Extinct: The Giant Deer - IELTS Reading Answer

The IELTS Reading can be the top-scoring category, with diligent practice with topics like, 'Extinct: The Giant Deer - IELTS Reading Answer'. To achieve the best results in this section, you must understand how to approach and answer the different Question types in the Reading Module. Since this Section will assess you based on your ability to understand and interpret information from the passages given, you need to prepare yourself so that you can comprehend the information accurately. 

By solving and reviewing Sample Reading Questions from IELTS Reading answers like ‘Extinct: The Giant Deer’ from past IELTS papers, you can ensure that your Reading skills are up to the mark. In order to master this section, you need to acquire various skills in reading comprehension, identifying main ideas, understanding opinions, and locating specific details. Therefore, it is important to practice on a regular basis so that you can ace the IELTS exam.

Let's dive into it!

Types of Questions in Extinct: The Giant Deer - IELTS Reading Answer

Since there are different question types, you must first familiarize yourself with the strategies which need to be incorporated in each question type whether you are appearing for the IELTS Academic Reading or General Training. As you attempt the topic, 'Extinct: The Giant Deer - IELTS Reading Answer', you would be able to note the strengths as well as your areas of improvement in terms of different question types. Below are the question types which you will encounter in this reading passage which is from Section 3 of the Reading Module.

• IELTS Reading Summary Completion [Q.28-Q.32]
• IELTS Reading Short Answer Questions [Q.33-Q.35]
• IELTS Reading Matching Features [Q.36-Q.39]
• IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Questions [Q.40]

Strategies to Attempt Extinct: The Giant Deer - IELTS Reading Answer and Get a Band 8+

When preparing for the Reading section for both Academic and IELTS General Reading, these passages would comprise descriptive and informational content requiring you to manage your time, recognize key words, and provide correct answers. But there are a few strategies which would certainly help you get a band 8+. The following  will guide you with the topic, 'Extinct: The Giant Deer - IELTS Reading Answer'.

• Firstly, go through all the questions as this will help you identify exactly what you want to focus on while reading the passage. It is advised that one should not just read a passage without going through the questions as this will take more of your time.
• Underline all the keywords found in the questions such as any names, dates, actions, or descriptive words. This will help you gather information from the passage quickly. Try the techniques and practice them so that you will know How to Ace IELTS Reading With 'Keyword Technique.'
• Skimming the whole passage is essential to develop a general idea on what kind of information each section contains. However, your answer shouldn't completely based on just keywords, rather always go back to scan for those particular details which will guide you to locate the exact area where answers are provided.
• Remember that the information in the passage will be paraphrased. Therefore, watch out for synonyms and prepare yourself by enhancing your IELTS Vocabulary to ace Reading.
• It is ideal to use a timer when you prepare with the questions for the Reading Module. Since you must allocate around 20 minutes for each passage, this will help you to check the timing. Remember that Time Management for IELTS Reading is very crucial for which you need to practice under timed conditions.

Reading Passage - Extinct: The Giant Deer - IELTS Reading Answer

Extinct: The Giant Deer

Toothed cats, mastodons, giant sloths, woolly rhinos, and many other big, shaggy mammals are widely thought to have died out around the end of the last ice age, some 10,500 years ago. 

The Irish elk is also known as the giant deer (Megaloceros giganteus). Analysis of ancient bones and teeth by scientists based in Britain and Russia show the huge herbivore survived until about 5,000 B.C. — more than three millennia later than previously believed. The research team says this suggests additional factors, besides climate change, probably hastened the giant deer's eventual extinction. The factors could include hunting or habitat destruction by humans. 
The Irish elk, so-called because its well-preserved remains are often found in lake sediments under peat bogs in Ireland, first appeared about 400,000 years ago in Europe and Central Asia. Through a combination of radiocarbon dating of skeletal remains and the mapping of locations where the remains were unearthed, the team shows the Irish elk was widespread across Europe before the last "big freeze." The deer's range later contracted to the Ural Mountains, in modern-day Russia, which separate Europe from Asia. 

The giant deer made its last stand in western Siberia, some 3,000 years after the ice sheets receded, said the study's co-author, Adrian Lister, professor of palaeobiology at University College London, England. "The eastern foothills of the Urals became very densely forested about 8,000 years ago, which could have pushed them onto the plain," he said. He added that pollen analysis indicates the region then became very dry in response to further climatic change, leading to the loss of important food plants. "In combination with human pressures, this could have finally snuffed them out," Lister said. 

Hunting by humans has often been put forward as a contributory cause of the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. The team, though, said their new date for the Irish elk's extinction hints at an additional human-made problem — habitat destruction. Lister said, "We haven't got just hunting 7,000 years ago — this was also about the time the first Neolithic people settled in the region. They were farmers who would have cleared the land." The presence of humans may help explain why the Irish elk was unable to tough out the latest of many climatic fluctuations —periods it had survived in the past. 

Meanwhile, Lister cast doubt on another possible explanation for the deer's demise — the male's huge antlers. Some scientists have suggested this exaggerated feature — the result of females preferring stags with the largest antlers, possibly because they advertised a male's fitness —contributed to the mammal's downfall. They say such antlers would have been a serious inconvenience in the dense forests that spread northward after the last ice age. 

But, Lister said, "That's a hard argument to make because the deer previously survived perfectly well through wooded interglacials [warmer periods between ice ages]." Some research has suggested that a lack of sufficient high-quality forage caused the extinction of the elk. High amounts of calcium and phosphate compounds are required to form antlers, and therefore large quantities of these minerals are required for the massive structures of the Irish Elk. The males (and male deer in general) met this requirement partly from their bones, replenishing them from food plants after the antlers were grown or reclaiming the nutrients from discarded antlers (as has been observed in extant deer). 

The extinction of megafauna around the world was almost completed by the end of the last ice age. It is believed that megafauna initially came into existence in response to glacial conditions and became extinct with the onset of warmer climates. Tropical and subtropical areas have experienced less radical climatic change. The most dramatic of these changes was the transformation of a vast area of North Africa into the world's largest desert. Significantly, Africa escaped major faunal extinction as did tropical and sub-tropical Asia. The human exodus from Africa and our entrance into the Americas and Australia were also accompanied by climate change. 

Australia's climate changed from cold-dry to warm-dry. As a result, surface water became scarce. Most inland lakes became completely dry or dry in the warmer seasons. Most large, predominantly browsing animals lost their habitat and retreated to a narrow band in eastern Australia, where there were permanent water and better vegetation. Some animals may have survived until about 7000 years ago. If people have been in Australia for up to 60 000 years, then megafauna must have co-existed with humans for at least 30 000 years. Regularly hunted modern kangaroos survived not only 10 000 years of Aboriginal hunting, but also an onslaught of commercial shooters. 

The group of scientists led by A.J. Stuart focused on northern Eurasia, which he was taking as Europe, plus Siberia, essentially, where they've got the best data that animals became extinct in Europe during the Late Pleistocene. Some cold-adapted animals, go through into the last part 01 the cold stage and then become extinct up there. So you've actually got two phases of extinction. Now, neither of these coincide — these are Neanderthals here being replaced by modern humans. There's no obvious coincidence between the arrival of humans or climatic change alone and these extinctions. 

There's a climatic change here, so there's a double effect here. Again, as animals come througy to the last part of the cold stage, here there's a fundamental change in the climate, reorganization of vegetation, and the combination of the climatic change and the presence of humans — advanced Paleolithic humans — causes this wave of extinction. There's a profound difference between the North American data and that of Europe, which summarizes that the extinctions in northern Eurasia, in Europe, are moderate and staggered, and in North America severe and sudden. And these things relate to the differences in the timing of human arrival. The extinction follows from human predation, but only at times of fundamental changes in the environment. 

Questions 28-32

Having been preserved well in Europe and Central Asia, the remains of the Irish elk were initially found at approximately 28………………………. Around 29…………………………, they were driven to live in the plain after being restricted to the Ural Mountains. Hunting was considered one of the important factors in Irish elk’s extinction, people have not started hunting until 30…………………….. when Irish elk used to get through under a variety of climatic fluctuations.

The huge antlers may possibly contribute to the reason why Irish elk was extinct, which was highly controversial as they live pleasantly over the span of 31………………………. Generally, it is well-known that, at the last maximum ice age, mammals become extinct about 32…………………….

Questions 33-35

33 What kind of physical characteristics eventually contributed to the extinction of Irish elk?

34 What kind of nutrient substance is needed in maintaining the huge size of Irish elk?

35 What geographical evidence suggested the advent of humans resulted in the extinction of Irish elk?

Questions 36-39

A Eurasia

B Australia

C Asia

D Africa

36 the continents where humans imposed a little impact on large mammals extinction

37 the continents where the climatic change was mild and fauna remains

38 the continents where both humans and climatic change are the causes

39 the continents where the climatic change along caused a massive extinction

IELTS Academic Reading Test

Question 40

A Neanderthals rather than modern humans caused the extinction in Europe

B Paleolithic humans in Europe along kill the big animals such as Giant deer

C climatic change was not solely responsible for the megafauna extinction in Europe

D moderate and staggered extinction was mainly the result of fundamental climatic change

Answer with Location and Explanation for Extinct: The Giant Deer - IELTS Reading Answer

Did you try the question? Now, let us look at the answers related to the passage for Section 3 on Extinct: The Giant Deer - IELTS Reading Answer along with the answer location, and explanation. Remember to analyze your answer and note down the points to improve to reach an IELTS Band Score of 8+.

Remember that consistent practice under timed conditions will help you achieve your desired scores. However, always incorporate strategies so that you can attempt different question types with ease. This module could seem intimidating but if you prepare well with such practice tests, you will hone your reading skills in no time. Therefore, continue with the flow and level up your preparation by attempting more tests like this to get a higher band score of 8+.

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