Geoff Brash Reading Answers, IELTS Passage

Geoff Brash Reading Answers: The “Geoff Brash Reading” passage is a valuable IELTS reading practice topic that explores the life and contributions of Geoff Brash, a renowned Australian businessman and philanthropist. The passage delves into his role in expanding the Brash retail music business, his ventures in the music industry, and his philanthropic efforts in music education.

In this guide, we provide a sample passage along with answers to help IELTS candidates practice effectively. The question types featured include Sentence Completion and True/False/Not Given, which will enhance reading comprehension and accuracy in locating key details. Read till the end to strengthen your understanding of the Geoff Brash Reading Answers and improve your IELTS Reading skills.

Free IELTS Reading Practice Tests, Cambridge Sample Test PDF

Geoff Brash Reading Answers Passage

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, based on the reading passage below.

Geoff Brash Reading Passage

1. Geoff Brash, who died in 2010, was a gregarious Australian businessman and philanthropist who encouraged the young to reach their potential.
2. Born in Melbourne to Elsa and Alfred Brash, he was educated at Scotch College. His sister, Barbara, became a renowned artist and printmaker. His father, Alfred, ran the Brash retail music business that had been founded in 1862 by his grandfather, the German immigrant Marcus Brasch, specialising in pianos. It carried the slogan, ‘A home is not a home without a piano.’
3. In his young days, Brash enjoyed the good life, playing golf and sailing, spending some months travelling through Europe, and having a leisurely holiday. He worked for a time at Myer department stores before joining the family business in 1949, where he quickly began to put his stamp on things. In one of his first management decisions, he diverged from his father’s sense of frugal aesthetics by re-carpeting the old man’s office while he was away. After initially complaining about his extravagance, his father grew to accept the change and gave his son increasing responsibility in the business.
4. After World War II (1939-1945), Brash’s began to focus on white goods, such as washing machines and refrigerators, as the consumer boom took hold. However, while his father was content with the business he had built, the younger Brash viewed expansion as vital. When Geoff Brash took over as managing director in 1957, the company had two stores, but after floating it on the stock exchange the following year, he expanded rapidly and opened suburban stores, as well as buying into familiar music industry names such as Allans, Palings and Suttons. Eventually, 170 stores traded across the continent under the Brash’s banner.
5. Geoff Brash learned from his father’s focus on customer service. Alfred Brash had also been a pioneer in introducing a share scheme for his staff, and his son retained and expanded the plan following the float.
6. Geoff Brash was optimistic and outward-looking. As a result, he was a pioneer in both accessing and selling new technology, as well as developing overseas relationships. He sourced and sold electric guitars, organs, and a range of other modern instruments, as well as state-of-the-art audio and video equipment. He developed a relationship with Taro Kakehashi, the founder of Japan’s Roland group, which led to a joint venture that brought electronic musical devices to Australia.
7. In 1965, Brash and his wife attended a trade fair in Guangzhou, the first of its kind in China; they were one of the first Western business people allowed into the country following Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution. He returned there many times, helping advise the Chinese in establishing a high-quality piano factory in Beijing; he became the factory’s agent in Australia. Brash also took leading jazz musicians Don Burrows and James Morrison to China on a trip that reintroduced jazz to many Chinese musicians.
8. He stood down as Executive Chairman of Brash’s in 1988, but under the new management, debt became a problem, and in 1994, the banks called in administrators. The company was sold to Singaporean interests and continued to trade until 1998 when it again went into administration. The Brash name then disappeared from the retail world. Brash was greatly disappointed by the collapse and the eventual disappearance of the company he had run for so long. But it was not long before he invested in a restructured Allan’s music business.
9. Brash was a committed philanthropist who, in the mid-1980s, established the Brash Foundation, which eventually morphed, with other partners, into the Soundhouse Music Alliance. This was a not-for-profit organisation overseeing and promoting multimedia music-making and education for teachers and students. The Soundhouse offers teachers and young people the opportunity to get exposure to the latest music technology and use it to compose and record their own music, either alone or in collaboration. The organisation has now established branches in New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland, as well as numerous sites around Australia.

Geoff Brash Reading Answers Sample Questions 

Questions 1-10

Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-10 on your answer sheet.

1. Geoff Brash was an Australian __________ and philanthropist.

2. His family’s retail business specialised in selling __________.

3. Brash spent time travelling through __________ in his younger years.

4. One of his early business decisions was to re-carpet his father’s __________.

5. After World War II, the company expanded its focus to include __________.

6. Geoff Brash became __________ of the company in 1957.

7. The business was floated on the __________ in the following year.

8. Brash formed a business partnership with __________, the founder of Roland Group.

9. In China, he helped establish a __________ in Beijing.

10. The Soundhouse Music Alliance promotes __________ for teachers and students.

Questions 11-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
In boxes on your answer sheet, write:

• TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

• FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

• NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

11. Geoff Brash introduced the first staff share scheme in his company.

12. The Brash retail business was family-owned until it closed in 1998.

13. Geoff Brash personally composed and recorded music at the Soundhouse Music Alliance.

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Guidance of PW IELTS

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