Extinct: The Giant Deer- IELTS Reading Answer

31 Answer: wooded interglacials

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph E

Answer explanation: The 2nd paragraph of paragraph E states, “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].” These lines that the huge antlers may possibly contribute to the reason why the Irish Elk was extinct, which was highly controversial as they live pleasantly over the span of wooded interglacials. Hence, the answer is wooded interglacials.

32 Answer: 10500 years ago

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 1

Answer explanation: In the initial paragraph of the passage, it is mentioned that 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. It is evident from these lines that generally, mammals become extinct about 10,500 years ago at the last maximum ice age. Hence, the answer is 10,500 years ago.

33 Answer: male’s huge antlers

Question type: Short Answer Question

Answer location: Paragraph E

Answer explanation: The initial lines of paragraph E states, that Meanwhile, Lister cast doubt on another possible explanation for the deer’s demise – the male’s huge antlers. These lines suggest that the male’s huge antlers are one kind of physical characteristic that eventually contributed to the extinction of the Irish Elk. Hence, the male’s huge antlers.

34 Answer: minerals

Question type: Short Answer Question

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 5

Answer explanation: The 5th line of paragraph E states that 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. We can deduce from these lines that the minerals are one of the nutrient substances needed in maintaining the huge size of the Irish Elk. Hence, the answer is minerals.

35 Answer: habitat destruction

Question type: Short Answer Question

Answer location: Paragraphs A & D

Answer explanation: In the 2nd last line of paragraph A, it is mentioned that 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. Similarly, in paragraph D, it is stated that the team, though, said their new date for the Irish elk’s extinction hints at an additional human-made problem – habitat destruction. Thus, it’s clear that apart from various geographical evidence, habitat destruction is one of the pieces of evidence that suggested the advent of humans resulted in the extinction of the Irish Elk. Hence, the answer is habitat destruction.

36 Answer: B

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph F, 2nd paragraph

Answer explanation: In the 2nd paragraph of para F, it is stated that 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. These lines indicate that Australia was the continent where humans imposed little impact on large mammals extinction. Hence, the answer is B.

37 Answer: D

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 4

Answer explanation: The 4th line of paragraph F states that 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. We can understand from these lines that Africa is the continent where the climatic changes were mild and fauna remains. Hence, the answer is Africa.

38 Answer: A

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph G

Answer explanation: Paragraph G illustrates, “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 of 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.” The paragraph suggests that Eurasia is the continent where both humans and climatic changes are the causes. Hence, the answer in Eurasia.

39 Answer: C

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 4

Answer explanation: Paragraph F, line 4 states that 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 subtropical Asia. These lines indicate that Asia is the continent where the climatic change along caused a massive extinction. Hence, the answer is C.

40 Answer: C

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph G

Answer explanation: We know from paragraph G that 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. In the 2nd paragraph, it is stated that again, as animals come through 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 – of advanced Paleolithic humans – causes this wave of extinction. Therefore, according to the Stuart team’s findings, the climatic change was not solely responsible for the megafauna extinction in Europe. Hence, the answer is C.