Walking with Dinosaurs, The Robots are Coming, Endangered Languages - IELTS Reading Answers

Walking with Dinosaurs Reading Answers (Passage 1)

1 Answer: True

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph A

Answer explanation: Paragraph A discusses the media image of palaeontologists who study prehistoric life is often of field workers camped in the desert in the hot sun, carefully picking away at the rock surrounding a large dinosaur bone. But Peter Falkingham has done little of that for a while now. Instead, he devotes himself to his computer. Not because he has become inundated with paperwork, but because he is a new kind of paleontologist: a computational paleontologist. We can deduce from these lines that Peter Falkingham is a new-age computational paleontologist, who is busy with his paperwork. He doesn’t go out for his research under the scorching heat, instead he devotes himself to his computer. Therefore, it is evident that Peter rarely spent time on outdoor research. So, the answer is True.

2 Answer: True

Question type: True/False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 4

Answer explanation: The 4th line of paragraph B states that Dr Bill Sellers and Phil Manning from the University of Manchester use a ‘genetic algorithm’ – a kind of computer code that can change itself and ‘evolve’ – to explore how extinct animals like dinosaurs, and our own early ancestors, walked and stalked. We can deduce from these lines that two scientists from the University of Manchester use a genetic algorithm to explore the habitat of the extinct animals like dinosaurs, and early ancestors. The digital skeleton of the prehistoric animals is framed as a part of the Genetic Algorithm. Therefore, the genetic algorithm remained upright after several attempts used by the scientists. So, the answer is True.

3 Answer: False

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 14

Answer explanation: The 14th line of paragraph C illustrates that Using the same method for living animals (humans, emu and ostriches) similar top speeds were achieved on the computer as in reality. We can understand that the computer model digital skeleton evolved quickly and the muscle activation pattern also matched with the speed similar to the real extinct animal. The scientists derived multiple computed patterns in muscle activation and when an improvement was found, the scientists discarded the old ones and adopted the new ones. Therefore, the statement contradicts the information. So, the answer is False.

4 Answer: Not Given

Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph E

Answer explanation: We find reference in the introductory lines of paragraph E, which states that Fakingham was investigating fossilized tracks, or footprints using computer simulations to help analyze how extinct animals moved. However, there’s no reference to the fact that few paleontologists expressed reservations about the conclusions that was reached by the Manchester team concerning the dinosaur’s move. So, the answer is Not Given.

5 Answer: True

Question type: True/False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph G, line 7

Answer explanation: The 7th line of paragraph G illustrates that Falkingham can start to understand what types of footprint would be expected if an animal moved in a certain way over a given kind of ground. Looking at the variation in the virtual tracks, researchers can make sense of fossil tracks with greater confidence. We can understand from these lines that Fakingham understood what types of footprints can be expected if animals moved in a certain way. Thus, the experienced tracker can analyze the fossil footprints made by a live animal. So, the answer is True.

6 Answer: Not Given

Question type: True/False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph G

Answer explanation: Paragraph G illustrates that Falkingham uses computational techniques to model a volume of mud and control the moisture content, consistency, and other conditions to simulate the mud of prehistoric times. These lines indicate that Falkingham used computational techniques to assess a composition of prehistoric mud. However, these lines do not reveal that the research was inaccurate. So, the answer is Not Given.

7 Answer: Sail

Question type: Diagram Completion

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 6

Answer explanation: Paragraph D explains the invention of a model of giant meat eating dinosaurs by a team of Manchester University. The 6th line states that there are also those who believe that the spines acted as a support for a sail. These lines indicate that the dinosaur’s name came from spines as believed by a theory, and those were required to hold up the sail in order to control the heat in their bodies. Thus, the answer is Sail.

8 Answer: Narrow

Question type: Diagram Completion

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 9

Answer explanation: The 9th line of paragraph D illustrates that the skull seems out of proportion with its thick, heavy body because it is so narrow and the jaws are delicate and fine. These lines reveal that the skull is out of proportion, that is it is of disproportionate size with its thick heavy body as it is so narrow and that the jaws are fine and delicate. Thus, the answer is narrow.

9 Answer: locomotion

Question type: Diagram Completion

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 13

Answer explanation: The 13th line of paragraph D reveals that it has a deep broad tail and powerful leg muscles to aid locomotion. We can understand from these lines that the body of dinosaurs contain really small feet compared to their huge body structure. Their feet contain a deep broad tail and powerful leg muscles, which aids locomotion. So, the answer is locomotion.

10 Answer: Moisture

Question type: Flowchart Completion

Answer location: Paragraph G

Answer explanation: Paragraph G states that Falkingham uses computational techniques to model a volume of mud and control the moisture content, consistency, and other conditions to simulate the mud of prehistoric times. We can deduce from these lines that Falkingham assessed the prehistoric mud by using computational techniques to model a volume of mud and control moisture content, and consistency. So, the answer is Moisture.

11 Answer: stress

Question type: Flowchart Completion

Answer location: Paragraph G, line 4

Answer explanation: Paragraph G, 4th line illustrates that this footprint can be chopped up and viewed from any angle and stress values can be extracted and calculated from inside it. We understand from these lines that the stress values can be extracted and calculated from the footprints which can be chopped up and seen from any angle. Thus, the answer is Stress.

12 Answer: Ground

Question type: Flowchart Completion

Answer location: Paragraph G, line 5

Answer explanation: The 5th line of paragraph G depicts that by running hundreds of these simulations simultaneously on supercomputers, Falkingham can start to understand what types of footprint would be expected if an animal moved in a certain way over a given kind of ground. We can deduce the continuous practice of these simulations performed on supercomputers. This way, Falkingham could assess the types of footprint of an animal when they moved over a particular kind of ground. Thus, the answer is ground.

13 Answer: Fossil tracks

Question type: Flowchart Completion

Answer location: Paragraph G, line 9

Answer explanation: The 9th line of paragraph G illustrates that looking at the variation in the virtual tracks, researchers can make sense of fossil tracks with greater confidence. These lines indicate the differences and variations in the virtual tracks and that the researchers made sense about the fossil tracks with significant confidence. Thus, the answer is Fossil tracks.

The Robots are Coming Reading Answers (Passage 2)

14 Answer: Paragraph C

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph C

Answer explanation: The initial lines of paragraph C states that in the 1950s and 1960s great progress was made, but the shortcomings of these prototype robots soon became clear. They were huge and took hours to navigate across a room. Meanwhile, a fruit fly, with a brain containing only a fraction of the computing power, can effortlessly navigate in three dimensions. We can find reference for an insect in paragraph C, where it is mentioned that a fruit fly with a fraction of brain can see in three dimensions in a matter of seconds, which proves the superiority of natural intelligence over AI. Thus, the answer is Paragraph C.

15 Answer: Paragraph D

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 2

Answer explanation: The 2nd line of paragraph D reveals that Rodney Brooks was the director of MIT’s Artificial Intelligence laboratory, famous for its lumbering ‘top- down’ walking robots. He changed the course of research when he explored the unorthodox idea of tiny ‘insectoid’ robots that learned to walk by bumping into things instead of computing mathematically the precise position of their feet. We can deduce from these lines that Rodney was famous for lumbering top down walking robots. He decided to examine the idea of small insectoid robots that learned to walk as they bumped into things rather than mathematically computing the precise foot location. Thus, the answer is Paragraph D

16 Answer: Paragraph B

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph B

Answer explanation: The introductory lines of paragraph B illustrates Artificial Intelligence or AI, which is different from most technologies in that scientists still understand very little about how intelligence works. We understand that AI is an emerging technology which is different from other technologies as the scientists are still not able to figure out how AI works, so, they think that there are not too many possibilities of development in AI. Therefore, the answer is Paragraph B.

17 Answer: Paragraph D

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 2

Answer explanation: Line 2 of paragraph D states that Rodney Brooks was the director of MIT’s Artificial Intelligence laboratory, famous for its lumbering ‘top- down’ walking robots. He changed the course of research when he explored the unorthodox idea of tiny ‘insectoid’ robots that learned to walk by bumping into things instead of computing mathematically the precise position of their feet. These lines indicate that the concept of tiny insectoid robots is an innovative approach that will guide them to walk by bumping into things rather than computing mathematically. Therefore, the innovation has limited success rate as mathematical computation took over. So, the answer is Paragraph D.

18 Answer: Paragraph A

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 2

Answer explanation: The 2nd line of paragraph A states that the human brain, they argue, is the most complicated system ever created, and any machine designed to reproduce human thought is bound to fail. Physicist Roger Penrose of Oxford University and others believe that machines are physically incapable of human thought. Colin McGinn of Rutgers University backs this up when he says that Artificial Intelligence ‘is like sheep trying to do complicated psychoanalysis. We can deduce from these lines that many researchers/ academicians believe that there’s no scope for AI, and that they’re bound to fail as nothing is more complicated than the human mind and robots don’t have the same cognitive process that humans have. Thus, the answer is Paragraph A.

19 Answer: Paragraph F

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 1

Answer explanation: The introductory lines of paragraph F illustrates that there’s no universal consensus as to whether machines can be conscious, or even, in human terms, what consciousness means. These lines indicate that there’s no universal consensus describing what consciousness implies in terms of the human brain. Thus, the answer is Paragraph F.

20 Answer: Paragraph C

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 5

Answer explanation: The 5th line of paragraph C states that human brains, like the fruit fly’s, unconsciously recognize what we see by performing countless calculations. This unconscious awareness of patterns is exactly what computers are missing. The second problem is robots’ lack of common sense. We can deduce that the awareness of patterns that the human mind calculates is missing in computers. In addition, these robots lack common sense and only understand what has been programmed into them. Thus, the answer is Paragraph C.

21 Answer: D

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 6

Answer explanation: The 6th line of paragraph A illustrates that Colin McGinn of Rutgers University backs this up when he says that Artificial Intelligence ‘is like sheep trying to do complicated psychoanalysis. They just don’t have the conceptual equipment they need in their limited brains’. These lines indicate the sayings by Colin who claimed AI as a sheep trying to do complicated psychoanalysis, which doesn’t have conceptual equipment they require in their limited brains. Thus, it is evident that people have intellectual capacities which don’t exist in AI or computers. So, the answer is D.

22 Answer: C

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph D, last line

Answer explanation: The last line in paragraph D states, “But then we started to try to make machines that could answer questions about simple children’s stories. There’s no machine today that can do that.’” We can deduce that Martin summarizes the problem of AI in paragraph D, where he reveals that people have started to make machines that could answer questions about simple children’s stories and no machines today can do that. Thus, the answer is C.

23 Answer: A

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 5

Answer explanation: The 5th line of paragraph E states that Computer expert Hans Moravec thinks that in the future robots will be programmed with emotions such as fear to protect themselves so that they can signal to humans when their batteries are running low, for example. Emotions are vital in decision-making. These lines indicate that Moravec believes that emotions are very important in decision making, and to succeed in the field of AI, the future robots might require to have emotions hardwired into their brains. Thus, the answer is A.

24 Answer: Disc

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph B, last 2 line

Answer explanation: The last line of paragraph B states that in order to attack these difficulties, researchers tried to use the ‘top- down approach’, using a computer in an attempt to program all the essential rules onto a single disc. We can deduce that paragraph B explains how far AI has come and the last lines illustrate that researchers used a top down approach to program all the essential rules onto a single disc. Thus, the answer is disc.

25 Answer: Patterns

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 5

Answer explanation: There’s an example in the 5th line, which states, “Our brains, like the fruit fly’s, unconsciously recognize what we see by performing countless calculations. This unconscious awareness of patterns is exactly what computers are missing.” We can understand that paragraph C explains the first problem that computers are missing is the accuracy and unconscious awareness of patterns. So, even after using a top-down approach, they were not able to recognize patterns. Thus, the answer is patterns.

26 Answer: Mars

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 8

Answer explanation: The 8th line of paragraph D illustrates that today many of the descendants of Brooks’ insectoid robots are on Mars gathering data for NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration), running across the dusty landscape of the planet. These lines reveal how Brooks insectoid robots are on Mars collecting data for NASA, running throughout the dusty landscape of Earth. Therefore, robots similar to those invented by Brooks can be found on Mars, where they’re collecting data. Thus, the answer is Mars.

Endangered languages Reading Answers (Passage 3)

27 Answer: Yes

Question type: Yes/No/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 6

Answer explanation: Line 6th of paragraph A reveals that One-half of the survivors will show growing evidence that not all approaches to this will almost certainly be gone by 2050, while 40% more preservation of languages will be particularly will probably be well on their way out. In their place, helpful. Some linguists boast that, for example, almost all humans will speak one of a handful of more and more sophisticated means of capturing mega languages – Mandarin, English, Spanish. We understand that as per the growing evidence, some of the approaches will vanish by 2050, while only 40% more preservation of languages will probably be well. Some linguists suggest that people will speak a handful of more sophisticated languages. Thus, the statement agrees with the information. So, the answer is Yes.

28 Answer: No

Question type: Yes/ No/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 4

Answer explanation: We can find reference in the 4th line of paragraph B that illustrates, “Say a community goes over from speaking a traditional Aboriginal language to speaking a creole*,’ says Australian Nick Evans, a leading authority on Aboriginal languages, ‘you leave behind a language where there’s a very fine vocabulary for the landscape“. These lines indicate that Australian Nick Evans, a leading authority on Aboriginal language, saying that a community shifts from speaking traditional aboriginal languages to speaking a creole and that the language is left behind despite it having a good vocabulary for the landscape. Thus, the academic’s effort to record existing aboriginal languages has not been limited. As the statement disagrees with the information, the answer is No.

29 Answer: Yes

Question type: Yes/No/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 4

Answer explanation: The 4th line of paragraph E illustrates that some linguists are boasting, for example, of more and more sophisticated means of capturing languages: digital recording and storage, and internet and mobile phone technologies. But these are encouraging the ‘quick dash’ style of recording trip: fly-in, switch on a digital recorder, fly home, download to the hard drive, and store gathered material for future research. These lines suggest that digital recording and storage is meant as technology and that the use of this has given unsatisfactory results in some ways encouraging a quick dash style of recording trip. Thus, the statement agrees with the facts, so, the answer is Yes.

30 Answer: Not Given

Question type: Yes/No/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 7

Answer explanation: Paragraph E talks about the prominent linguist, Noam Chomsky. In the 7th line, it is mentioned that Chomsky, from his post at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been the great man of theoretical linguistics for far longer than he has been known as a political commentator. These lines indicate that Chomsky was a preeminent linguist, who was a great man of theoretical linguistics for more than he was known as a political commentator. However, there’s no reference that his political views had overshadowed his academic work. So, the answer is Not Given.

31 Answer: Yes

Question type: Yes/No/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 3

Answer explanation: The 3rd line of paragraph F reveals that this requires that documentary linguists observe not only languages’ structural subtleties, but also related social, historical and political factors. Such work calls for persistent funding of field scientists who may sometimes have to venture into harsh and even hazardous places. These lines clearly indicate that documentary linguists studies require long-term funding and financial support. Thus, the statement agrees with the facts, so, the answer is Yes.

32 Answer: No

Question type: Yes/ No/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 7

Answer explanation: The 7th line of paragraph E illustrates that Chomsky, from his post at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been the great man of theoretical linguistics for far longer than he has been known as a political commentator. These lines reveal that Chomsky was a man of theoretical linguistics far longer than he has been known as a political commentator. Thus, the statement contradicts the information, so, the answer is No.

33 Answer: D

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph A

Answer explanation: The initial lines of paragraph A states, “Worried about the loss of rainforests and the ozone. At linguistics meetings in the US, where is the layer? Well, neither of those is doing any worse than the endangered-language issue that has of late been a large majority of the 6,000 to 7,000 languages that are something of a flavour of the month, they remain in use on Earth.” These lines illustrate that people shouldn’t only worry about the ozone layer, but they should also worry about the endangered languages. Thus, the writer mentions rainforests and the ozone layer to make the point that the public should be equally concerned about languages. So, the answer is D.

34 Answer: A

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 5

Answer explanation: The 5th line of paragraph B states that Australian Nick Evans, a leading authority on Aboriginal languages, ‘you leave behind a language where there’s a very fine vocabulary for the landscape. All that is gone in a creole. You’ve just got a few words like ‘gum tree’ or whatever. We can understand from these lines that Nick Evans says that when language is left there’s a fine vocabulary for the landscape. He also states that people who speak endangered languages will lose their fine vocabulary which is a part of their culture. Thus, the speakers of Creole say that they lose the ability to express ideas which are part of their culture. Hence, the answer is A.

35 Answer: C

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph C, last line

Answer explanation: The last line of paragraph C illustrates that Austin heads a programme that has trained many documentary linguists in England as well as in language-loss hotspots such as West Africa and South America. These lines indicate that a programme headed by Austin has trained several documentary linguists in England and language-loss hotspots. Thus, from the linguist’s perspective, there are now only a few undocumented languages there, which is similar to West Africa and South America. Thus, the answer is C.

36 Answer: A

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph D, last line

Answer explanation: The last line of paragraph D states that the most loud and untiring has been Michael Krauss, of the University of Alaska. He has often complained that linguists are playing with non-essentials while most of their raw data is disappearing. These lines indicate that Michael Krauss is complaining and highlighting that linguists fail to record the languages that are raw data, i.e, linguists are failing to record languages before they fade out. So, the answer is A.

37 Answer: C

Question type: Matching Sentence Endings

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 5

Answer explanation: The 5th line of paragraph C states that in England, another Australian, Peter Austin, has directed one of the world’s most active efforts to limit language loss, at the University of London. These lines suggest that Peter Austin considers that one of the world’s most active efforts to limit language loss. Therefore, linguists like Peter believe that every language is unique despite it may share certain universal characteristics. Thus, the answer is C.

38 Answer: A

Question type: Matching Sentence Endings

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 8

Answer explanation: The 8th line of paragraph F illustrates that As Nick Evans says, a community who speak an endangered language may have reasons to doubt or even oppose efforts to preserve it. We can understand that Nick Evans suggests a community may resist their attempts to save its languages even though it is in the danger of extinction. Thus, the answer is A.

39 Answer: F

Question type: Matching Sentence

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 3

Answer explanation: The 3rd line of paragraph E illustrates that Linguists who go out into communities to study, document and describe languages, argue that theoretical linguists, who draw conclusions about how languages work, have had so much influence that linguistics has largely ignored the continuing disappearance of languages. We can deduce from these lines that linguists who go out to study in communities are interested in doing practical research despite the prevalence of theoretical linguistics. Thus, the answer is F.

40 Answer: B

Question type: Matching Sentence Endings

Answer location: Paragraph G

Answer explanation: The introductory lines of paragraph G reveals that the highest barrier, they agree, is that the linguistics profession’s emphasis on theory gradually wears down the enthusiasm of linguists who work in communities. Chomsky disagrees. He has recently begun to speak in support of language preservation. We can understand from these lines that linguistics profession emphasis on theory eventually goes down the excitement of linguists working in communities. However, Chomsky disagrees as he had started to speak in support of language preservations. Thus Chomsky supports work in descriptive linguistics due to its strong basis in theory. So, the answer is B.

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