Is There Anybody Out There Reading Answers
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The Academic passage ‘Is There Anybody Out There‘ is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test.
Ideally, you should not spend more than 20 minutes on a passage. Let’s see how easy this passage is for you and if you’re able to make it in 20 minutes. If not, try more IELTS reading practice tests from IELTSMaterial.com
The question types found in this passage are:
Matching Headings
In Matching Headings 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.
Short Answer Questions
In Short Answer Questions, 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.
True/False/Not Given Questions
True/False/Not Given Questions are very tricky. This question consists of several statements – If the statement is present in the article as it is then you need to mark it as true. If the statement is found to be the opposite of the sentence which is there then it should be marked as false. If the statement given in the question is not at all present in the article then it should be marked as not given. Do not spend a lot of time finding the sentence which is not there.
Read the passage below and answer questions 14-26. Beyond the questions, you will find the answers along with the location of the answers in the passage and the keywords that help you find out the answers.
Is There Anybody Out There
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14 Answer: IV
Question Type: Matching Headings
Answer location: Paragraph B, line 3
Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, it is given that ‘We make a very conservative assumption that we are looking for a life form that is pretty well like us, since if it differs radically from us, we may well not recognize it as a life form quite apart from whatever we are able to communicate with it.’ This means that the writer is assuming the extra-terrestrial lifeforms may have similar intelligence like us for communication because there are no strong proofs about their presence. So, the correct heading that can be apt for this paragraph is ‘Assumptions underlying the search of extra-terrestrial intelligence’.
15 Answer: VII
Question Type: Matching Headings
Answer location: Paragraph C, line 1
Answer explanation: At the beginning of paragraph C, it is noted that ‘even when we make these assumptions. Our understanding of other life forms is still severely limited. We do not even know. For example, how many stars have planets and we certainly do not know how likely it is that life will arise naturally, given the right conditions.’ The author adds that the best educated guess we can make using the little that we do know about the conditions for carbon-based life leads us to estimate that perhaps one in 100,000 stars might have a life-bearing planet orbiting it (likelihood of life on other planets). Here, the writer talks about the probability of having lifeforms on other planets with examples and how our understanding of them is severely limited. So, the heading ‘Likelihood of life on other planets’ is apt for this paragraph.
16 Answer: I
Question Type: Matching Headings
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 1
Answer explanation: If you observe clearly, it is given that ‘An alien civilization could choose many different ways of sending information across the Galaxy’ which means that scientists and organisations like NASA are looking into ways in which aliens can communicate with us, like using transmissions of radio signals. In the next lines, the author gives us details about the radio waves which should be in the frequency range of 1000 to 3000 and should travel the greatest distance. Finally, at the end of the paragraph, the writer says that ‘Much of the money in this project is being spent on developing special hardware needed to search many frequencies at once.’ So, the heading is ‘Seeking the transmission of radio signals from other planets.
17 Answer: II
Question Type: Matching Headings
Answer location: Paragraph E, line 1
Answer explanation: In paragraph E, it is mentioned that “there is considerable debate over how we should react if we detect a signal from an alien civilization. Everybody agrees that we should not reply immediately.” These lines mean that the appropriate response to the signals would be, to not rush to answer them and rather, should take some time to speculate. So, the heading will be ‘Appropriate responses to signals from other civilizations.’
18 Answer: several billion years
Question Type: Short Answer Questions
Answer location: Paragraph A, line 9
Answer explanation: The life expectancy of Earth is given in paragraph A – since the lifetime (validity of life or expectancy of life) of a planet like ours (our planet is Earth) is several billion years.
19 Answer: radio (waves/signals)
Question Type: Short Answer Questions
Answer location: Paragraph A, line 4
Answer explanation: In the reference paragraph, it is stated that, “The simple detection of a radio signal will be sufficient to answer this most basic of all questions. In this sense, SETI is another cog in the machinery of pure science which is continually pushing out the horizon of our knowledge.” Moreover, the author also mentions in paragraph D that ‘all searches to date have concentrated on looking for radio waves in this frequency range’. So, we can conclude that SETI is one of those organizations where scientists are seeking to detect radio signals/waves from other planets to find out whether life evolves naturally if given the right conditions, or whether there is something very special about the Earth to have fostered the variety of life forms that we see around us on the planet.
20 Answer: 1000 (stars)
Question Type: Short Answer Questions
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 3
Answer explanation: In paragraph D, the writer says that the US Congress provided $10 million per year for ten years to NASA for conducting a thorough search for extra terrestrial life. The project has two parts. One part is a targeted search using the world’s largest radio telescopes (world’s most powerful radio telescopes) – The American-operated telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico and the French telescope in Nancy in France. So, these powerful telescopes are used to search the nearest 1000 likely stars with a high sensibility for signals in the frequency range of 1000 to 3000 MHz.
21 Answer: FALSE
Question Type: True/False/Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph A, last line
Answer explanation: At the end of paragraph A, the author says that any other civilization, which is from outer space, that we hear from is likely to be far older on average than ourselves. It is even possible that the older civilization may pass on the benefits of their experience (may be able to help with) in dealing with threats to survival such as nuclear war and global pollution that we haven’t yet discovered because they have more experience. This is paraphrased as “Aliens civilizations may be able to help the human race to overcome serious problems.”
22 Answer: TRUE
Question Type: True/False/Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph B, line 3
Answer explanation: In paragraph B, the author states that we make a very conservative assumption that we are looking for a life form (trying to find a life) that is pretty well like us (resembles humans in many ways), since if it differs radically from us we may well not recognise it as a form…”.
23 Answer: NOT GIVEN
Question Type: True/False/Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 5
Answer explanation: In paragraph D, it is given that there have been a number of searches by various groups around the world, including Australian searches using the radio telescope at Parkes, New South Wales. It is added that the US Congress (Parliament of America) voted NASA $10 million per year for ten years to conduct a thorough search for extra-terrestrial life. Although there are references to Australia and America here, there is no information about their cooperation on joint research projects.
24 Answer: FALSE
Question Type: True/False/Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 6
Answer explanation: The statement given in the question says that “So far SETI scientists have picked up radio signals from several stars.” In paragraph D, the author claims, “Until now, there have not been any detections from the few hundred stars which have been searched.”, which means that there haven’t been any detections from the few hundred stars. This information contradicts the statement given in the question.
25 Answer: NOT GIVEN
Question Type: True/False/Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 8
Answer explanation: In paragraph D, it is said that the scale of the searches has increased dramatically since 1992, when the US Congress voted NASA $10 million per year for ten years to conduct a thorough search for extra-terrestrial life. Although there is a mention of US Congress funded NASA’s project, it is not mentioned if there was criticism from some members of Congress.
26 Answer: FALSE
Question Type: True/False/Not Given Questions
Answer location: Paragraph E, line 1
Answer explanation: The statement given in the question says that “If a signal from outer space is received, it will be important to respond promptly.” In paragraph E, the writer mentions “There is considerable debate over how we should react if we detect a signal from an alien civilization. Everybody agrees that we should not reply immediately.” These lines mean that there have been differences in opinion on the correct response to radio signals from outer space, but ultimately, everyone agreed that the appropriate response would be, to not rush to answer them and take some time to speculate. This information contradicts the statement given in the question.
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