Lake Vostok Reading Answers

Lake Vostok is a real Reading passage that appeared in the IELTS.

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

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 Lake Vostok!

For some help, check out this video on How to Solve IELTS Reading Matching Headings with 8 Tips

The question types found in this passage are:

Matching Headings

In the Matching Heading 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.

Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple Choice questions require you to select the correct answer from a list of options. There are various numbers of answer options, but test takers can usually expect to choose from three or four options, all of which are letters (A, B, C, or D). The type of question requires test takers to select one out of the four alternatives, but you may also have to select two answers from five possibilities or three responses from six options.

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.

Reading Answers

1 Answer: viii

Question Type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 1

Answer explanation: The opening line of paragraph B suggests that “As details have emerged, a growing number of scientists are showing interest, with dozens of investigators keen to explore the feature, known as Lake Vostok.” From this information, we can interpret that this passage tells us that scientists are showing great interest in Lake Vostok. Hence, the appropriate title for this paragraph would be scientific interest in Lake Vostok.

2 Answer: ii

Question Type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 10

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly it is given that “Lake Vostok is the largest of these, stretching 280km from south to north and some 60km from east to west. At Vostok station, which sits at the southern end of the lake, the water depth appears to be 500m according to seismic experiments carried out by Russian researchers.” Since this passage discusses the length and location of the lake, we can infer that the appropriate title for this paragraph would be the location and description of the lake.

3 Answer: iv

Question Type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 5

Answer explanation: The answer is clearly mentioned in the said paragraph and line. You must note the paraphrasing here. In the passage, it is said that “along with the potential rewards come a host of challenges. Researchers must find a way to penetrate the icy covering without introducing any microorganisms or pollutants into the sealed-off water.” Since it is mentioned that researchers have to discover ways to penetrate the icy covering without introducing any microorganisms or pollutants, we can infer that there were many challenges faced by the explorers. Hence, the appropriate title would be challenges of exploration.

4 Answer: iii

Question Type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 11

Answer explanation: In the said paragraph, you can refer to, “bacteria, yeasts, fungi, algae and even pollen grains have been found in the Vostok ice core samples taken down to depths of 2,750m – three quarters of the way to the bottom. At least some of these organisms are alive and capable of growing.” This passage puts forward the information about organisms that are alive and capable of growing in the lake. Hence, the appropriate title for the passage would be the potential for living organisms in the lake.

5 Answer: B

Question Type: Multiple Choice Questions

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 3

Answer explanation: You can note the paraphrasing here. In the passage, it states that “by looking at the ratio of different oxygen isotopes, scientists should be able to trace how Earth’s temperature changed over the millennia. Vostok would be an ideal testing ground for technology that would eventually fly to Europa or places even more distant, say many scientists.” Also “The results of this analysis may indirectly indicate whether anything survives in the lightless body of water.” Here, option C is given in the passage as it is mentioned that scientists are trying to trace (investigate)  how Earth’s temperature changed over (climate) the millennia. Option A is also given in the passage as it is given that Vostok is an ideal testing ground for technology (test technology) for space exploration. Besides that, option D is also discussed in the passage where it is given that researchers are looking for anything that survives in the lightless body of water (living organisms). So the answer is “B”.

6 Answer: A

Question Type: Multiple Choice Questions

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 3

Answer explanation:  The entire sentence has been paraphrased here. In the passage, it states that  “it’s the thick ice, strangely, that enables a lake to survive in such a frozen environment. The 4 kilometers of ice acts effectively as an insulating blanket protecting the bedrock underneath the ice from the cold temperatures above. Geothermal heat coming from the planet’s interior keeps the lake from freezing and warms the lowest layers of ice.“ The reason Lake does not freeze is that ice acts ( provides) effectively as an insulating blanket protecting the bedrock underneath the ice from the cold temperatures above.

7 Answer: NO

Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 8

Answer explanation: A line in the said paragraph infers that “these factors have helped lakes develop across much of the thickly blanketed East Antarctica. More than 70 hidden lakes have been detected in the small portion of the continent to date.” It is given that not just 1 but approximately 70 lakes have been found in East Antarctica.

8 Answer: YES

Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 1

Answer explanation: The entire sentence has been paraphrased here. In the passage, it states that “the first clues to Lake Vostok’s existence came in the 1970s when British, U.S., and Danish researchers collected radar observations by flying over this region.” From this information, we can confirm that the first clues to Lake Vostok’s existence were collected(detected) on the radar.

9 Answer: NOT GIVEN

Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions

Answer location: N/A

Answer explanation: None of the passages confirms or denies that exploration of Lake Vostok is coordinated by Russia.

10 Answer: YES

Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 4

Answer explanation: A line in the paragraph denotes “for the lake’s residents, the only nutrients would come from below…Bacteria, yeasts, fungi, algae, and even pollen grains have been found in the Vostok ice core samples taken down to depths of 2,750 m – three quarters of the way to the bottom. At least some of these organisms are alive and capable of growing, according to recent reports.” So we can infer that nutrients come from bacteria, yeast, fungus, and pollen grains. So nutrients to support life have been found in the Antarctic ice.

11 Answer: YES

Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 8

Answer explanation: Paragraph F puts forward the information that “the ice sheet above the water is creeping from west to east at a rate of roughly four meters per year.” Term creeping means moving slowly. Hence, it is true that ice above the lake is moving to the east from the west.

12 Answer: NO

Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph D, last line

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, there’s a line that claims “researchers must find a way to penetrate the icy covering without introducing any microorganisms or pollutants into the sealed-off water.” Since the author suggests that researchers have to find out a way to enter (penetrate) the icy covering of the Lake, it implies that scientists have not drilled through the ice into the water of Lake Vostok.

13 Answer: YES

Question Type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph C, last line

Answer explanation: A line in the said paragraph indicates “at Vostok station, which sits at the southern end of the lake, the water depth appears to be 500m according to seismic experiments carried out by Russian researchers.” This information confirms that water in the lake is approximately 500 in deep at the southern end.

We at IELTSMaterial.com would urge every IELTS aspirant to time this test as in the real exam and find the answers without looking at the key. If you haven’t, then we would earnestly advise you to take one of our IELTS reading practice tests or click on the links below.

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