Roman Shipbuilding and Navigation – IELTS Reading Answers

With the diligent practice of IELTS passages like Roman Shipbuilding and Navigation, IELTS Reading 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. In order to find how easy this passage is for you and if you’re able to make it in 20 minutes, set your timer and try more IELTS reading practice tests.

The passage, Roman Shipbuilding and Navigation, is part of IELTS Academic Reading that consists of 13 questions. The question types found in this passage are:

• True/False/Not Given IELTS Reading
• IELTS Reading Summary Completion

Roman Shipbuilding and Navigation

Answers of Roman Shipbuilding and Navigation Reading Answers With Location and Explanations

Check out the answer key for this IELTS Academic Reading passage, Roman Shipbuilding and Navigation, with detailed explanations and plan to improve your skills for a better IELTS Reading band score.

1 Answer: False

Question Type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 1, Lines 4-6

Answer explanation: “The Romans were not traditionally sailors but mostly land-based people, who learned to build ships from the people that they conquered, namely the Greeks and the Egyptians.” This suggests that Romans did not pass on the shipbuilding skills to Greeks and Egyptians, rather they learnt from them.

2 Answer: Not Given

Question Type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: N/A

Answer explanation: There is no such reference of the need of skilled craftsmen for mortise and tenon method of fixing planks.

3 Answer: False

Question Type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 2, Lines 9-12

Answer explanation: “Then in the first centuries of the current era, Mediterranean shipbuilders shifted to another shipbuilding method, still in use today, which consisted of building the frame first and then proceeding with the hull and the other components of the ship.” This suggests that frames were built first and then the hulls. Hence, it is a wrong statement.

4 Answer: True

Question Type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 3, Lines 7-9

Answer explanation: “Eventually, Rome’s navy became the largest and most powerful in the Mediterranean, and the Romans had control over what they therefore called Mare Nostrum meaning ‘our sea’.” This sentence shows that Roman’s navy became the mightiest of all. Due to that, they had control over (dominated) the Mediterranean and called it Mare Nostrum.

5 Answer: True

Question Type: True/False/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 4, Lines 5-7

Answer explanation: “It is worth noting that contrary to popular perception, rowers were not slaves but mostly Roman citizens enrolled in the military.” This shows that most of the rowers employed in the ship were Romans who were part of the Roman military (from the Roman army).

6 Answer: lightweight

Question Type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 3, Line 1

Answer explanation: “Warships were built to be lightweight and very speedy.” This line suggests that the warships were designed in such a way that they were lightweight and speedy (moved quickly).

7 Answer: bronze

Question Type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 3, Lines 4-6

Answer explanation: “They had a bronze battering ram, which was used to pierce the timber hulls or break the oars of enemy vessels.” This suggests that the battering ram was made of bronze and it was used to attack and damage (‘pierce’ and ‘break’) the timber and oars of enemy ships (vessel).

8 Answer: levels

Question Type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 4, Lines 1-3

Answer explanation: “The ‘trireme’ was the dominant warship from the 7th to 4th century BCE. It had rowers in the top, middle and lower levels, and approximately 50 rowers in each bank.” This suggests that warships had rowers on three different levels.

9 Answer: Hull

Question Type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 5, Lines 3-4

Answer explanation: “Unlike warships, their V-shaped hull was deep underwater, meaning that they could not sail too close to the coast.” With reference to the merchant ships in the first sentence of the mentioned paragraph, the writer states that the hulls of the merchant ships were underwater (below the surface of the sea).

10 Answer: triangular

Question Type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 5, Lines 6-7

Answer explanation: “They had from one to three masts with large square sails and a small triangular sail at the bow.” This shows that the masts of the merchant ships had both the square as well as the triangular sails.

11 Answer: music

Question Type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 5, Lines 8-11

Answer explanation: “Just like warships, merchant ships used oarsmen, but coordinating the hundreds of rowers in both types of ship was not an easy task. In order to assist them, music would be played on an instrument, and oars would then keep time with this.” This shows that the music used to be played on the ships to synchronize the movement of oars at the same time for both merchant ships as well as warships.

12 Answer: grain

Question Type: Summary Completion

Answer location:  Paragraph 6, Lines 1-7

Answer explanation: “The cargo on merchant ships included raw materials (e.g. iron bars, copper, marble and granite), and agricultural products (e.g. grain from Egypt’s Nile valley). During the Empire, Rome was a huge city by ancient standards of about one million inhabitants. Goods from all over the world would come to the city through the port of Pozzuoli situated west of the bay of Naples in Italy and through the gigantic port of Ostia situated at the mouth of the Tiber River.” This shows that agricultural goods like grains were transported by merchant ships to Pozzuoli and Ostia, two main ports in Italy.

13 Answer: towboats

Question Type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 6, Lines 7-9

Answer explanation: “Large merchant ships would approach the destination port and, just like today, be intercepted by a number of towboats that would drag them to the quay.” This line informs us that tow boats were used to pull (drag) the ship towards the shore (quay).

Tips to Solve the Question Types in Roman Shipbuilding and Navigation  IELTS Reading Answers

Let us check out some IELTS exam preparation tips to answer the questions in the Reading Answers of Roman Shipbuilding and Navigation within the time limit.

True/False/Not Given

In IELTS Reading, ‘True, False, Not Given’ questions are based on facts. Several factual statements will be provided to you, and it is up to you to determine whether or not they are accurate by reading the text.

To answer this type of question, you can use the following strategies:

• Read the question and identify the keywords – Before reading the material, have a look at your list of True, False, and Not Given questions. 
• Scan the passage for synonyms or paraphrased words of the keywords – When you have highlighted the keywords, swiftly read the text to look for paraphrases or synonyms.
• Match the highlighted words in the questions with their synonyms in the text – Once you find both sets of keywords, cross-check them to find the answer.
• Identify the answer – If the facts match, the answer is TRUE, and in case it doesn’t match, it is FALSE. If you are unable to find the answer or unsure of it, mark it NOT GIVEN.

Summary Completion: 

Summary Completion is a type of IELTS reading question that requires you to fill in a gap in a paragraph with a word or phrase from the passage. To answer this question type, you can use the following strategies to score your desired IELTS band score:

• Read the sentences carefully: This will give you an idea of the type of word or phrase that is missing.
• Scan the passage for the keywords: The keywords in the sentence can help you to identify the correct word or phrase.
• Read the sentence with the missing word or phrase: This will help you to see how the word or phrase fits into the sentence.
• Check your answer: Once you have filled in the gap, make sure that your answer makes sense in the context of the sentence.

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