Thomas Harriot – The Discovery of Refraction Reading Answers

Updated On Jun 25, 2023

Thomas Harriot – The Discovery of Refraction Reading Answers

Contents

0.1 QUESTIONS 27 – 31
0.2 QUESTIONS 32 – 36
0.3 QUESTIONS 37 – 40

1 Answer Key
- - 1.0.1 Check More IELTS Reading Answers

Thomas Harriot – The Discovery of Refraction is a real Reading test passage that appeared in the IELTS.

The Reading Module can be the top-scoring category for IELTS aspirants, with diligent practice. To score well, you must understand how to approach and answer the different question types in the Reading Module.

Three types of questions are given along with this reading passage. They are:

Matching Headings
Summary Completion (without suggested options)
Matching Features

By solving and reviewing Sample Reading Questions from past IELTS papers, you can ensure that your Reading skills are up to the mark. Take the practice test below and check your score with the answers for Thomas Harriot – The Discovery of Refraction!

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You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on the Reading Passage.

Find the reading passage with the Thomas Harriot – The Discovery of Refraction PDF here.

QUESTIONS 27 – 31

Reading Passage 3 has 7 paragraphs A-G. Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-E and G from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i-x, in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

A misunderstanding in the history of science
Thomas Harriot’s biography
Unknown reasons for his unpublished works
Harriot’s 1588 publication on North American studies
Expedition to the New World
Reluctant cooperation with Kepler
Belated appreciation of Harriot’s contribution
Religious pressures kept him from publishing
Correspondence with Kepler
Interests and research into multiple fields of study

Example	Answer
Para A	i

27 Paragraph B
28 Paragraph C
29 Paragraph D
30 Paragraph E
31 Paragraph G

QUESTIONS 32 – 36

Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 32-36 on your answer sheet.

Various modem applications base on an image produced by lens uses refraction , such as 32…………………. And a spectrum of colors from a beam of light can be produced with 33…………………. Harriot travelled to Virginia and mainly did research which focused on two subjects of American 34…………………. After, he also enter upon a study of flight dynamics and 35…………………. for one of his friends much ahead of major European competitor. He undertook extensive other studies which were only noted down personally yet predated than many other great scientists. One result, for example, corrected the misconception about the idea of 36………………….

QUESTIONS 37 – 40

Look at the following researchers (listed A-D) and their findings. Match each researcher with the correct finding. Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any researcher more than once.

Willobrord Snell
Johannes Kepler
Ptolemy
Galileo
Harriot

37 discovered the moons of Jupiter
38 distracted experimental calculation on refraction
39 the discovery of sunspots
40 the person whose name the sin law was attributed to

Answer Key

Question Number	Answer	Explanation
27	x	Paragraph B explains that Harriot’s principal biographer, J. W. Shirley, was quoted saying that as a ‘mathematician’, Thomas Harriot contributed to the ‘development of algebra’, and ‘introduced the symbols of ”>”, and ”<” for ”more than” and ”less than.”’ He also studied navigation and astronomy. This shows that he had interest and as result, researched into various fields of study. Hence, the answer is x (Interests and researches into multiple fields of study).
28	v	Paragraph C reveals that Thomas Harriot was also an ‘early English explorer of North America’. He was a friend of the English courtier and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh and ‘travelled to Virginia as a scientific observer’ (expedition) on a colonising expedition in 1585. ‘Harriot wrote his report’ for Raleigh and ‘published it as *A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia’* (New World of Virginia) in 1588. Hence, the answer is v (Expedition to the New World).
29	ix	The first sentence of paragraph D points out that ‘Harriot kept regular correspondence’ with other scientists and mathematicians, especially in England but also in mainland Europe, ‘notably with Johannes Kepler’. In 1606, ‘Harriot sent Kepler some tables of refraction data’ for different materials at a constant incident angle. Hence, the answer is ix (Correspondence with Kepler).
30	iii	In the beginning of paragraph E, it is mentioned that apart from the correspondence with Kepler,there is ‘no evidence’ (unknown reasons) that Harriot ‘ever published his detailed results on refraction’ (unpublished works). Hence, the answer is iii (Unknown reasons for his unpublished works).

31	vii	Paragraph G states that Harriot died on July 2, 1621, in London, but his story did not end with his death. ‘Recent research has revealed his wide range of interests and his genuinely original discoveries’. Scholars have begun to study Harriot’s works and ‘an appreciation of Harriot’s contribution started to grow in the second half of the twentieth century’ (belated appreciation of his works). Hence, the answer is vii (Belated appreciation of Harriot’s contribution).
32	magnification	Paragraph A informs that refraction has ‘many applications in optics and technology’ (modern applications). A ‘lens uses refraction to form an image of an object’ for many different purposes, ‘such as magnification’. Hence, the answer is ‘magnification’.
33	a prism	Paragraph A declares that ‘a prism’ uses refraction to ‘form a spectrum of colors from an incident beam of light’. Hence, the answer is ‘a prism’.
34	land and language	Paragraph C let out the fact that Harriot ‘travelled to Virginia’ as a scientific observer on a colonising expedition in 1585.On shore, Harriot observed the topography (land), flora and fauna, made many drawings and maps, and met the native people who ‘spoke a language’ the English called Algonquian. Harriot worked out a phonetic transcription of the native people’s speech sounds and ‘began to learn the language’, which enabled him to converse to some extent with other natives the English encountered. Hence, the answer is ‘land and language’.
35	ship design	Paragraph G relates that ‘Harriot’ began a survey of Raleigh’s Irish holdings. He also ‘undertook a study of ballistics’ (flight dynamics) and ‘ship design’ for ‘Raleigh’ (one of his friends) in ‘advance of the Spanish Armada’s arrival’ (much ahead of major European competitor). Hence, the answer is ‘ship design’.
36	(the) rainbow refraction/refraction in rainbow	Paragraph E states that around 1606, Harriot had studied dispersion in prisms (predating Newton by around 60 years), measured the refractive indices of different liquids placed in a hollow glass prism, studied refraction in crystal spheres, and ‘correctly understood refraction in the rainbow’ (corrected the misconception) ‘before Descartes’ (predated than many other great scientists). Hence, the answer is ‘(the) rainbow refraction/refraction in rainbow’.
37	D	Paragraph B mentions that between October 17， 1610 and February 26, 1612, Harriot observed the ‘moons of Jupiter’, which had ‘already discovered by Galileo’. Hence, the answer is ‘D’ (Galileo).
38	B	In paragraph D, it is conveyed that ‘Johannes Kepler’ (1571-1630) had also looked for the law of refraction. Unfortunately, Ptolemy’s data was in error, so ‘Kepler could obtain only an approximation which he published in 1604’. Kepler later tried to obtain additional experimental results on refraction, and corresponded with Thomas Harriot from 1606 to 1609. In 1606, Harriot sent Kepler some tables of refraction data for different materials at a constant incident angle, but didn’t provide enough detail for the data to be very useful. Kepler requested further information, but Harriot was not forthcoming. As a result, Kepler eventually gave up the correspondence, frustrated with Harriot’s reluctance. We can conclude that Kepler’s original data that he obtained from Ptolemy’s data was erroneous and the tables of refraction sent by Harriot were also not accurate. They were distracted experimental calculations on refraction. Hence, the answer is ‘B’ (Johannes Kepler).
39	E	Paragraph B refers to the fact that while observing Jupiter’s moons, ‘Harriot made a discovery of his own: sunspots’, which he viewed 199 times between December 8, 1610 and January 18, 1613. Hence, the answer is ‘E’ (Harriot).
40	A	Paragraph C points out that although the first discovery of the sine law, made by the sixteenth-century English scientist Thomas Harriot, ‘Snell’s sine law of refraction is now taught routinely in undergraduate courses’, the quest for it spanned many centuries and involved many celebrated scientists. So, the person whose name the sin law was attributed to is Willobrord Snell. Hence, the answer is ‘A’ (Willobrord Snell).

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