IELTS reading

Reading Test 44

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Section 1

Reading Passage 1

Mungo Man

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Fifty thousand years ago, a lush landscape greeted the first Australians making their way towards the south-east of the continent. Temperatures were cooler than now. Megafauna – giant prehistoric animals such as marsupial lions, goannas and the rhinoceros-sized diprotodon – were abundant. The Lake Mungo remains are three prominent sets of fossils which tell the archeologists the story: Mungo Man lived around the shores of Lake Mungo with his family. When he was young Mungo Man lost his two lower canine teeth, possible knocked out in a ritual. He grew into a man nearly 1.7m in height. Over the years his molar teeth became worn and scratched, possibly from eating a gritty diet or stripping the long leaves of water reeds with his teeth to make twine. As Mungo Man grew older his bones ached with arthritis, especially his right elbow, which was so damaged that bits of bone were completely worn out or broken away. Such wear and tear are typical of people who have used a woomera to throw spears over many years. Mungo Man reached a good age for the hard life of a hunter-gatherer and died when he was about 50. His family mourned for him, and carefully buried him in the lunette, on his back with his hands crossed in his lap, and sprinkled with red ochre. Mungo Man is the oldest known example in the world of such a ritual. This treasure-trove of history was found by the University of Melbourne geologist Professor Jim Bowler in 1969. He was searching for ancient lakes and came across the charred remains of Mungo Lady, who had been cremated. And in 1974, he found a second complete…

Questions 1–8

Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-F) with opinions or deeds below. Write the appropriate letters A-F in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once.

1.He was searching for ancient lakes and came across the charred remains of Mungo Lady, who had been cremated.

2.Professor who hold a skeptical attitude towards reliability for DNA analysis on some fossils.

Section 2

Reading Passage 2

Coral reefs

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Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. Coral reefs are estimated to cover 284,300 km2 just under 0.1% of the oceans‘ surface area, about half the area of France. The Indo-Pacific region accounts for 91.9% of this total area. Southeast Asia accounts for 32.3% of that figure, while the Pacific including Australia accounts for 40.8%. Atlantic and Caribbean coral reefs account for 7.6%. Yet often called ―rainforests of the sea‖, coral reefs form some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. They provide a home for 25% of all marine species, including fish, mollusks worms, crustaceans, echinoderms, sponges, tunicates and other cnidarians. Paradoxically, coral reefs flourish even though they are surrounded by ocean waters that provide few nutrients. They are most commonly found at shallow depths in tropical waters, but deep water and cold water corals also exist on smaller scales in other areas. Although corals exist both in temperate and tropical waters, shallow-water reefs form only in a zone extending from 30°N to 30°S of the equator. Deepwater coral can exist at greater depths and colder temperatures at much higher latitudes, as far north as Norway. Coral reefs are rare along the American and African west coasts. This is due primarily to upwelling and strong cold coastal currents that reduce water temperatures in these areas…

Questions 15–20

The reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-G. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter A-G, in boxes 15-20 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once.

15.Geographical Location of the world's coral reef

Section 3

Reading Passage 3

Tele-working

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Teleworking – working remotely from an office- is said to have many benefits for organisations, the environment and society. It provokes mixed reactions from its acolytes and those that experience it first-hand. Whether you like it or not, it is true to say that work is no longer dependent on geography and this opens up a range of opportunities for working in new ways and environments. The surveys show “that the productivity increase is not primarily because of longer working hours (as is sometimes suggested). Although prevalent, working more is just one of a number of influencing factors, and not the most important.” An unusual comparison of the performance of teleworkers with a closely matched control group of non-teleworkers found that not only was productivity higher but also that absenteeism and error rates were lower. Two other areas where SUSTEL has added to the economic impact knowledge base is its effect on absenteeism and space utilisation. In the case of absenteeism, over 60 per cent of those surveyed stated that telework had enabled them to work when they were prevented from reaching a work location (usually through illness or transport problems). Around half the cases also identified substantial reductions in space requirements – to the point where one organisation had completely done away with a central office. Changes in non-commuting travel on weekends: home-bases workers, which includes a substantial population of people who are not telecommuters, spend more time shopping out of the home than traditional workers. Half-time telecommuting could reduce…

Questions 28–35

Complete the summary using the list of words, A-N below. Write the correct letter, A-N, in boxes 28-35 on your answer sheet.

28.Teleworking has been said to have many benefits for both society and companies. Survey identified that telecommuters spend more time on than those traditional workers on changes in non-commuting travel on weekends. It also is beneficial to the environment as it reduces the

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Answers & explanations

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40 answers3 explanations open
  1. 1

    A

    The given feature exactly repeats itself. The subject "he" indicates the person mentioned in the previous sentence - Jim Bowler. Hence, A is the answer. In para B: He was searching for ancient lakes and came across the charred remains of Mungo Lady, who had been cremated.

  2. 2

    E

    In paragraph D: "a skeptical attitude" - "want to see the work repeated", "it could just mean", "no evidence" (these are not synonyms but they shows the skeptical attitude of the speaker). "DNA analysis" - "DNA sequences"

  3. 3

    A

    In para B and C: "determination" - "concludes", "age of Mungo Man" - "28,000 to 32,000 years old", "much younger than…62,000 years" repeats itself. Around the keywords, you can infer that the person who found out the age of Mungo Man was "he", which means Jim Bowler. Hence, the answer is A.

  4. 4

    B

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  5. 5

    C

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  6. 6

    D

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  7. 7

    B

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  8. 8

    A

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  9. 9

    TRUE

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  10. 10

    NOT GIVEN

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  11. 11

    TRUE

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  12. 12

    FALSE

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  13. 13

    TRUE

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  14. 14

    NOT GIVEN

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  15. 15

    A

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  16. 16

    C

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  17. 17

    C

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  18. 18

    D

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  19. 19

    E

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  20. 20

    D

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  21. 21

    TRUE

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  22. 22

    TRUE

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  23. 23

    NOT GIVEN

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  24. 24

    NOT GIVEN

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  25. 25

    TRUE

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  26. 26

    NOT GIVEN

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  27. 27

    C

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  28. 28

    F

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  29. 29

    A

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  30. 30

    C

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  31. 31

    I

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  32. 32

    M

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  33. 33

    K

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  34. 34

    H

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  35. 35

    D

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  36. 36

    A

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  37. 37

    C

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  38. 38

    F

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  39. 39

    D

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  40. 40

    C

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Understand why, not only what.

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