Bring Back the Big Cats IELTS Reading Answers

Bring Back the Big Cats is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Academic Reading test. There are various question types, each of which is asked in the IELTS Reading exam. So, the passage given in this practice test will help you enhance your reading and understanding capabilities.

Try to find the answers to get an idea of the difficulty level of the passages in the actual reading test. If you want more passages to solve, try taking our IELTS reading practice tests.

The types of questions found in this passage are:

• IELTS Reading Multiple-Choice Question (Q. 14-18)
• IELTS Reading Summary Completion (Q. 19-22)
• IELTS Reading Yes/No/Not Given (Q. 23-26)

Reading Passage

Bring Back the Big Cats

Answers of Bring Back the Big Cats Reading Answers With Location and Explanations

Go through the answers and detailed explanations of each question in the Bring Back the Big Cats passage and prepare to get a high IELTS Reading band score.

14 Answer: D

Question Type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph 1, Lines 3-12

Answer explanation: “Nothing seemed to fit, until 2006, when an animal bone, dating from around the same period, was found in the Kinsey Cave in northern England. Until this discovery, the lynx – a large spotted cat with tasselled ears – was presumed to have died out in Britain at least 6,000 years ago, before the inhabitants of these islands took up farming. But the 2006 find, together with three others in Yorkshire and Scotland, is compelling evidence that the lynx and the mysterious llewyn were in fact one and the same animal. If this is so, it would bring forward the tassel-eared cat’s estimated extinction date by roughly 5,000 years.” These lines show that the Lynx survived longer in Britain than what was believed prior and were comparatively more recent, that is 5000 years, than they were thought to be which is 6000 years.

15 Answer: A

Question Type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph 3, Lines 4-9

Answer explanation: “One of the most striking findings of modern ecology is that ecosystems without large predators behave in completely different ways from those that retain them. Some of them drive dynamic processes that resonate through the whole food chain, creating niches for hundreds of species that might otherwise struggle to survive. The killers turn out to be bringers of life.” This suggests that the presence of predatory are significant for biodiversity as they are the life bringers and are one of the key players in driving the dynamic ecological processes, thereby maintaining the balance of the ecosystem.

16 Answer: C

Question Type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph 4, Lines 1-5

Answer explanation: “Such findings present a big challenge to British conservation, which has often selected arbitrary assemblages of plants and animals and sought, at great effort and expense, to prevent them from changing. It has tried to preserve the living world as if it were a jar of pickles, letting nothing in and nothing out, keeping nature in a state of arrested development.” In the introductory sentence of the paragraph, we come to know that the British conservation system was based on arbitrary selection of plants and animals, that is, it was not based on any logic or system. This idea is emphasised in the later part and brings about the errors in the approach of British conservation and their approach.

17 Answer: A

Question Type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph 5, full

Answer explanation: “At sea the potential is even greater: by protecting large areas from commercial fishing, we could once more see what 18th-century literature describes: vast shoals of fish being chased by fin and sperm whales, within sight of the English shore. This policy would also greatly boost catches in the surrounding seas; the fishing industry’s insistence on scouring every inch of seabed, leaving no breeding reserves, could not be more damaging to its own interests.” This paragraph talks about the benefits of protection of fishes and the areas where they dwell from commercialisation.

18 Answer: C

Question Type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph 6, Lines 3-6

Answer explanation: “One of the reasons why the enthusiasm for rewilding is spreading so quickly in Britain is that it helps to create a more inspiring vision than the green movement’s usual promise of ‘Follow us and the world will be slightly less awful than it would otherwise have been.’ ” This line suggests the significance of rewilding and how it is more appealing and has a more positive and appealing (inspiring) vision as compared to other campaigns.

19 Answer: E

Question Type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 7, Lines 1-2

Answer explanation: “The lynx presents no threat to human beings: there is no known instance of one preying on people.” This suggests that lynx don’t harm humans and are safe for human existence.

20 Answer: D

Question Type: Summary Completion

Answer location:  Paragraph 7, Lines 2-6

Answer explanation: “It is a specialist predator of roe deer, a species that has exploded in Britain in recent decades, holding back, by intensive browsing, attempts to re-establish forests. It will also winkle out sika deer: an exotic species that is almost impossible for human beings to control, as it hides in impenetrable plantations of young trees.” This suggests how lynx would help the greenery and vegetation by preying on some wild animals like roe deer and sika deer that are a threat to the crop fields and greenery and was increasing in number.

21 Answer: F

Question Type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 7, Lines 8-10

Answer explanation: “The lynx requires deep cover, and as such presents little risk to sheep and other livestock, which are supposed, as a condition of farm subsidies, to be kept out of the woods.” This suggests that lynx won’t be a threat (present little risk) to the farm animals like sheep, if they are away from forests as the lynx require dense covering of forest to hide themselves.

22 Answer: A

Question Type: Summary Completion

Answer location:  Paragraph 7, Lines 6-8

Answer explanation: “The attempt to reintroduce this predator marries well with the aim of bringing forests back to parts of our bare and barren uplands.” This suggests that these predators would help in restoring the forests and the trees by checking on the growth of herbivores who graze uncontrollably. Here the keywords ‘marries well’ is paraphrased as link efficiently.

23 Answer: No

Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 8, Lines 5-8

Answer explanation: “The lynx has now been reintroduced to the Jura Mountains, the Alps, the Vosges in eastern France and the Harz mountains in Germany, and has re-established itself in many more places.” This shows that the lynx have been reintroduced in many parts of the world and Britain is not the first or the only European country to do so.

24 Answer: Not Given

Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: N/A

Answer explanation: Although there is a mention that the European lynx population has tripled since 1970 to roughly 10,000, there is no such reference in the passage that suggests that this growth has exceeded conservationists’ expectations.

25 Answer: Yes

Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 8, Lines 9-12

Answer explanation: ‘As with wolves, bears, beavers, boar, bison, moose and many other species, the lynx has been able to spread as farming has left the hills and people discover that it is more lucrative to protect charismatic wildlife than to hunt it, as tourists will pay for the chance to see it.” This suggests that as farming is no more done on the hill slopes, predators like the lynx have extended their habitats.

26 Answer: Yes

Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 8, Lines 9-13

Answer explanation: ‘As with wolves, bears, beavers, boar, bison, moose and many other species, the lynx has been able to spread as farming has left the hills and people discover that it is more lucrative to protect charismatic wildlife than to hunt it, as tourists will pay for the chance to see it. Large-scale rewilding is happening almost everywhere – except Britain.”  This suggests that reintroduction of the species is lucrative (has commercial advantages) as tourists are attracted and it increases the cash flow from these visits.

Tips to Solve the Question Types in Bring Back the Big Cats  IELTS Reading Answers

Now that you have the answers and explanations for Bring Back the Big Cats Reading Answers, let’s explore some IELTS exam preparation tips for answering the four question types.

Multiple-Choice Questions:

You will be given a reading passage followed by several questions based on the information in the paragraph in multiple-choice questions. Your task is to understand the question and compare it to the paragraph in order to select the best solution from the available possibilities.

• Before reading the passage, read the question and select the keywords using the IELTS Reading keyword techniques. Check the keyword possibilities if the question statement is short on information.
• Then, using the keywords, read the passage to find the relevant information.
• To select the correct option, carefully read the relevant words and match them with each option.
• You will find several options with keywords that do not correspond to the information.
• Try opting for the elimination method, mostly.
• Find the best option by matching the meaning rather than just the keywords.

Summary Completion: 

Summary Completion is a type of IELTS Reading question that requires you to fill in a gap in a paragraph with a word or phrase from the passage. To answer summary completion questions, you can use the following strategies:

• Read the sentences carefully: This will give you an idea of the type of word or phrase that is missing.
• Scan the passage for the keywords: The keywords in the sentence can help you to identify the correct word or phrase.
• Read the sentence with the missing word or phrase: This will help you to see how the word or phrase fits into the sentence.
• Check your answer: Once you have filled in the gap, make sure that your answer makes sense in the context of the sentence.

Yes/No/Not Given

Unlike True/False/Not Given IELTS Reading questions, ‘Yes/No/Not Given’ questions are based on opinions, views and beliefs of the author of the reading passage. A few statements will be provided to you, and it is up to you to determine whether they conform with the views/opinions of the writer by reading the text. You can use the following strategies to answer this question type:

• Always begin by reading the question and identifying the keywords. Before reading the material, have a look at your list of Yes, No, and Not Given questions.
• You need to scan the passage for synonyms or paraphrased words of the keywords. Once you have highlighted the keywords, swiftly read the text to look for paraphrases or synonyms.
• Matching highlighted words, or keywords in the questions with their synonyms in the text is the best way to figure out the answer. Once you find both sets of keywords, cross-check them to find the answer.
• Do NOT waste time if you are confused. If the facts match, the answer is YES, and in case it doesn’t match, it is NO. If you are unable to find the answer or unsure of it, mark it NOT GIVEN.

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