Space Travel And Health- IELTS Reading Answers

In the Academic Reading practice passage, “Space Travel and Health”, there are various question types, each of which are asked in the IELTS Reading exam. 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.

Reading Passage

Space Travel And Health

Questions of SPACE TRAVEL AND HEALTH

List of Headings

1. The problem of dealing with emergencies in space
2. How space biomedicine can help patients on Earth

iii. Why accidents are so common in outer space

1. What is space biomedicine?
2. The psychological problems of astronauts
3. Conducting space biomedical research on Earth

vii. The internal damage caused to the human body by space travel

viii. How space biomedicine First began

1. The visible effects of space travel on the human body
2. Why space biomedicine is now necessary

Example Paragraph A Answer iv

1. Paragraph B
2. Paragraph C
3. Paragraph D
4. Paragraph E

Example Paragraph F Answer ii

5. Paragraph G

Questions 6 and 7

6 Where, apart from Earth, can space travelers find water? ………….

7 What happens to human legs during space travel? ……………..

Questions 8-12

8 The obstacles to going far into space are now medical, not technological.

9 Astronauts cannot survive more than two years in space.

10 It is morally wrong to spend so much money on space biomedicine.

11 Some kinds of surgery are more successful when performed in space.

12 Space biomedical research can only be done in space.

Questions 13-14

Research area

Application in space

Application on Earth

Telemedicine

treating astronauts

13 ……….. in remote areas

Sterilization

sterilizing wastewater

14…………….in disaster zones

Miniaturization

saving weight

wearing small monitors comfortably

Reading Answer 

1 Answer: x

Question type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph B

Answer explanation: Paragraph B illustrates, “This involvement of NASA and the ESA reflects growing concern that the feasibility of travel to other planets, and beyond, is no longer limited by engineering constraints but by what the human body can actually withstand. The discovery of ice on Mars, for instance, means that there is now no necessity to design and develop a spacecraft large and powerful enough to transport the vast amounts of water needed to sustain the crew throughout journeys that may last many years. Without the necessary protection and medical treatment, however, their bodies would be devastated by the unremittingly hostile environment of space.” We can deduce from these lines that the feasibility of traveling to other planets is no longer confined by engineering constraints but by what the human body can actually withstand. However, in the last line of the paragraph, it is revealed that without necessary protection and medical treatment, the bodies will be destroyed by the hostile environment of space. As a result, space biomedicine is very important. Thus, the answer is x.

2 Answer: ix

Question type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph C

Answer explanation: The initial lines of paragraph C state that the most obvious physical changes undergone by people in zero gravity are essentially harmless; in some cases, they are even amusing. The blood and other fluids are no longer dragged down towards the feet by the gravity of Earth, so they accumulate higher up in the body, creating what is sometimes called ‘fat face`, together with the contrasting ‘chicken legs’ syndrome as the lower limbs become thinner. These lines suggest that the physical changes of a person in zero gravity are harmless and are sometimes amusing too. Thus, it is clear that paragraph C explains the visible effects of space travel on the human body. Therefore, the answer is ix.

3 Answer: vii

Question type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph D

Answer explanation: Paragraph D states that much more serious are the unseen consequences after months or years in space. With no gravity, there is less need for a sturdy skeleton to support the body, with the result that the bones weaken, releasing calcium into the bloodstream. This extra calcium can overload the kidneys, leading ultimately to renal failure. Muscles too lose strength through lack of use. The heart becomes smaller, losing the power to pump oxygenated blood to all parts of the body, while the lungs lose the capacity to breathe fully. The digestive system becomes less efficient, a weakened immune system is increasingly unable to prevent diseases and the high levels of solar and cosmic radiation can cause various forms of cancer. We understand that paragraph D elucidates the possible effects and diseases that a human body living in space would have. As a result, the paragraph discusses the internal damage caused to the human body by space travel. Thus, the answer is vii.

4 Answer: i

Question type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph E

Answer explanation: In paragraph E, it is mentioned that to make matters worse, a wide range of medical difficulties can arise in the case of an accident or serious illness when the patient is millions of kilometers from Earth. There is simply not enough room available inside a space vehicle to include all the equipment from a hospital’s casualty unit, some of which would not work properly in space anyway. Even basic things such as a drip depend on gravity to function, while standard resuscitation techniques become ineffective if sufficient weight cannot be applied. The only solution seems to be to create extremely small medical tools and ‘smart` devices that can, for example, diagnose and treat internal injuries using ultrasound. The cost of designing and producing this kind of equipment is bound to be, well, astronomical. These lines indicate the problems of dealing with emergencies in space, for instance, even a drip depends on gravity to function while resuscitation techniques are ineffective if weight is not applied. Moreover, there’s no room for more medical equipment in the space. Thus, the answer is i.

5 Answer: vi

Question type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph G

Answer explanation: Paragraph G states the fact that nevertheless, there is still one major obstacle to carrying out studies into the effects of space travel: how to do so without going to the enormous expense of actually working in space. To simulate conditions in zero gravity, one tried and tested method is to work underwater, but the space biomedicine centers are also looking at other ideas. In one experiment, researchers study the weakening of bones that results from prolonged inactivity. This would involve volunteers staying in bed for three months, but the center is confident there should be no great difficulty in finding people willing to spend twelve weeks lying down. AII in the name of science, of course. We understand from these lines that conducting space biomedical research on Earth is difficult as it’d be challenging to do the research without actually visiting the space. As a result, space biomedicine centers are looking for other alternative ideas. Thus, the answer is vi.

6 Answer: (on/ from) Mars

Question type: Short Answer Question

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 2

Answer explanation: The 2nd line of paragraph B states that the discovery of ice on Mars, for instance, means that there is now no necessity to design and develop a spacecraft large and powerful enough to transport the vast amounts of water needed to sustain the crew throughout journeys that may last many years. We can deduce from these lines that the discovery of ice on Mars reflected that there’s no necessity of developing or designing a spacecraft to transport water required to sustain the crew. Therefore, space travelers can find water on Mars apart from the Earth. Thus, the answer is (in/on) Mars.

7 Answer: they become thinner

Question type: Short Answer Question

Answer location: Paragraph C, last line

Answer explanation: Paragraph C illustrates the obvious effects of space travel on the human body. The last line of the paragraph reveals that the blood and other fluids are no longer dragged down towards the feet by the gravity of Earth, so they accumulate higher up in the body, creating what is sometimes called ‘fat face`, together with the contrasting ‘chicken legs’ syndrome as the lower limbs become thinner. Thus, it is evident that human legs become thinner during space travel. So, the answer is they become thinner.

8 Answer: Yes

Question type: Yes/ No/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 2

Answer explanation: The 2nd line of paragraph A states that its main objectives are to study the effects of space travel on the human body, identify the most critical medical problems, and find solutions to those problems. These lines indicate that the primary aim of studying the effects of space travel on the human body is to identify important medical problems and find appropriate solutions to these problems. Thus, the statement agrees with the information, so, the answer is Yes.

9 Answer: Not Given

Question type: Yes/ No/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph F

Answer explanation: We find a reference for Astronauts in Paragraph F, where it is mentioned that the very difficulty of treating astronauts in space has led to rapid progress in the field of telemedicine, which in turn has brought about developments that enable surgeons to communicate with patients in inaccessible parts of the world. These lines suggest that the difficulty of treating Astronauts in space has resulted in the progress of telemedicine. However, there’s no reference to the fact that Astronauts survive for more than two years in space. Thus, the answer is Not Given.

10 Answer: No

Question type: Yes/ No/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph F

Answer explanation: The introductory lines of paragraph F states that such considerations have led some to question the ethics of investing huge sums of money to help a handful of people who, after all, are willingly risking their own health in outer space, when so many needs to be done a lot closer to home. These lines suggest that considerations have resulted in the ethics of investing huge amounts of money to help people who are willing to risk their own health in outer space. It is clear that people are willing to spend money on space biomedicine. Thus, the statement contradicts the information, so, the answer is No.

11 Answer: Not Given

Question type: Yes/ No/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 2

Answer explanation: We know paragraph E explains the problems of dealing with emergencies in space. The 2nd line of paragraph E state, that there is simply not enough room available inside a space vehicle to include all the equipment from a hospital’s casualty unit, some of which would not work properly in space anyway. Even basic things such as a drip depend on gravity to function, while standard resuscitation techniques become ineffective if sufficient weight cannot be applied. The only solution seems to be to create extremely small medical tools and ‘smart` devices that can, for example, diagnose and treat internal injuries using ultrasound. These lines suggest how to deal with problems in space. It is stated that there’s no room to include much medical equipment in space, some of which wouldn’t work. Therefore, it is not mentioned anywhere in the paragraph that surgery is successful when performed in space. Thus, the answer is Not Given.

12 Answer: No

Question type: Yes/ No/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph G

Answer explanation: Paragraph G explains conducting space biomedical research on Earth. The initial lines suggest that nevertheless, there is still one major obstacle to carrying out studies into the effects of space travel: how to do so without going to the enormous expense of actually working in space. To simulate conditions in zero gravity, one tried and tested method is to work underwater, but the space biomedicine centers are also looking at other ideas. We can deduce from these lines that there’s another tried and tested method of conducting space biomedical research, which is to work underwater. However, space biomedicine centers are looking for other alternatives. Therefore, the statement contradicts the information, so, the answer is No.

13 Answer: communicate with patients

Question type: Table Completion

Answer location: Paragraph F

Answer explanation: Paragraph F illustrates an example stating that the very difficulty of treating astronauts in space has led to rapid progress in the field of telemedicine, which in turn has brought about developments that enable surgeons to communicate with patients in inaccessible parts of the world. These lines indicate that the difficulty of treating astronauts in space has resulted in the progress of telemedicine. It has brought developments that allow surgeons to communicate with patients even in inaccessible areas. Thus, the answer is to Communicate with patients.

14 Answer: filter contaminated water

Question type: Table Completion

Answer location: Paragraph F

Answer explanation: Another example of sterilization can be found in paragraph F, which states that the systems invented to sterilize wastewater onboard spacecraft could be used by emergency teams to filter contaminated water at the scene of natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes. These lines indicate that systems were invented to sterilize wastewater, which could be used by the emergency teams to filter contaminated water in disaster zones. Thus, the answer is to filter contaminated water.