Cambridge IELTS Academic 11 Reading Test 2 Answers with Explanation / IELTS Academic Reading: Raising the Marry Rose , What destroyed the civilization of Easter Island , Neuroaesthetics

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1.

Raising the Marry Rose

ANSWER	KEYWORDS	LOCATION	EXPLANATION
1. TRUE	doubt, sink	paragraph 1, lines 10-16	Accounts of what happened to the ship vary: while witnesses agree that she was not hit by the French, some maintain that she was outdated, over-laden and sailing too low in the water, others that she was by undisciplined crew.” vary: means that the accounts on how the ship sank has some doubts.
2. NOT GIVEN	only ship, sink, 19 July 1545	paragraph . 1	There is no reference to whether Mary Rose was the only ship that sank in the battle
3. TRUE	one side, undamaged,	Paragraph no. 2, lines 10-11	Because of the way the ship sank, nearly all of the starboard half, survived intact. “most of=nearly all of, one side of the Mary Rose=the starboard half, undamaged=intact
4. FALSE	historical objects, Alexander McKee	Paragraph 5, lines 5-9	McKee and his team now knew for certain that they had found the wreck, but were as yet unaware that it also housed a treasure trove of beautifully preserved artefacts.” So, these lines indicate that Mckee and his team were not aware that the ship would have precious artifacts or valuable historical objects.
5. C	search, launched	paragraph 4, lines 1-5	The Mary Rose then faded into obscurity for another hundred years. But in 1965, military historian and amateur diver Alexander McKee, in conjunction with the British Sub-Aqua Club, initiated a project called ‘Solent Ships’. While on paper this was a plan to examine a number of known wrecks in the Solent, what McKee really hoped for was to find the Mary Rose” initiated = launched.
6. B	exploration, stopped	paragraph 3, lines 13-14	“…. …Deane continued diving on the site intermittently until 1840,The Mary Rose then faded into obscurity for another hundred years.” This means that in 1840, Deane‟s exploration of the Mary Rose site stopped.” So, this means Deane stopped his exploration in 1840.
7. G	agreed, the hull, should be raised	paragraph 5, lines 17-21	While the original aim was to raise the hull if at all feasible, the operation was not given the go-ahead until January 1982, when all the necessary information was available
8. A	found by chance	paragraph no. 3. line 1-4	Then, on 16 June 1836, some fishermen in the Solent found that their equipment was caught on an underwater obstruction, which turned out to be the Mary Rose. “Turned out to be marry rose= by chance”
9. (lifting) frame	attached, by wires	Last Paragraph, lines 6-7	The hull was attached to a lifting frame via a network of bolts and lifting wires
10. hydraulic jacks	prevent, sucked into mud	Last Para, lines 8-10	The problem of the hull being sucked back downwards into the mud was overcome by using 12 hydraulic jacks
11. stabbing guides	legs, placed into	Last para, lines 22-24	This required precise positioning to locate the legs into the ‘stabbing guides’ of the lifting cradle
12. (lifting) cradle	hull, lowered into	Last para, lines 18-21	In this stage, the lifting frame was fixed to a hook attached to a crane, and the hull was lifted completely clear of the seabed and transferred underwater into the lifting cradle
13. air bags	used as, extra protection	Last para, lines 3-4	The lifting cradle was designed to fit the hull using archaeological survey drawings, and was fitted with airbags to provide additional cushioning for the hull’s delicate timber framework

 

 

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 .

What destroyed the civilization of Easter Island

ANSWERS	KEY WORDS	LOCATION	EXPLANATION
14. ii		P1, L8-9	“Modern science – linguistic, archeological, and genetic evidence – has definitely proved the moai builders were Polynesians, ……”. Here, the phrase definitely proved = the fact has no dispute.
15. ix		P2, L8-11	“When the islanders (the Rapanui people) cleared the forests for firewood and farming, the forests didn’t grow back. As trees became scarce and they could no longer construct wooden canoes for fishing, they ate birds. Soil erosion decreased their crop yields.” All these indicate that the food resources actually decreased or diminished.
16. viii		P3, L3-7	“The moai, he thinks, accelerated the self-destruction.” Then, the writer supports this idea and presented a list of what the moai (the statues) did, for example, competing by building ever bigger figures, laying the moai on wooden sledges, hauling over log rails, clearing land etc. So, the right answer for this paragraph has to be how the statues made the situation worse.
17. i		P4, L4-8	“… .. . the prehistoric Rapanui were pioneers of sustainable farming.” So, this line indicates that the Rapanui people were the people to innovate some environmental friendly farming methods. The author supports it with previous lines, “.. .. . archaeological excavations indicate that the Rapanui went to heroic efforts to protect the resources of their wind-lashed, infertile fields. They built thousands of circular stone windbreaks and gardened inside them, and used broken volcanic rocks to keep the soil moist”.
18. iv		P5, L1-3	“.. .. Hunt and Lipo say, archeological evidence backs up Rapanui folklore… .. ” Here, backs up means support, folklore means local belief.
19. vii		p f, L4-12	“Moreover, Hunt and Lipo are convinced that the settler were not wholly responsible for the loss of the island’s trees. . . .” Then, in line 4, he talks about the rats, “.. .. The rats arrived along with the settlers… … .” and in lines 10-11 the writers mentions of the diseases, “.. .. of the Europeans, who introduced deadly diseases to which islanders had no immunity”.
20. vi		P7, 1-5	“… peaceful and ingenious” (lines 1 & 2)., while we find another view that the Rapanui “were reckless destroyers ruining their own environment and society.” (lines 2 &3). And the writer agrees with both vision in line 4. “Whichever is the case.. .. .”
21. farming		P2, L8-9	When islanders cleared the forests for firewood and farming, the forests didn’t grow back.”
22. canoes		P2, L9-10	“As trees became scarce and they could no longer construct wooden canoes for fishing, they ate birds.” This means that the islanders failed to construct (build) canoes with which they used to go fishing.
23. birds		P2, L9-10	“As trees became scarce and they could no longer construct wooden canoes for fishing, they ate birds.” They started eating the birds of the island.
24. wood		P 3, L4-5	“Diamond thinks they laid the moai on wooden sledges, hauled over log rails, but that required both a lot of wood and a lot of people.” Here, required = needed, a lot of people = a great number of people.
25. B		P3, 5, L2-3	In C Diamond said“they (the Rapanui people) laid the moai on wooden sledges; hauled over log rails, but that required both a lot of wood and a lot of people.” However, in paragraph E, Hunt and Lipo opines, and the author writes, “moving the moai required few people and no wood.” So, it can be gathered that Hunt and Lipo’s suggestion differs with Diamond about how the moai were transported.
26. C		P5, L1-2	Again, in paragraph C, Diamond believes that the moai (the statues) accelerated the destruction of the island whereas in paragraph F, the writer opines, “Hunt and Lipo are convinced that the settlers were not wholly responsible for the loss of the island’s trees.” So, here, Hunt and Lipo disagree with Diamond’s view about the impact of the moai on Rapanui society.

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27–40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 .

Neuroaesthetics

ANSWER	KEYWORDS	LOCATION	EXPLANATION
27. C	shape-matching test, illustrate	P2, L4-6	We certainly do have an inclination to follow the crowd. When asked to make … . . .. . people often choose a definitively wrong answer if they see others doing the same.” This clearly means that the writer gives reference to a shape-matching test with the aim of illustrating human tendency that is influenced by the opinions of others.
28. D	Angelina Hawley-Dolan’s findings	P3, L7-8	It seems that the viewers can sense the artist’s vision in paintings, even if they can’t explain why.” Therefore, Angelina Hawley-Dolan’s findings point out that people have the capacity to recognize the intention behind artwork
29. B	results of studies, Pepperell’s pieces	P4, L6-7	It would seem that the brain sees these images as puzzles, and the harder it is to decipher the meaning, the more rewarding is the moment of recognition.” This indicates that the results of studies involving Robert Pepperell’s pieces give hint that people find it satisfying to work out what a painting signifies
30. A	experiments, suggest, paintings of Mondrian	P5, L2-4	.. .. .. eye-tracking studies confirm that they (Mondrian’s) works are meticulously composed, and that simply rotating a piece radically changes the way we view it.” This implies that the paintings of Mondrian are more carefully designed than they seem to be
31. C	impact, Impressionist paintings	P1, L3-5	The blurred imagery of Impressionist paintings seems to stimulate the brain’s amygdala, for instance. Since the amygdala plays a crucial role in our feelings, that finding might explain why many people find these pieces so moving.” This indicates that Impressionist paintings greatly impact our feelings. Here, emotions = feelings
32. B	Alex Forsythe, precise degree,	paragraph 7, L1-3	In another experiment, Alex Forsythe of the University of Liverpool analysed the visual intricacy of different pieces of art, and her results suggest that many artists use a key level of detail to please the brain.” Here, the writer means that Alex Forsythe believes many artists furnish their works with the exact scale of visual intricacy or complexity which most appeals to the viewer’s brain.
33. H	pleasing works, repeated	P 7, L-4-8	What’s more, appealing pieces both abstract and representational, show signs of ‘fractals’ -repeated motifs recurring in different scales. Fractals are common throughout nature, for example, in the shapes of mountain peaks of branches of trees. It is possible that our visual system, which evolved in the great outdoors, finds it easier to process such patterns “motifs=patterns=images pleasing=appealing works of art=pieces occur frequently=are common in the natural world=throughout nature
34. NOT GIVEN	contradicted, previous beliefs	P 7	we find no information regarding any comparison between Forsythe’s findings and any previous beliefs in this paragraph and the following paragraph.
35. YES		mirror neurons, art appreciation, further verification	This may be down to our brain’s ‘mirror neurons’, which are known to mimic others’ actions. The hypothesis will need to be thoroughly tested…” Here, require further verification = the hypothesis will need to be thoroughly tested
36. NO	taste, current artistic trends	P 8, in lines 7-9	While the fashion of the time might shape what is currently popular, works that are best adapted to our visual system may be the most likely to linger once the trends of previous generations have been forgotten.”So, it is not true that people‟s taste in paintings depends entirely on the current artistic trends of the period. trend of the period=fashion of the time
37. NO	precise rules, govern, reactions	lines 2-3, p- last	It would, however, be foolish to reduce art appreciation to set a set of scientific laws.” Therefore, it can be gathered from the lines, it is not correct that scientists should seek to define the precise rules which govern people’s reactions to works of art. Here, rules = laws, people’s reactions to works of art = art appreciation
38. YES	always, cultural context	lines 3-4,last p	We shouldn’t underestimate the importance of the style of a particular artist, their place in history and the artistic environment of their time.” This means that we should consider the cultural context in which an artist worked
39. NOT GIVEN	easier, meaning in science, art	Last P	we find a comparison between art and science, but they are only compared in terms of “looking for systems and decoding meaning so that we can view and appreciate the world in a new way”. There is no comparison in terms of which one’s meaning is easy or difficult.
40. A			In this passage, the writer refers to some scientific experiments, theories and knowledge of the way the brain reacts to abstract art. Neuroaesthectics are mentioned in paragraph 1 in the study of past masterpieces and then, in paragraph 2, the writer asks: “Could the same approach also shed light on abstract twentieth-century pieces…? The rest of the article tries to answer this question. So, the most appropriate subtitle for this article is some scientific insights into how the brain responds to abstract art. insights=shed light on