Cambridge IELTS Academic 11 Reading Test 3 Answers with Explanation / IELTS Academic Reading: The Story of silk , Great Migrations , How the other half thinks: Adventures in mathematical reasoning

READING PASSAGE 1

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

The Story of silk

Answers	Keywords	Location	Explanation
1. tea	emperor’s wife	P1, line 5 and 14-17	Legend  has  it  that  it  was  Lei  Tzu,  wife  of  the  Yellow Emperor, ruler of China in about 3000 BC, who  discovered  silkworms. It just so happened that while she was  sipping some tea, one of the  cocoons  that  she had collected  landed  in  the hot tea  and  started to unravel into a fine thread. ·         landed=fell
2. reel		P1, L 21-24	She also devised a special reel to draw the fibers from the cocoon into a single thread so that they would be strong enough to be woven into fabric. ·         invented=devised ·         pull out=draw…from
3. women	only, produce silk	P2,L 1-2	Originally, silkworm farming was solely restricted to women, and it was they who were responsible for the growing, harvesting and weaving. ·         only=solely
4. royalty	only, wear silk	P2, line 4-6	Silk  quickly  grew  into  a  symbol  of  status,  and originally, only royalty were entitled to have clothes made of silk. ·         allowed= entitled ·         wear= have clothes
5. currency	farmers, taxes	P2,L 11-17	Sometime  during  the  Han  Dynasty (206  BC-220AD), silk was so prized that it was also used as unit of currency. Government officials were paid their salary in silk, and farmers paid their taxes in grain and silk.
6. paper	168 AD,  evidence	P2, L 20-23	The earliest indication of silk paper being used was discovered in the tomb of a noble who is estimated to have died around 168 AD. ·         evidence = indication
7. wool	Merchants, Silk Road	P3, L3-5	“…. now known as the Silk Road, taking silk westward and bringing gold, silver and wool to the East. ·         precious metals = gold, silver
8. monks	550 AD, hide, eggs, canes	P4, L10-14	According  to  another  legend,  monks  working  for  the Byzantine  emperor  Justinian  smuggled  silkworm  eggs  to  Constantinople  in  550  AD,  concealed  inside hollow bamboo walking canes. ·         hide=conceal
9. nylon	20th century, man made fibre, cause decline	P 5,L 7-8	Then in the  twentieth century, new  man made fibers, such as nylon, started to be used in what had traditionally been silk products, such as stockings and parachutes.” ·         decline=downfall
10. FALSE	gold, most valuable material	P3, L 1-8	Demand  for  this  exotic  fabric  eventually  created  the  lucrative trade  route  now  known  as  the  Silk  Road,  taking  silk  westward  and  bringing  gold,  silver  and  wool  to  the East. It was named the Silk Road after its most precious commodity, which was considered to be worth more than gold. ·         valuable=precious· ·         material=commodity ·         It’s= silk
11. TRUE	tradesmen, certain sections	P3, Last line	Few  merchants  traveled  the  entire  route;  goods  were handled  mostly by  a  series  of  middlemen. “Because of the middleman they didn’t need to travel the whole distance and the goods were transported by one middleman to another” “Few  merchants  traveled  the  entire  route= most tradesmen only went along certain sections”
12. FALSE	Byzantines, spread	P4, L4	The Byzantines were  as secretive as the Chinese, however, and for  ………………  Arabs  conquered  Persia,  ………..through  Africa,  Sicily  and  Spain  as  the  Arabs  swept  through  these  lands ” It was the the Arabs, not the Byzantines, who spread the practice of silk production across the West.”
13. NOT GIVEN	silk yarn, the majority, exported,	Last Paragraph, L 19	.. .. .in more recent decades, China has gradually recaptured its position as the world’s biggest producer and exporter of silk and silk yarn. Not sufficient information.

 

 

READING PASSAGE 2

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

Great Migrations

Answers	Keywords	Location	Explanation
14. FALSE	Local gulls, same way	P2, L 1-7	An arctic tern, on its 20,000 km flight from the extreme south of South America to the Arctic circle will take no notice of a nice smelly herring offered from a bird- watcher’s boat along the way. While local gulls will dive voraciously for such handouts, the tern flies on. ·         While= Connective word to show contradiction meaning that local gulls and migrating arctic terns behave in different ways when offered food.
15. TRUE	definitions of migration, vary	P3, L 1-3	But  migration  is  a  complex  issue,  and  biologists  define  it differently, depending on what sorts of animals they study. ·         experts=biologists ·         differently= Vary
16. NOT GIVEN	few, agree, movement of aphids	P4, L 5-10	So can the movement of aphids, when, ……….to where it started. Nothing mentioned about the agreement by few or many.
17. TRUE	Aphids’ journeys, affected, light	P5, L 5-10	They  allow  for  the  fact  that,  for  example,  aphids  will  become sensitive to blue light (from the sky) when it’s time for takeoff on their big journey, and sensitive to yellow light (reflected from tender young leaves) when it’s appropriate to land. ·         They= aphids ·         become sensitive= affected
18. FALSE	Dingle, migratory behaviors	P5 L14	Dingel argues, is that it focuses,,,,,,, how evolution has produced them all. His aim was not to distinguish between behaviors but above given.
19. G	Dingle, migratory routes	P1, L 8- 13	The   biologist   Hugh   Dingle   has   identified   five characteristics  that  apply,  in  varying  degrees  and  combinations,  to  all  migrations.  They  are  prolonged movements that carry animals outside familiar habitats; they tend to be linear, not zigzaggy. ·         Linear= straight line.
20. C	prepare	P1, L 13-17	they  (migrations)  involve  special  behaviour  concerning preparation (such as overfeeding) and arrival.” This means that to prepare for migration, animals eat more than they need for immediate purposes. ·         eat more than they need=overfeed
21. A	during migration, unlikely	P1, L 17-22	And one more: migrating animals maintain an  intense  attractiveness  to  the  greater  mission,  which  keeps  them  undistracted  by  temptations  and undeterred  by  challenges  that  would  turn  animals  aside.”  This  means  that  during migration,  animals  are unlikely to be discouraged by difficulties. ·         difficulties=challenges
22. E	Arctic terns, ability	P2, L1	An arctic tern, on its 20,000 km flight from the extreme south of South  America  to  the  Arctic  circle  will  take  no  notice  of  a  nice  smelly  herring  offered  from  a  bird- watcher‟s boat  along the way. While local  gulls will dive voraciously for such handouts, the tern flies on. The arctic tern resists distraction because it is driven at the moment by an instinctive sense of something we humans find admirable: larger purpose.” This means that arctic terns illustrate migrating animals‟ ability to ignore distractions. ·         ignore=resist
23. speed	pronghorns, eyesight, avoid predators	P6, L23-26	Pronghorn,  dependent  on  distance  vision  and  speed  to  keep safe from predators.” ·         rely on=be dependent on ·         eyesight=vision ·         avoid=keep safe from
24. plains	winter home, danger, snow	P6,L 19-23	If  they  (pronghorns)  can’t  pass  through  again  in  autumn, escaping south onto those windblown plains, they are likely to die trying to overwinter in the deep snow. ·         danger= likely to die
25. bottlenecks	route, contains three	P6, L 13-16	These  pronghorns  are  notable  for  the  in-variance  of  their migration route and the severity of its constriction at three bottlenecks.
26. corridor/passageway	construction, homes, narrow	P6, Last Sentence	At  one of the bottlenecks, forested hills rise to form a V, leaving a corridor of open ground only about 150 metres wide, filled with private homes. ·         narrow= only about 150 metres wide

READING PASSAGE 3

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

How the other half thinks: Adventures in mathematical reasoning

Question No.	Answer	Keywords	Explanation	Location
27	D	books, assume, lack of mathematical knowledge	The passage refers to books that omit mathematics due to assumed lack of knowledge.	Section D
28	B	the way, not, typical book, about mathematics	The book differs from others by explaining reasoning behind discoveries, unlike typical books on mathematics.	Section B
29	G	personal examples, being helped, by mathematics	Personal examples from a physician and a lawyer highlight how mathematics helped them in their professions.	Section G
30	C	examples, people, each had abilities, seemed incompatible	Examples of people with seemingly incompatible abilities (engineer and artist, opera singer and mathematician, etc.).	Section C
31	B	different focuses of books, about mathematics	Books on mathematics focus on different aspects like lives of mathematicians, applications, and procedures.	Section B
32	E	contrast, reading this book, reading other kinds of publication	The passage contrasts reading this book slowly compared to reading a novel or newspaper.	Section E
33	A	claim, the whole of the book, accessible, everybody	The passage claims that the entire book is accessible to everyone, explaining every step of reasoning.	Section A
34	F	different categories, intended readers, of this book	The passage describes two categories of intended readers: those who enjoyed mathematics and aficionados.	Section F
35	beginner	some areas, both music and mathematics, suitable for	Some areas of both music and mathematics are suitable for beginners.	Section A
36	arithmetic	sometimes possible, understand, advanced mathematics, using no more than a limited knowledge	The passage mentions that advanced mathematics can be understood with a limited knowledge of arithmetic.	Section A
37	intuitive	the writer, intends to show, mathematics, requires, thinking, analytical skills	The passage suggests that mathematics requires both analytical and intuitive thinking.	Section C
38	scientists	some books, written by, had to leave out, mathematics, central to their theories	Some books written by scientists omit mathematics, which is central to their theories.	Section D
39	experiments	the writer, advises, non-mathematical readers, perform, while reading	The writer advises non-mathematical readers to perform experiments while reading.	Section E
40	theorems	lawyer, found, studying, helped, more than other areas, mathematics, study of law	A lawyer found that studying theorems helped more than other areas of mathematics in the study of law.	Section G