The Dollar-a-Year Man, Children’s literature, The birth of our modern minds Reading Answers
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The IELTS Reading passage, The Dollar-a-Year Man, along with the other two Academic passages – Children’s literature and The birth of our modern minds makes this a complete Reading practice test.
You will have 60 minutes to complete the whole test, which consists of 40 questions in total.
Here are the question types in this reading test
Reading Passage 1 (The Dollar-a-Year Man)
- Summary completion
- Matching information
- Multiple Choice Questions
Reading Passage 2 ( Children’s literature )
- Matching headings
- Yes/No or Not Given
Reading Passage 3 (The birth of our modern minds)
- Short answer questions
- Matching information
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Reading Passage 1
The Academic passage ‘The Dollar a Year Man’ is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test.
The question types found in this passage are:
Summary Completion
In this type of question, you will be provided with a summary of information from a text, and there will be a few gaps. You will either get a list of words to be filled in the gaps or you could be asked to find answers from the reading passage. You will have to insert a few words from the text into the gaps. All of the information in the summary will also be available in the reading text. However, they will be using paraphrasing and synonyms. Thus, you cannot expect to find the exact words.
Matching Information Questions
In this type of question, a list which contains information taken from the paragraphs. You are asked to find out the paragraph from which the information is taken. Sometimes the question may be tricky because the information given might not be in exact words as given in the paragraph instead it will be paraphrased so you need to read the paragraph to understand the meaning/idea behind it to answer these questions.
Multiple Choice Questions
IELTS reading multiple choice questions have about 3-4 options from which we have to choose our answer. This might be in the form of a question & answer type or a choose a correct ending to a sentence type. These answers appear in chronological order according to the passage.
The Dollar-a-Year Man
How John Lomax set out to record American folk music
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on the Reading Passage below. Find the practice test with The Dollar-a-Year Man PDF here.
Questions 1-5
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in blank spaces next to 1-5 on our answer sheet.
John Lomax’s Project
Lomax began the research for this project by looking at 1………………………………………………… that were not available in book form, as well as at certain books. While he was doing this research, he met someone who ran a department at the 2…………………………. in Washington. As a result of this contact, he was provided with the very latest kind of 3………………………………. . for his project. Lomax believed that the places he should concentrate on were 4………………………………. in the South of the US. While he and his son were on their trip, they added 5……………………………….. as places where they could find what they were looking for.
Questions 6-10
Reading Passage 1 has seven sections labelled A-Q.
Which section contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-Q in boxes 6—10 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
6 a reference to the speed with which Lomax responded to a demand
7 a reason why Lomax doubted the effectiveness of a certain approach
8 reasons why Lomax was considered suitable for a particular official post
9 a reference to a change of plan on Lomax’s part
10 a reference to one of Lomax’s theories being confirmed
Questions 11-13
Choose THREE letters A-F.
Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.
Which THREE of the following difficulties for Lomax are mentioned by the writer of the text?
A finding a publisher for his research
B deciding exactly what kind of music to collect
C the scepticism of others concerning his methods
D the reluctance of people to participate in his project
E making sure that participants in his project were not exploited
F factors resulting from his choice of locations for recording
11
12
13
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Reading Passage 2
The Academic passage ‘Children’s Literature’ is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test.
The question types found in this passage are:
Matching Headings
In this type of question, a list of headings will be given and you are asked to match these headings with a paragraph in the passage. You should read the headings before you begin reading the text. To get the correct answer, you have to read the complete paragraph and not just stop with the first few lines of the paragraph. There will also be many other headings that are not related to any of the paragraphs given in the passage, in such cases, try to identify those types of headings too.
Yes/No/Not Given Questions
Similar to the True/False/Not given questions, Yes/No/Not given questions also have various statements. But here you are asked to agree or disagree with the statement based on the opinion of the author.
Children’s Literature
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on the Reading Passage below. Find the practice test with the Children’s Literature PDF here.
Questions 14-20
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs A—Q.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct numbers i-x m boxes 14-20 on you answer sheet.
List of Headings
i. Optimistic beliefs held by the writers of children’s literature
ii The attitudes of certain adults towards children’s literature
iii The attraction of children’s literature
iv A contrast that categorises a hook as children’s literature
v A false assumption made about children’s literature
vi The conventional view of children’s Literature
vii Some good and bad features of children’s literature
viii Classifying a book as children’s literature
ix The treatment of various themes in children’s literature
x Another way of looking at children’s literature
14 Paragraph A
15 Paragraph B
16 Paragraph C
17 Paragraph D
18 Paragraph E
19 Paragraph F
20 Paragraph G
Questions 21-26
Do the following statement’s agree with the news of the writer in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 21-26 on your answer sheet write
YES, if the statement agrees with the news of the writer
NO, if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN, if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
21 Adults often fail to recognise the subversive elements in books their children read.
22 In publishing, the definition of certain genres has become inconsistent.
23 Characters in The Secret Garden are a good example of the norm in children’s literature.
24 Despite the language used in A High Wind in Jamaica, it should be considered a children’s hook.
25 The character of Tiny Tim contrasts with that of the child in Little Lord Fauntleroy.
26 A more realistic view of money should be given in children’s hooks.
Reading Passage 3
The Academic passage ‘The Birth of Our Modern Minds’ is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test.
The question types found in this passage are:
Short Answer Questions
In this type of question, you’ll have to take words from the given text to write the short answers. It is important to pay close attention to the instructions that are given in the question because in some instructions there will be a word limit mentioned and you may lose marks if you don’t follow it.
Matching Information Questions
In this type of question, a list which contains information taken from the paragraphs. You are asked to find out the paragraph from which the information is taken. Sometimes the question may be tricky because the information given might not be in exact words as given in the paragraph instead it will be paraphrased so you need to read the paragraph to understand the meaning/idea behind it to answer these questions.
The Birth of Our Modern Minds
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on the Reading Passage below. Find the practice test with The Birth of Our Modern Minds PDF here.
Questions 27-32
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.
27 According to the current view, what does NOT indicate the first appearance of the modern human.
28 What type of evidence does Lord Renfrew question in general?
29 What, apart from art, were the developments in the creation of 40,000 years ago?
30 What kind of cave art in Britain is referred to?
31 What TWO things does Lord Renfrew believe to have been established 10,000 years ago?
32 What TWO things did the notion of personal possessions lead to?
Questions 33-40
Write the correct letter A—D in boxes 33—40 on your answer sheet.
Classify the following statements as referring to the period.
A 10,000 years ago
B 40,000 years ago
C 60,000 years ago
D 70,000 years ago
33 The brain was completely formed physically but was not capable of all the functions of the modern mind.
34 There was a major change in the attitude of humans to each other.
35 A huge amount of art in different forms began to appear.
36 Development of the human mind occurred at the same time as a migration.
37 Art from the period casts doubt on the conventional view of the development of the human mind.
38 Tire modern mind developed in a different location from the one normally
assumed.
39 The only significant change in the development of man is shown in the art
produced.
40 Further research into the period is essential for accurate conclusions to be drawn on human development.
Answers
The Dollar-a-Year Man Reading Answers (Passage 1)
1.
Answer: song collection
Question Type: Summary Completion
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 2
Answer explanation: In the given paragraph, it is mentioned that “he travelled to libraries at Harvard, the Library of Congress, Browm University and elsewhere in order to explore unpublished song collections and to canvas the folk songbooks published over the past ten years.” The song collections were ‘unpublished’ ( not in book form) ; the ‘folk songbooks’ mentioned here were published ( book form).
2.
Answer: library of Congress
Question Type: Summary Completion
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 3
Answer explanation: In the said paragraph, you can refer to, “during his stay in Washington, D.C., Lomax became friendly with Carl Engel, Music Division chief of the Library of Congress.” Engel worked at the Library of Congress. Lomax became friendly with him.
3.
Answer: portable recording machine
Question Type: Summary Completion
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 4
Answer explanation: A line in the said paragraph infers that “through funds provided by the Council of Learned Societies and the Library of Congress, Lomax ordered a state-of-the-art portable recording machine.” The recording equipment is said to be ‘state-of-the-art’ (the latest kind).
4.
Answer: rural areas
Question Type: Summary Completion
Answer location: Paragraph E, line 3
Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, there’s a line in the said paragraph that describes “this fact, along with his early appreciation of African American folk culture, led Lomax to decide that black folk music from rural areas should be the primary focus. This bold determination resulted in the first major trip in the United States to capture black folk music in the field. In order to fulfil their quest, the two men concentrated on sections of the South with a high percentage of blacks.” He decided that ‘black folk music’ in these ‘rural areas’ would be his ‘primary focus’ (what he would mainly concentrate on). These areas were in the south of US.
5.
Answer: prisons and penitentiaries
Question Type: Summary Completion
Answer location: Paragraph E, last line
Answer explanation: According to a line, “but as they went along, prisons and penitentiaries also emerged as a focal point for research.” Initally they decided to go to ‘labouring camps, particularly lumber camps.’ But ‘as they went along’ (while they were on the trip), prisons and penitentiaries also ’emerged’ (appeared or became known to them) as a ‘focal point for research’ (something they should also concentrate on). Therefore, they added these places to the places in which they did their research.
6.
Answer: D
Question Type: Matching Information Questions
Answer location: Paragraph D, 2nd last line
Answer explanation: Few lines in the said paragraph convey that “Lomax simply had to agree to deposit the completed records at the Library of Congress. He did so without hesitation.” Here it confirms that he responded quickly.
7.
Answer: F
Question Type: Matching Information Questions
Answer location: Paragraph F,
Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, there’s a line that claims “The whole idea of using a phonograph to preserve authentic folk music was still fairly new. Most of John Lomax’s peers were involved in collecting- songs the classic way: taking both words and melody down by hand, asking the singer to perform the song over and over until the collector had ‘caught’ it on paper. John Lomax sensed at once the limitations of this kind of method, especially when getting songs from African-American singers, whose quarter tones, blue notes, and complex timing often frustrated white musicians trying to transcribe them with European notation systems.” Though every section contains a reference to Lomax collecting songs or doing the research before his trip; this passage particularly mentions the normal methods at the time and Lomax’s belief that these were not appropriate for the kind of music he was collecting.
8.
Answer: D
Question Type: Matching Information Questions
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 4
Answer explanation: If you observe clearly, a line suggests that “Engel felt that Lomax had the necessary background and energy to someday direct the Archive of Folk Song.” The reasons why Engel thought that Lomax was suitable for it were his ‘background’ and his ‘energy’. This particular sentence provides the information that Lomax was considered suitable for the job was because of his background.
9.
Answer: B
Question Type: Matching Information Questions
Answer location: Paragraph B, line 1
Answer explanation: In the said paragraph, you can point out that “Lomax wanted to embark on a nationwide collecting project, resulting in as many as four volumes, and ‘complete the rehabilitation of the American folk-song. Eventually, this was modified to where he envisioned a single book tentatively called American Ballads and Folk Songs, designed to survey the whole field.” He originally planned to produce ‘four volumes’ (books) but then ‘modified’ (changed) his plan and decided to produce ‘a single book’ (one book). Lomax’s plans are mentioned in every section. However, only this paragraph contains a reference to him changing a plan.
10.
Answer: E
Question Type: Matching Information Questions
Answer location: Paragraph E, line 2
Answer explanation: According to a line in the paragraph, “Lomax’s library research had reinforced his belief that a dearth of black folk song material existed in printed collections.” His theory was that there was ‘a dearth of’ (a serious lack of) black folk music in printed collections. This theory was ‘reinforced’ (confirmed, made stronger) when he did his library research. Thus, section E contains the only reference to him proving that one of his theories was correct.
11.
Answer: D (D/E/F: in any order)
Question Type: Multiple Choice Questions
Answer location: Paragraph G, line 4
Answer explanation: Paragraph G puts forward the information that “as have hundreds of folk song collectors after him, John Lomax had to persuade his singers to perform, to explain to them why their songs were important, and to convince the various authorities – the wardens, the trusties, the bureaucrats – that this was serious, worthwhile work.” Lomax had to ‘persuade his singers to perform’ and ‘explain to them why their songs were important.’ This indicates that at first they were reluctant to (they didn’t want to) take part in his project.
12.
Answer: E (D/E/F: in any order)
Question Type: Multiple Choice Questions
Answer location: Paragraph G, line 5
Answer explanation: A line in the said paragraph infers that “he faced the moral problem of how to safeguard the records and the rights of the singers – a problem he solved in this instance by donating the discs to the Library of Congress.” He felt that he had to ‘safeguard’ (protect) the records and the rights of the singers’ to make sure that they weren’t exploited (that other people didn’t take unfair advantage of them to make money).
13.
Answer: F (D/E/F: in any order)
Question Type: Multiple Choice Questions
Answer location: Paragraph G, line 6
Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, a line in the passage specifies that “he had to overcome the technical problems involved in recording outside a studio; one always hoped for quiet, with no doors slamming or alarms going off, but it was always a risk. His new state-of-the-art recording machine sported a new microphone designed by NBC, but there were no wind baffles to help reduce the noise when recording outside. Lomax learned how to balance sound, where to place microphones, how to work echoes and walls, and soon was a skilled recordist.” The factors were the noise from various things, but his equipment was not able to reduce the noise while recording because it had no ‘wind baffles’. He, therefore, had to ‘overcome’ these technical problems.
Children’s literature Reading Answers (Passage 2)
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14.
Answer: vi
Question Type: Matching Headings
Answer location: Paragraph A, line 2
Answer explanation: The paragraph is mainly about ‘the standard answers’ people give when asked why children’s literature is important. We can infer the same from the line where the author says “I know the standard answers: that many famous writers have written for children, and that the great children’s books are also great literature; that these books and tales are an important source of archetype and symbol, and that they can help us to understand the structure and functions of the novel.”
15.
Answer: x
Question Type: Matching Headings
Answer location: Paragraph B, line 2
Answer explanation: The paragraph is mainly about a further reason why children’s literature is important, in addition to the reasons given in paragraph A, it is mentioned that “but I think we should also take children’s literature seriously because it is sometimes subversive: because its values are not always those of the conventional adult world.” Hence, it is ‘subversive’ (opposed to the normal rules of society).
16.
Answer: iii
Question Type: Matching Headings
Answer location: Paragraph C, line 2
Answer explanation: This paragraph is mainly about why children’s literature appeals to people. It presents an alternative view of life, it makes fun of conventional views of life, it appeals to the imaginative aspects of people, etc. We can deduce the same from the line where the author mentions that “they mock current assumptions and express the imaginative, unconventional, noncommercial view of the world in its simplest and purest form. They appeal to the imaginative, questioning, rebellious child within all of us, renew our instinctive energy, and act as a force for change.”
17.
Answer: viii
Question Type: Matching Headings
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 2
Answer explanation: A line in the said paragraph says that “with the exception of picture books for toddlers, these works are not necessarily shorter or simpler than so-called adult fiction, and they are surely not less well written.” Hence, the main idea of the paragraph is the definition of a children’s book and deciding whether a book belongs to that category or not; the writer says that children’s books have many things in common with adult fiction.
Answer: i
Question Type: Matching Headings
Answer location: Paragraph E, line 2
Answer explanation: The main point of the paragraph is that writers of children’s literature base their books on the idea that children are good or that they can become good people. It can be confirmed from the line, where the author said “it is assumed that the world of childhood is simpler and more natural than that of adults and that children, though they may have faults, are essentially good or at least capable of becoming so.” The paragraph then contains examples of this and of a book that cannot be considered a children’s book because the children in it do not follow this pattern.
19.
Answer: iv
Question Type: Matching Headings
Answer location: Paragraph F, line 1
Answer explanation: The paragraph is mainly about the difference between adults and children in children’s books. The writer says “adults in most children’s books, on the other hand, are usually stuck with their characters and incapable of alteration or growth. If they are really unpleasant, the only thing that can rescue them is the natural goodness of a child.” Thus, this line explains the description of adults in children’s books, by pointing out how adult characters are not capable of showing any growth. Hence, this contrast helps us to categorise a book as belonging to children’s literature.
20.
Answer: ix
Question Type: Matching Headings
Answer location: Paragraph G, line
Answer explanation: The paragraph is mainly about how the subjects of sex, money, and death are presented in children’s books. It can be understood from the line “of the three principal preoccupations of adult fiction – sex, money, and death – the first is absent from classic children’s literature and the other two either absent or much muted.”
21.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraphs B and C
Answer explanation: In Paragraphs B and C the writer says that children’s books are subversive and that they make fun of the adult world, but the author does not mention whether or not adults realise that their children are reading books that contain these features.
22.
Answer: NO
Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph D, last line
Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, the writer says that “yet the barrier between children’s books and adult fiction remains; editors, critics, and readers seem to have little trouble in assigning a given work to one category or the other.” Here, the ‘editors’ and ‘critics’, as well as readers, ‘seem to have little trouble’ in classifying books. This means that they continue to classify them in the way they have done previously and that the distinctions between categories remain clear.
23.
Answer: YES
Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph E, line
Answer explanation: The answer is clearly mentioned in the said paragraph and line. In the passage, the writer says that “the transformation of selfish, whiny, disagreeable Mary and hysterical, demanding Colin in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden is a paradigm.” Mary and Colin have a ‘transformation’ (major change) in the book, meaning that they become good. They are therefore like the children writer talks about in the previous sentence, who the author says are typical examples of the children in children’s books.
24.
Answer: NO
Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph E, last line
Answer explanation: The writer says that A High Wind in Jamaica isn’t a children’s book because the children in it do not have the characteristics that children in what the author considers to be children’s books have. They are ‘irretrievably damaged and corrupted‘ (they are permanently bad and do not change). The characters of the children are the reason why it isn’t a children’s book, not the language used, which is not more complex than the language in Treasure Island, which the writer implies is a children’s book.
25.
Answer: YES
Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph F, last line
Answer explanation: Paragraph F puts forward the information that, “a Christmas Carol, however, is due mainly to regret his past and terror of the future. This is one of the things that makes the book a family rather than a juvenile romance; another is the helpless passivity of the principal child character, Tiny Tim.” Here, one reason why A Christmas Carol isn’t a children’s (‘juvenile’) book is ‘the helpless passivity’ of Tiny Tim. This means that Tiny Tim cannot and does not try to change anything, whereas the child in Little Lord Fauntleroy is a good example of a child in what the writer considers to be a children’s book because he takes action and manages to ‘rescue’ a bad adult character.
26.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph G
Answer explanation: If you observe clearly, here the writer says that money in children’s books is not presented in ‘real-life’ situations but has a ‘magical’ quality that has nothing to do with the ‘simple economic survival’ that matters in real life. The author is, therefore, saying that the view of money in children’s books is unrealistic. However, the author does not say that this is a bad thing; writer only says that it is a fact.
The birth of our modern minds Reading Answers (Passage 3)
27.
Answer: stone-age technology
Question Type: Short Answer Questions
Answer location: Paragraph A, line 3
Answer explanation: In the first sentence of the text, the writer says that “anyone who doubts the importance of art need do no more than refer to the current account of human evolution, where the emergence of modern people is not so much marked by Stone Age technology as a creative explosion that rocked Europe 40,000 years ago.” Hence, according to ‘the current account’ of human evolution, the development of modern man is indicated by a ‘creative explosion’ 40,000 years ago, not by Stone Age technology.
28.
Answer: genetic(s)
Question Type: Short Answer Questions
Answer location: Paragraph B, line 3
Answer explanation: In the second paragraph, we are told that Lord Renfrew has doubts about ‘genetic findings’, and that he thinks the ‘genetic argument’ is ‘unsatisfactory’ because people had not developed ‘culture’ at the time when genetic evidence suggests that the modern human mind was fully formed. At the beginning of the third paragraph, we are also told that he thinks that ‘genetics does not tell the whole story.‘
29.
Answer: tools
Question Type: Short Answer Questions
Answer location: Paragraph C, last line
Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, we are told that “there are detailed changes in tools and so on but the only one that really strikes you is cave art.” Though the development of cave art was striking, there were significant changes in tools as well.
30.
Answer: engravings
Question Type: Short Answer Questions
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 1
Answer explanation: There is a reference to the art found in Creswell Crags in Britain, in the line “And this artistic revolution was patchy: the best examples are in Spain and France, in Britain, the oldest known cave art consists of 12000-year-old engravings in Creswell Crags.” Hence, the oldest cave art in Britain is engravings.
31.
Answer: permanent villages; agriculture
Question Type: Short Answer Questions
Answer location: Paragraph D, last line
Answer explanation: Few lines in said paragraph discuss that “that is when the effects of new software kicked in, allowing our ancestors to work together in a more settled way. That is when plants and animals were domesticated and agriculture born.” Here, we are told that Lord Renfrew thinks that major developments in the modern mind ‘kicked in’ (began to have a real effect) when permanent villages were set up and plants and animals began to be used in agriculture. Agriculture is said to have been ‘born’ (started, established) then. Plants and animals would not be a correct answer here because they were not ‘established’ then.
32.
Answer: mathematics; written language
Question Type: Short Answer Questions
Answer location: Paragraph F, line 1
Answer explanation: In the last paragraph, we are told that the ‘concept of property‘ (the idea of owning possessions) began in villages. This, ‘in turn‘ (as a result), produced a need for mathematics so that a ‘tally of‘ (a record of the number of) possessions could be kept, and for written language so that these possessions could be described.
33.
Answer: C
Question Type: Matching Information
Answer location: Paragraph B, line 3
Answer explanation: The answer is clearly mentioned in the said paragraph and line. In the passage, it is said that “genetic findings, based on the diversity of modern humans, suggest that our big brains emerged 130,000 years ago when Homo sapiens evolved from Homo Erectus and were fully developed about 60,000 years ago. But this hardware, though necessary, was not sufficient for modern behaviour, software (culture) is also required to run a mind and for this to be honed took tens of millennia.” Genetic evidence suggests that the brain was ‘fully developed’ 60,000 years ago, but Lord Renfrew says humans lacked ‘culture’ then.
34.
Answer: A
Question Type: Matching Information
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 6
Answer explanation: In the said paragraph, it is mentioned that “for him, the real revolution occurred 10,000 years ago with the first permanent • lieges. That is when the effects of new software kicked in, allowing our ancestors to work together in a more settled way. That is when plants and animals were domesticated and agriculture born.” Lord Renfrew thinks that the ‘real revolution’ happened 10,000 years ago when people began to ‘work together in a more settled way.’ It represents a major change in the attitude of humans towards each other.
35.
Answer: B
Question Type: Matching Information
Answer location: Paragraph A, line 3
Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, there’s a line that claims, “anyone who doubts the importance of art need do no more than refer to the current account of human evolution, where the emergence of modern people is not so much marked by Stone Age technology as a creative explosion that rocked Europe 40,000 years ago. Our ancestors began to adorn their bodies with beads and pendants, even tattoos; they painted representations of animals, people and magical hybrids on cave walls in Lascaux, France and Altamira in Spain. They sculpted voluptuous stone figures, such as the Venus of Willendorf. “ When the ‘creative explosion’ happened 40,000 years ago, various different art forms began to appear. In this context, an ‘explosion’ is an enormous increase, and the art forms included art for the body (beads, pendants, tattoos), paintings (of various subjects), and sculptures (stone figures).
36.
Answer: B
Question Type: Matching Information
Answer location: Paragraph A, line 3
Answer explanation: If you observe, in the said paragraph it is said that “creative explosion that rocked Europe 40,000 years ago.” The ‘cultural Big Bang’ is the ‘creative explosion’ mentioned earlier in the paragraph, which happened 40,000 years ago. This ‘coincided with’ (happened at the same time as) the time when people ‘reached Europe’ after a journey that began in Africa. So it coincided with migration.
37.
Answer: D
Question Type: Matching Information
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 3
Answer explanation: A line in the said paragraph infers that “two pieces of ochre engraved with geometrical patterns 70,000 years ago were recently found at Blombos Cave, 180 miles east of Cape Town, South Africa.” The art created 70,000 years ago and found in South Africa indicates that people were capable of abstract thought and modern behaviour at a time earlier than had generally been thought to be the case. This art, therefore, suggests that what is commonly believed is not true – it casts doubts on the conventional view.
38.
Answer: A
Question Type: Matching Information
Answer location: Paragraph B, line 2
Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, a line in the passage specifies that “britain’s leading archaeologist questions the dogma that the modern human mind originated in Europe and, instead, argues that its birth was much more recent, around 10,000 years ago, and took place in the Middle East.” There is a ‘dogma’ (a firm belief, a fixed idea) that the modern mind developed in Europe 40,000 years ago (as explained in the first paragraph), but Lord Renfrew thinks it developed 10,000 years ago in the Middle East. His view about the location, therefore, differs from what is generally thought.
39.
Answer: B
Question Type: Matching Information
Answer location: Paragraph C, line 3
Answer explanation: We are told that not much physical change happened 40,000 years ago (there is little difference between Homo sapiens and Homo erectus), and that the only change then that ‘really strikes you’ (is really noticeable) is in the art produced.
40.
Answer: A
Question Type: Matching Information
Answer location: Paragraph F, line 5
Answer explanation: Lord Renfrew says that firm ideas concerning how the modern human developed cannot be gained (‘We have not solved anything about the origins of modern humans until we understand what happened 10,000 years ago.‘) until people have discovered exactly what happened 10,000 years ago. Research to discover this is taking place in three places that are mentioned.
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