LONGAEVA: Ancient Bristlecone Pine- IELTS Reading Answers

The Reading Module of the IELTS can be the top-scoring category, with diligent practice. To achieve the best results in this section, 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.

Reading Passage

LONGAEVA: Ancient Bristlecone Pine

Questions 1-4

1 Human activity threats bristlecone pines habitat

2 Explanations for a ring of bristlecone pines

3 An accountable recording provided from the past till now

4 Survived in a hostile environment

Questions 5 – 7

5 According to passage A, what aspect of bristlecone pines attracts the author’s attention?

A Brutal environment they live

B Remarkable long age

C They only live in California

D Outstanding height

6 Why do we investigate Bristlecone pines in higher altitudes of California’s the White Mountains?

A Because the oldest ones researched in this region

B Because most bizarre ones are in this region

C Because precipitation is rich in this region

D Because sea level is comparatively high in this region

7 Why there are repeated patterns of wide and narrow rings?

A Because sea level rises which affect tree ring

B Because the tree ring pattern is completely random

C Because ancient organisms affect its growth

D Because the variation of climate change is different

Questions 8-13

The bristlecone’s special adaptation is beneficial for photosynthesizing, reserving the____8_____of leave replacement, and providing sufficient chlorophyll. Probably because seeds do not rely on primary _____9_____, the Germination rate is high. Because of cambium dieback, only narrow ____10_____ remain complete. Due to multiple factors such as windy, cold climate and____11_____, bristlecones’ rings have tight and solid structure full of resin. Moreover, bristlecone stands are safe from fire because of little ____12_____plants spread in this place. The summits of Owens Valley are higher than they emerge if you observe from a ___13_____.

Reading Answers 

1 Answer: I

Question type: Matching information

Answer location: Paragraph I, lines 1-6

Answer explanation: “Historically the bristlecone’s remote location and gnarled wood have deterred commercial extraction, but nothing on earth will go unaffected by global warming. If temperatures rise by only 6 degrees F, which many experts say is likely this century, about two-thirds of the bristlecones’ ideal habitat in the White Mountains effectively will be gone. Almost 30,000 acres of National Forest now preserves the ancient bristlecone, but paved roads, campsites, and self-guided trails have led only to more human impact.” This gives the account of the misdemeanor of human beings and their destructive activities over the years that have degraded the environment. It also highlights the potential threats in the future to our environment and bristlecones by such pernicious practices by humans.

2 Answer: C

Question type: Matching information

Answer location: Paragraph C, lines 1-5

Answer explanation: “Perhaps most interested in the bristlecone pine are dendrochronologists or tree-ring daters. With every strenuous year that passes in the While Mountains, each bristlecone grows and forms a new outer layer of cambium that reflects a season’s particular ease or hardship. So while growing seasons may expand or shrink, the trees carry on, their growth rings faithfully recording the bad years alongside the goods.” These lines give the underlying reasons for the formation of rings in Bristlecones and how it is helpful for dendrochronologists.

3 Answer: D

Question type: Matching information

Answer location: Paragraph D, lines 2-6

Answer explanation: “As our global climate continues to undergo its most recent and abrupt atmospheric change, these ancient scribes continue to respond. Since the rings of wood formed each year reveal the trees’ response to climatic conditions during a particular growing season, in their persistence they have left us natural recordings of the past, markers of the present, and clues to the future.” Thus, through these lines, it is quite apparent that the rings of the Bristlecones give an insight into the past, its seasonal variations, and the records of the weather conditions since our past to date.

4 Answer: A

Question type: Matching information

Answer location: Paragraph A, lines 2–7

Answer explanation: “The bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva), of the White Mountains in California, has served this purpose greater than any other species of tree on the planet. Conditions here are brutal: scant precipitation and low average temperatures mean a short growing season, only intensified by ferocious wind and mal-nutritious rocky. Nevertheless, bristlecone pines have claimed these barren slopes as their permanent home.” The reference to Bristlecone’s brutal habitat conditions is made in paragraph A and these lines make it clear.

5 Answer: B

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph A, lines 7-11

Answer explanation: “Evolving here in this harsh environment, super-adapted and without much competition, bristlecones have earned their seat on the longevity throne by becoming the oldest living trees on the planet. Results of extensive studies on bristlecone pine stands have shown that in fact such environmental limitations are positively associated with the attainment of great age.” This suggests that the significantly longer age of the Bristlecones is remarkable as they evolve in such harsh environments.

6 Answer: A

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph G, lines 1-5

Answer explanation: “Bristlecone pines are restricted to numerous, rather isolated stands at higher altitudes in the southwestern United States. Stands occur from the Rocky Mountains, through the Colorado Plateau, to the western margin of the Great Basin. Within this natural range, the oldest and most widely researched stands of bristlecones occur in California’s the White Mountains.” This suggests the reason behind the investigation of Bristlecones in the White Mountains as the oldest species were researched in this region as well.

7 Answer: D

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph H, lines 9-12

Answer explanation: “What makes this record so special to dendrochronologists, too, is that nowhere, throughout time, is precisely the same long-term sequence of wide and narrow rings repeated, because year-to-year variations in climate are never exactly the same.” It is quite clear through these lines that the variation in the rings in Bristlecone is the result of the variation in the weather.

8 Answer: ENERGY

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph E, lines 4-8

Answer explanation: “This adaptation helps the bristlecone photosynthesize during particularly brutal months. Saving the energy of constant needle replacement and providing a stable supply of chlorophyll. For a plant trying to store so much energy, bristlecone seeds are relatively large in size.” This suggests that bristlecones have adapted to save the energy of having to change/replace the needles or leaves and also to photosynthesize in unfavorable conditions.

9 Answer: STRATIFICATION

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph E, lines 8-10

Answer explanation: “They are first reproduced when trees reach ages between thirty and seventy-five years old. Germination rates are generally high, in part because seeds require little to no initial stratification.” This suggests that the seeds of the Bristlecones do not rely upon the initial/primary stratification as the germination in these cones is high.

10 Answer: BARK

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph E, lines 12-15

Answer explanation: “In older trees, however, especially in individuals over 1,500 years, a strip-bark trait is adaptive. This condition occurs as a result of cambium dieback, which erodes and thereby exposes certain areas of the bole, leaving only narrow bands of bark intact.” These lines make it clear that the cambium gets eroded after a certain amount of time and this results in leaving behind an intact narrow bark.

11 Answer: DRY AIR

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph F, lines 5-7

Answer explanation: “Combined with the dry, windy, and often freezing mountain air, slow growth guarantees the bristlecones tight, fibrous rings with a high resin content and structural strength.” These lines suggest that owing to dry winds and a freezing air that flows in the mountains, bristlecone’s rings are thick and solid with resin.

12 Answer: GROUND COVER

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph F, lines 8-10

Answer explanation: “Due to a lack of ground cover vegetation and an evenly spaced layout, bristlecone stands on the White Mountain peaks have been practically unaffected by the fire.” This suggests the bristlecones are saved from fire due to the lack of ground space in the area where they grow.

13 Answer: DISTANCE

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph G, lines 9-10

Answer explanation: “The peaks south of the Owens Valley, are higher up than they might appear from a distance.” This suggests that the peaks/summits of Owens Valley are higher than how they appear from far.

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