Raising The Mary Rose Reading Answers

Janice Thompson

10 min read

Updated On Aug 14, 2024

Reading Passage 1

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The Academic passage, Raising the Mary Rose Reading Answers, is a reading passage that consists of 13 questions.

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 Raising the Mary Rose below and try more IELTS reading practice tests from IELTSMaterial.com.

The question types found in this passage are:

Reading Passage 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on the Reading Passage below.

Raising the Mary Rose

A On 19 July 1545, English and French fleets were engaged in a sea battle off the coast of southern England in the area of water called the Solent, between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. Among the English vessels was a warship by the name of Mary Rose. Built in Portsmouth some 35 years earlier, she had had a long and successful fighting career, and was a favourite of King Henry VIII. Accounts of what happened to the ship vary: while witnesses agree that she was not hit by the French, some maintain that she was outdated, overladen and sailing too low in the water, others that she was mishandled by undisciplined crew. What is undisputed, however, is that the Mary Rose sank into the Solent that day, taking at least 500 men with her. After the battle, attempts were made to recover the ship, but these failed.

B The Mary Rose came to rest on the seabed, lying on her starboard (right) side at an angle of approximately 60 degrees. The hull (the body of the ship) acted as a trap for the sand and mud carried by Solent currents. As a result, the starboard side filled rapidly, leaving the exposed port (left) side to be eroded by marine organisms and mechanical degradation. Because of the way the ship sank, nearly all of the starboard half survived intact. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the entire site became covered with a layer of hard grey clay, which minimised further erosion.

C Then, on 16 June 1836, some fishermen in the Solent found that their equipment was caught on an underwater obstruction, which turned out to be the Mary Rose. Diver John Deane happened to be exploring another sunken ship nearby, and the fishermen approached him, asking him to free their gear. Deane dived down, and found the equipment caught on a timber protruding slightly from the seabed. Exploring further, he uncovered several other timbers and a bronze gun. Deane continued diving on the site intermittently until 1840, recovering several more guns, two bows, various timbers, part of a pump and various other small finds.

D The Mary Rose then faded into obscurity for another hundred years. But in 1965, military historian and amateur diver Alexander McKee, in conjunction with the British Sub-Aqua Club, initiated a project called ‘Solent Ships’. While on paper this was a plan to examine a number of known wrecks in the Solent, what McKee really hoped for was to find the Mary Rose. Ordinary search techniques proved unsatisfactory, so McKee entered into collaboration with Harold E. Edgerton, professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1967, Edgerton’s side-scan sonar systems revealed a large, unusually shaped object, which McKee believed was the Mary Rose.

E Further excavations revealed stray pieces of timber and an iron gun. But the climax to the operation came when, on 5 May 1971, part of the ship’s frame was uncovered. McKee and his team now knew for certain that they had found the wreck, but were as yet unaware that it also housed a treasure trove of beautifully preserved artifacts. Interest in the project grew, and in 1979, The Mary Rose Trust was formed, with Prince Charles as its President and Dr Margaret Rule its Archaeological Director. The decision whether or not to salvage the wreck was not an easy one, although an excavation in 1978 had shown that it might be possible to raise the hull. While the original aim was to raise the hull if at all feasible, the operation was not given the go-ahead until January 1982, when all the necessary information was available.

F An important factor in trying to salvage the Mary Rose was that the remaining hull was an open shell. This led to an important decision being taken: namely to carry out the lifting operation in three very distinct stages. The hull was attached to a lifting frame via a network of bolts and lifting wires. The problem of the hull being sucked back downwards into the mud was overcome by using 12 hydraulic jacks. These raised it a few centimetres over a period of several days, as the lifting frame rose slowly up its four legs. It was only when the hull was hanging freely from the lifting frame, clear of the seabed and the suction effect of the surrounding mud, that the salvage operation progressed to the second stage. In this stage, the lifting frame was fixed to a hook attached to a crane, and the hull was lifted completely clear of the seabed and transferred underwater into the lifting cradle. This required precise positioning to locate the legs into the ‘stabbing guides’ of the lifting cradle. The lifting cradle was designed to fit the hull using archaeological survey drawings, and was fitted with air bags to provide additional cushioning for the hull’s delicate timber framework. The third and final stage was to lift the entire structure into the air, by which time the hull was also supported from below. Finally, on 11 October 1982, millions of people around the world held their breath as the timber skeleton of the Mary Rose was lifted clear of the water, ready to be returned home to Portsmouth.

Questions 1-4

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage? In boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1 There is some doubt about what caused the Mary Rose to sink.

2 The Mary Rose was the only ship to sink in the battle of 19 July 1545.

3 Most of one side of the Mary Rose lay undamaged under the sea.

4 Alexander McKee knew that the wreck would contain many valuable historical objects.

Questions 5-8

Look at the following statements (Questions 5-8) and the list of dates below.

Match each statement with the correct date, A-G.

Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet.

List of Dates

A	1836	E	1971
B	1840	F	1979
C	1965	G	1982
D	1967

5 A search for the Mary Rose was launched.

6 One person’s exploration of the Mary Rose site stopped.

7 It was agreed that the hull of the Mary Rose should be raised.

8 The site of the Mary Rose was found by chance.

Questions 9-13

Label the diagram below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.

Raising the hull of the Mary Rose: Stages one and two

Reading Answers

1 Answer: True

Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 4

Answer explanation: In the specified line, it is stated that “Accounts of what happened to the ship vary: while witnesses agree that she was not hit by the French, some maintain that she was outdated, overladen and sailing too low in the water, others that she was mishandled by undisciplined crew.”. This sentence points out that there are some doubts about what caused the Mary Rose to sink as there are many theories about it. As the statement agrees with the information, the answer is True.

2 Answer: Not Given

Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: N.A.

Answer explanation: As there is no information regarding The Mary Rose being the only ship to sink in the battle of 19 July 1545, the answer is Not Given.

3 Answer: True

Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 4

Answer explanation: In the line of Paragraph B, it is said that “Because of the way the ship sank, nearly all of the starboard half survived intact.” This proves the fact that most of one side (nearly all of the starboard half) of the Mary Rose lay undamaged (survived intact) under the sea. As the statement agrees with the information, the answer is True.

4 Answer: False

Question type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 3

Answer explanation: In the mentioned line, it is stated “McKee and his team now knew for certain that they had found the wreck, but were as yet unaware that it also housed a treasure trove of beautifully preserved artifacts.”. It can be concluded that Alexander McKee and his team were not aware that the wreck would contain many valuable historical objects (treasure trove of beautifully preserved artifacts). As the statement contradicts the information, the answer is False.

5 Answer: C

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 2 – line 3

Answer explanation: In Paragraph D, it is said that “But in 1965, military historian and amateur diver Alexander McKee, in conjunction with the British Sub-Aqua Club, initiated a project called ‘Solent Ships’. While on paper this was a plan to examine a number of known wrecks in the Solent, what McKee really hoped for was to find the Mary Rose.”. This points out that in 1965, under a project named ‘Solent Ships’, a search for the Mary Rose was launched. Hence, the answer is C (1965).

6 Answer: B

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 5

Answer explanation: In Paragraph C, it is said that “Deane continued diving on the site intermittently until 1840, recovering several more guns, two bows, various timbers, part of a pump and various other small finds.”. This points out that Diver John Deane initially thought that the Mary Rose was an underwater obstruction and explored it intermittently until 1840 and recovered several more guns, two bows, various timbers, part of a pump and various other small finds. But later, it was halted for another hundred years. Hence, the answer is B (1840).

7 Answer: G

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 6

Answer explanation: The specified line states that “While the original aim was to raise the hull if at all feasible, the operation was not given the go-ahead until January 1982, when all the necessary information was available.”. From this reference, it can be said that in January, 1982, it was agreed that the hull of the Mary Rose should be raised as all the necessary information was available. Hence, the answer is G (1982).

8 Answer: A

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 1

Answer explanation: The indicated line of Paragraph C mentions that “Then, on 16 June 1836, some fishermen in the Solent found that their equipment was caught on an underwater obstruction, which turned out to be the Mary Rose.”. This statement indicates that in 1836, some fishermen found the site of the Mary Rose by chance. Hence, the answer is A (1836).

9 Answer: (lifting) frame