Cambridge Academic Reading 9 Test 1

Reading Passage 3:

Title of the passage: The history of the tortoise

Questions 27-30   (Short answer to open questions with NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS)

[In this kind of questions candidates have to answer some questions, only with some conditions like NO MORE THAN THREE/TWO WORDS and/or A NUMBER or, ONE WORD ONLY. Each question has keywords which will lead to the answer. This question type generally follows a sequence.]

Question 27: What had to transfer from sea to land before any animals could migrate?

Keywords for this question: transfer, from sea to land, before, animals, migrate   

The last lines of paragraph no. 1 give us the answer, “… And we mustn’t forget the plants, without whose prior invasion of the land none of the other migrations could have happened.”

Here, transfer from sea to land before any animals = prior invasion of the land

So, the answer is: plants

Question 28: Which TWO processes are mentioned as those in which animals had to make big changes as they moved onto land?

Keywords for this question: TWO processes, animals, had to make, big changes, moved onto land,  

The first lines of paragraph no. 2 indicate the answer for this question. “Moving from water to land involved a major redesign of every aspect of life, including breathing and reproduction.”

Here, major redesign = big changes

So, the answers are: breathing, reproduction (in any order)

Question 29: Which physical feature, possessed by their ancestors, do whales, lack?

Keywords for this question: physical feature, ancestors, whales, lack,  

In paragraph no. 2 we can find the mention of whales. Here, in lines 12-21, the author of the passage states, “Whales (including the small whales we call dolphins) and dugongs, with their close cousins the manatees, ceased to be land creatures altogether and reverted to the full marine habits of their remote ancestors. They don’t even come ashore to breed. They do, however, still breathe air, having never developed anything equivalent to the gills of their earlier marine incarnation.”

Here, having never developed = lack, their earlier marine incarnation = their ancestors,

So, the answer is: gills

Question 30: Which animals might ichthyosaurs have resembled?

Keywords for this question: ichthyosaurs, resembled,  

In paragraph no. 3 we can find the answer. In lines 13-17, the writer says, “Ichthyosaurs were reptilian contemporaries of the dinosaurs, with fins and streamlined bodies. The fossils look like dolphins and they surely lived like dolphins, in the water.”

Here, look like = resemble

So, the answer is: dolphins

Questions 31-33: In this type of question, candidates are asked to find out whether:

The statement in the question agrees with the information in the passage – TRUE

The statement in the question contradicts with the information in the passage – FALSE

If there is no information on this  – NOT GIVEN

[For this type of question, you can divide each statement into three independent pieces and make your way through with the answer.]

Question 31: Turtles were among the first group of animals to migrate back to the sea.

Keywords for this question: turtles, first group, migrate, back to the sea,  

In paragraph no. 2 we find the writer saying, “Nevertheless, a good number of thoroughgoing land animals later turned around, abandoned their hard-earned terrestrial re-tooling, and returned to the water again.”

This line doesn’t indicate whether turtles were the first group of animals to migrate back to the sea. IN this paragraph there is only the information about the turtles that they “went back to the sea a very long time age.. .”

So, the answer is: NOT GIVEN

Question 32: It is always difficult to determine where an animal lived when its fossilised remains are incomplete.

Keywords for this question: difficult, determine, where, lived, fossilised remains, incomplete,

In paragraph no. 3, take a look at lines 9-13, “You might wonder how we can tell whether fossil animals lived on land or in water, especially if only fragments are found. Sometimes it’s obvious.”

So, the lines mean that even though fossilised remains are in fragments (incomplete), it is not always difficult to (Sometimes it’s obvious) determine whether an animal lived in land or water. Here, the question statement contradicts with the information.

Here, obvious = clear, apparent

So, the answer is: FALSE

Question 33: The habitat of ichthyosaurs can be determined by the appearance of their fossilised remains.

Keywords for this question: habitat, ichthyosaurs, determined, appearance, fossilised remains,    

In paragraph no. 3, look at lines 13-17, “Ichthyosaurs were reptilian contemporaries of the dinosaurs, with fins and streamlined bodies. The fossils look like dolphins and they surely lived like dolphins, in the water.”

Therefore, it is true that the habitat of ichthyosaurs can be determined by taking a close look at their fossils.

So, the answer is: TRUE   

Questions 34-39: (Completing flow chart with NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER)

[In this type of question, candidates are asked to write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER to complete a flow chart on the given topic. For this type of question, first, skim the passage to find the keywords in the paragraph concerned with the answer, and then scan to find the exact word.]

Title: Method of determining where the ancestors of turtles and tortoises come from

Step 1:

Question 34: 71 species of living turtles and tortoises were examined and a total of ____________ were taken from the bones of their forelimbs.

Keywords for this question: 71 species, living turtles and tortoises, examined, bones, forelimbs,   

In paragraph no. 4 we find the mention of ‘71 species of living turtles and tortoises’. So, we should read attentively to find our answer here. The writer says in the beginning of paragraph no. 4, “Walter Joyce Jacques Gauthier, at Yale University, obtained three measurements in these particular bones (of their forelimbs as mentioned at the end of paragraph no. 3) of 71 species of living turtles and tortoises.”

So, the answer is: 3/three measurements

Step 2:

Question 35: The data was recorded on a _________(necessary for comparing the information).

Keywords for this question: data, recorded on, necessary, comparing information,    

In lines 5-7 of paragraph no. 4 the writer says, “. . . They used a kind of triangular graph paper to plot the three measurements against one another.”

Here, to plot … . . .. against one another = necessary for comparing the information

So, the answer is: (triangular) graph  

Question 36: Outcome: Land tortoises were represented by a dense _________ of points towards the top.

Sea turtles were grouped together in the bottom part.

Keywords for this question: outcome, land tortoises, dense, points, towards the top,    

The answer can be found in lines 7-11, “. . . All the land tortoise species formed a tight cluster of points in the upper part of the triangle; all the water turtles cluster in the lower part of the triangular graph.”

Here, tight = dense, lower part = bottom part,

So, the answer is: cluster

Step 3:

Question 37: The same data was collected from some living _________ species and added to the other results.

Keywords for this question: same data, collected, some living, species, added to, other results,     

In lines 11-14 of paragraph no. 4, the author says, “.. . .. . . There was no overlap, except when they added some species that spend time both in water and on land. Sure enough, these amphibious species show up . ..”. So, the data was added to the graph was from some amphibious species.

So, the answer is: amphibious  

Question 38: Outcome: The points for these species turned out to be positioned about _________ up the triangle between the land tortoises and the sea turtles.

Keywords for this question: outcome, points, species, turned out to be, positioned, triangle, between, land tortoises, sea turtles,    

The answer lies in lines 13-17, the author says, “. .. Sure enough, these amphibious species show up on the triangular graph approximately half way between the ‘wet cluster’ of sea turtles and the ‘dry cluster’ of land tortoises.

Here, show up = positioned, approximately = about,

So, the answer is: half way

Step 4:

Bones of P. quenstedti  and P. talampayensis were examined in a similar way and the results added.

Question 39: Outcome: The position of the points indicated that both these ancient creatures were ________.

Keywords for this question: bones, P. quenstedti and P. talampayensis, examined, similar way, position, points, indicated, ancient creatures,  

We can see the mention of ‘the bones of P. quenstedti and P. talampayensis’ at the end of paragraph no. 4. Here, in lines 19-23, the author says, “. . .. The bones of P. quenstedti and P. talampayensis leave us no doubt. Their points on the graph are right in the thick of the dry cluster. Both these fossils were dry-land tortoises.”

Here, fossils = ancient creatures,

So, the answer is: dry-land tortoises

Question 40: Multiple choice questions

[This type of question asks you to choose a suitable answer from the options using the knowledge you gained from the passage. Generally, this question is found as the last question so you should not worry much about it. Finding all the answers for previous questions gives you a good idea about the title.]

According to the writer, the most significant thing about tortoises is that –

A. they are able to adapt to life in extremely dry environments.

B. their original life form was a kind of primeval bacteria.

C. they have so much in common with sea turtles.

D. they have made the transition from sea to land more than once.

As the question asks us to identify the most significant thing about tortoises, we need to look closely at the final paragraph, as this paragraph will give us the summary of the whole passage. Take a look at this paragraph where the author says, “Tortoises therefore represent a remarkable double return. In common with all mammals, reptiles and birds, their remote ancestors were marine fish and before that various more or less worm-like creatures stretching back, still in the sea, to the primeval bacteria. Later ancestors lived on land and stayed there for a very large number of generations. Later ancestors still evolved back into the water and become sea turtles. And finally they returned yet again to the land as tortoises, some of which now live in the driest of deserts.”

This paragraph suggests to the fact that the tortoises have changed their habitat from sea to land a number of times.

So, the answer is: D