 How to use this lesson

👨‍🏫 Teacher's Guide

Allocate 18 minutes for learners to read the text and complete all 10 IELTS-style questions.

Guide students to check exact paragraph evidence for every item before confirming their answers.

🎓 Learner's Guide

Skim paragraphs A–D first to get the main idea and structure of the text.

Read each question carefully, locate key terms in the passage, and check whether statements match the details or writer's views.

Reading Passage

The Nobel Prizes

Paragraphs A – D

The Nobel Prize website says that Alfred Nobel signed his last will on 27 November 1895. He left most of his money, more than 31 million Swedish kronor, to a fund. The money from the fund pays for prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. In 1968, Sweden's central bank added a prize in economic sciences in memory of Nobel.

The website says that there were 639 awards of the Nobel Prizes and the economics prize between 1901 and 2026. The prizes went to 1,036 people and organisations. There were years without prizes, and most of those years fell during the First World War and the Second World War.

The prize money for 2026 is 12 million Swedish kronor for a full Nobel Prize. The rules of the Nobel Foundation say that no more than three people can share one prize.

These facts seem to show that the Nobel Prizes are a large and long-running scheme, and I think the three-person rule suggests that some teams of researchers cannot all be named as winners. The money figure is only for 2026 and the website may give a different figure in other years, and the facts come from the Nobel Prize website itself, so they do not show how other people judge the prizes.

Pattern in Context

"At the end of the evening, the youngest nurse in the room was handed a small gold plaque."

Why this works: The sentence sets the time context first ("At the end of the evening"), names the person receiving the action ("the youngest nurse"), and describes the honor clearly without extra words.

Spotting Writer's Views

Cautious & Hedged Statements

In IELTS Academic passages, writers often present opinions using cautious words such as "seem to show", "I think", or "suggests". Look out for these phrases in Paragraph D when answering inference questions.

✏️ Practice Questions (1–10)

Answer all questions based strictly on the passage provided above.

Questions 1–3

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the reading passage?
In boxes 1–3 on your answer sheet, write:

YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

1 Alfred Nobel established the prize fund using the majority of his financial wealth.

____ YES ____ NO ____ NOT GIVEN

2 Alfred Nobel personally requested that Sweden's central bank create a prize in economic sciences.

____ YES ____ NO ____ NOT GIVEN

3 More than three scientists working in the same laboratory have previously shared a single Nobel Prize.

____ YES ____ NO ____ NOT GIVEN

Questions 4–6

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

4 What was the primary reason that Nobel Prizes were not awarded in certain years between 1901 and 2026?

____ A. The Nobel Foundation ran out of prize money during those years. ____ B. Most of the years without prizes fell during the First World War and the Second World War. ____ C. Sweden's central bank suspended the economics prize during global crises. ____ D. Fewer than three people were nominated for the research awards.

5 What does the writer infer from the rule that restricts a single prize to a maximum of three people?

____ A. Research teams in physiology and medicine are becoming smaller over time. ____ B. Some entire teams of researchers cannot all be named as winners. ____ C. The prize money figure must be divided equally among organisations instead of individuals. ____ D. Alfred Nobel personally intended to exclude research organisations from winning.

6 Why does the writer emphasize that the 12 million Swedish kronor figure applies specifically to 2026?

____ A. To prove that the Nobel Foundation will run out of funds after 2026. ____ B. To compare the prize value directly to Sweden's central bank economics fund. ____ C. To indicate that the website may state a different figure in other years. ____ D. To explain why fewer awards were presented to organisations than individuals.

Questions 7–8

Which paragraph contains the following information?
Select the correct paragraph letter, A, B, C, or D.

7 A breakdown of the total number of prize awards given and the count of recipients.

____ Paragraph A ____ Paragraph B ____ Paragraph C ____ Paragraph D

8 A reference to the specific website from which all the presented facts originate.

____ Paragraph A ____ Paragraph B ____ Paragraph C ____ Paragraph D

Questions 9–10

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

Nobel Prize History and Rules

In November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will, leaving the majority of his money to establish a ____ (Word(s)...) [9] to finance annual prizes in multiple fields.

Regarding prize distribution, the official guidelines state that no more than ____ (Word(s)...) [10] are permitted to share a single Nobel Prize award.

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