The Elephant Orchestra - IELTS Reading Answers

The Elephant Orchestra is a real Reading test 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 reading answer ‘The Elephant Orchestra’ below and try more IELTS reading practice tests from IELTSMaterial.com.

1. In Thailand, elephants are revered as a national symbol, but even there, the survival of great mammals is at risk. A century ago, more than 100,000 elephants worked in the Thai timber industry or roamed the forests. Today the number of elephants in captivity is just 2,500 and there are even fewer in the wild. Illegal hunting has taken a toll. Deforestation and the banning of logging have removed the elephants’ chief source of employment.
2. Recently, on the site of a former government logging camp, the Thai elephant conservation centre has been established. It is home to more than one hundred elephants retrenched from the logging industry. An American elephant specialist and his team have come up with an ingenious career alternative for these redundant employees. A select group of the centre’s residents have been chosen to play in the world’s first elephant orchestra. The project was initiated to create income for the operation of the Elephant Conservation centre.
3. The orchestra currently has twelve members, selected for their musical aptitude and motivation. They are aged seven to eighteen and play a variety of percussion and wind instruments in the Thai tradition – rentals which look like xylophones, slit drums, harmonicas, a bow bass, a gong and a thundersheet. The instruments are ‘elephant sized’ and specially designed to be played with trunks. Early in the project the organisers were unsure how the elephants would respond to musical training. Then one morning they were awakened to the sound of harmonicas.The elephants had picked up the instruments on their own and were wandering through the forest playing enthusiastically.
4. Making music comes naturally to elephants. They have huge brains and are highly sociable creatures. Their hearing is much better than their sight and they use a wide range of vocalisations.In performance, they stand in a line and prompted by the trainers, play their instruments. A strong sense of rhythm is evident as they flap their ears to the beat, swish their tails and generally rock back and forth. Some add to the melody with their own trumpeting. As the conductor paces up and down orchestrating proceedings, a trunk can sometimes be seen imitating the movement of his arm.
5. The elephants aren’t forced to learn complex patterns, so playing the instruments is quite easy. Commands are given only to indicate when to start and when to stop. The rest of the time, the players have the time to improvise. According to the trainers, the elephants love their work. The modest plan initially was to teach the elephants just to hit the instruments and then overdub those sounds with other music. But after only five practice sessions, a decision was made to record the performances intact with just the human noises removed. The players improvise distinct metres and melodies, then vary and repeat them.The resulting music is meditative, deliberate and delicate and it is real elephant music. Western listeners often describe it as ‘haunting’. To some ears it may seem monotonous but anyone not knowing they were listening to elephant music would assume that humans were playing.The first CD, classical in style, has sold well, so soon there will be a pop techno and country versions in production.
6. Playing music is not the only creative form of activity the elephants of the centre engage in. For several years now, a number of residents have been painting. They use acrylic paints on large canvases and have a preference for broad strokes and bold colours. Last year, elephant paintings helped raise over $25,000 at charity auctions internationally. These art sales together with profits from the CD are helping to fund the centre’s operations. The proceeds go towards an orphanage, hospital and mobile veterinary clinic for elephants and to support the training school.
7. Animal rights’ advocates might object to these non-traditional occupations for elephants. But, Thai elephants have always had to work for a living. If they weren’t playing music or painting pictures, they would be dragging logs or carrying tourists.Given those choices, playing music and painting are not such bad options.

The Elephant Orchestra - IELTS Reading Questions

Questions 27-32

27 Description of the type of music produced by the elephants…………………..

28 Details of how the income generated is used…………………..

29 Description of the musical instruments…………………..

30 Forthcoming projects for the orchestra…………………..

31 Situation of elephants in Thailand…………………..

32 How the orchestra got started…………………..

Questions 33 – 37

Note: There are more words than spaces so you will not use them all. You may use any word more than once.

In order to raise funds for the Thai Elephant Centre a number of creative 33___________________have been developed, including the first Elephant Orchestra. The elephants play a variety of instruments and their 34———————–are being sold to 35________________income. These intelligent animals also produce paintings, which have been sold at international auctions. The 36——————support an orphanage, hospital and 37————— facility.

List of Words

painting projected

music initiatives

occupation proceeds

production generate

recordings training

Question 38

38 What is the main idea of this passage?

A Elephants can be trained to do unusual tricks.

B Creative projects can help to save endangered species.

C Elephants have large brains.

D Intelligent animals should not be forced to work.

Complete the sentences below with the words from the paragraph.

39 Making music comes ………….. to elephants.

40 Animal rights’ advocates might object to these ……………………. for elephants.

The Elephant Orchestra - IELTS Reading Answers With Explanation

27 Answer: E

Question type: Matching heading

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 9

Answer explanation: We can find references for the type of music produced by the elephants in paragraph E, which is described as meditative, deliberate and delicate. Some western listeners find it haunting, while others who are unaware that the music is being played by elephants presume it is being played by humans. Thus, the answer is E.

28 Answer: F

Question type: Matching heading

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 4 – 5

Answer explanation: We can trace the information in paragraph F, which illustrates how elephant paintings helped raise over $25,000 at charity auctions throughout the world, with the proceeds helping to support the centre’s operations. Thus, the elephant paintings are auctioned to generate income. Hence the answer is F.

29 Answer: C

Question type: Matching heading

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 3 – 5

Answer explanation: Paragraph C illustrates the description of musical instruments in the Thai tradition. Xylophones, slit drums, harmonicas, a bowed bass, a gong and a thunder sheet are used. The instruments are described as ‘elephant sized’ and are specially designed to be played with trunks. Thus, the answer is C.

30 Answer: E

Question type: Matching heading

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 5 and line 13

Answer explanation: We can find references to the forthcoming projects for the orchestra in the thirteenth line of paragraph E. The thirteenth line suggests that the orchestra’s first CD, which was classical in style, was sold well; as a result, the orchestra plans to have pop techno, and the country will start its production. Thus, the answer is E.

31 Answer: A

Question type: Matching heading

Answer location: Paragraph A, Line

Answer explanation: When we scan the introduction paragraph A, we come to know the past and present situation of elephants in Thailand, that is, a century back, they were more than 100,000 in numbers, and these elephants worked in the Thai timber industry or roamed the forests. However, today, the number of elephants in captivity is just 2,500, and there are even fewer in the wild. Hence the answer is A.

32 Answer: B

Question type: Matching Heading

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 3

Answer explanation: The third line in paragraph B describes how the orchestra was founded. We can deduce from the paragraph that an American elephant specialist and his team came up with a career alternative for unemployed people. Some of the selected centre’s residents were chosen to play in the world’s first elephant orchestra. This project was initiated to generate income for the operation of the Elephant Conservation centre. Thus, the answer is B.

33 Answer: Initiatives

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 5

Answer explanation: We can detect the answer in Paragraph B, where it is mentioned that a group of the Thai elephant centre’s residents were selected to play in the world’s first elephant orchestra; the orchestra project was initiated to raise income for the functioning of the Elephant Conservation centre. We understand that to raise funds to operate the conservation centre; creative initiatives were introduced. Thus, the answer is initiatives.

34 Answer: Recordings

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 6 & line 13

Answer explanation: When we go through paragraph E, we can track the answer between lines 6 and 13 according to the question. The paragraph indicates that the elephant’s music was recorded by playing instruments and then overdubbed with other sounds. Still, after practice, it was decided to record the performances without the human noises. Thus, the first CD (elephant music recordings), classical in style, sold well. Hence, the answer which fits correctly, in summary, is Recording.

35 Answer: Generate

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 6 & 7

Answer explanation: We find traces of Information in the 6th and 7th lines of Paragraph F, where it is mentioned that the art sales along with the profits generated from the CD (elephant music recordings) helped to fund the centre’s operations. We understand that elephant paintings and elephant instrument recording were a good source of generating income for the centre and orchestra. Hence, the answer is Generate.

36 Answer: Proceeds

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 7

Answer explanation: We find references in the seventh line of paragraph 7, illustrating that the proceeds (money obtained from an event or activity) from the orchestra and the centre go towards helping orphanages, hospitals and mobile veterinary clinics for elephants supporting the training school. Thus, the answer is Proceeds.

37 Answer: Training

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 7

Answer explanation: When we scan the 7th line in paragraph 7, we understand that the money (proceeds) generated from the orchestra directly go towards helping an orphanage, hospital and mobile veterinary clinic for elephants and supporting the training school. Thus, the answer is training.

38 Answer: B

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph G

Answer explanation: When we read the entire reading passage from Paragraph A-F, we understand the situation of elephants in Thailand, the type of music produced by the elephants, raising funds and generating income through auction of paintings, elephant music, and how the orchestra was started and its forthcoming projects.

However, when we scan paragraph G, it mentions that animal rights advocates might object to these non-traditional occupations for elephants. But, the Thai elephants have always had to work for a living. If they weren’t playing music or painting pictures, they would be dragging logs or carrying tourists. Thus, elephant music and painting are not such bad options considering the given choices.

The above-mentioned lines suggest that creative initiatives like an elephant playing music and painting have helped the animal from getting endangered. Hence, the answer is B.

39 Answer: Naturally

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 1

Answer explanation: The introductory line in Paragraph D indicates that making music comes naturally to elephants. Thus, the word, naturally, fits correctly in the sentence, so the answer is naturally.

40 Answer: Non-traditional Occupations

Question type: Sentence Completion

Answer location: Paragraph G

Answer explanation: When we scan paragraph G, the first line indicates that animal rights’ advocates might raise objections to these non-traditional occupations (playing music and painting) for elephants. Thus, the answer is Non-traditional Occupations.

Tips to Ace The Elephant Orchestra - IELTS Reading Answers

Let us check out some quick IELTS Exam Preparation Tips for Band Score of 8+ to answer the types of questions in the Reading Answers. 

Matching Headings 

This type of question is most commonly asked in the IELTS Reading Passage, where a list of headings will be given, and the test-taker has to match these headings with a suitable paragraph in the passage. There are always more choices of paragraph headings on the list than paragraphs, so the test-taker should be careful when matching them.

• Read the first and last lines of each paragraph first
  These usually reveal the main idea, which is exactly what headings test.
• Focus on the main idea, not details
  A heading summarizes the whole paragraph, not just one example or statistic.
• Underline keywords in headings
  Then scan the paragraph for paraphrases or synonyms, not exact words.
• Do the easiest paragraphs first
  This helps eliminate heading options and makes harder matches clearer.
• One heading = one paragraph only
  Never reuse a heading. If it seems to fit two paragraphs, recheck the paragraph focus.

Summary Completion 

• In this type of question, there will be a summary of a section of the passage, where the test-taker has to complete the blank spaces with information drawn from the passage or the list of words given. The summary will usually be of only one part of the passage rather than the whole, and there will be more words than blank spaces (in case of a word list given), so the test-taker must select the appropriate word for each gap.
• Read the summary before the passage section
  This helps you predict what type of information is missing (noun, verb, number).
• Locate the relevant part of the passage
  Summaries usually follow the same order as the text.
• Check word limits carefully
  If the instruction says NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS, exceeding it is an automatic loss.
• Look for paraphrasing
  The summary uses different wording than the passage—match meaning, not wording.
• Check grammar after filling gaps
  Ensure the completed sentence is grammatically correct and logical.

Multiple Choice Question 

The Multiple Choice Question in the IELTS reading can confuse the test-takers with multiple options, but the test-taker should identify the keyword, locate it in the paragraphs, recognize the paraphrasing or synonyms, and then select the correct answer.

• Read the question first, not the options
  This prevents confusion and helps you focus on what to look for.
• Identify keywords and scan the passage
  Locate where the idea appears, then read that section carefully.
• Expect paraphrasing in options
  The correct answer rarely uses the same words as the passage.
• Eliminate clearly wrong options
  Usually 2 options are obviously incorrect—remove them first.
• Beware of trap answers
  Some options are partially true but don’t fully answer the question.

Sentence Completion 

In the sentence completion type of question, the test-taker has to fill the blank spaces with appropriate words taken from the reading passage. The test-taker has to ensure that the answer fits into the statement and is grammatically correct. They should also be aware of paraphrasing and synonyms to answer the sentence completion questions.

• Predict the word type before scanning
  Decide whether the gap needs a noun, verb, adjective, or number.
• Use words directly from the passage only
  Do not change word forms unless the question allows it.
• Follow the passage order
  Answers appear in the same sequence as the questions.
• Watch for synonyms and paraphrases
  The sentence will rephrase the idea from the passage.
• Check grammar and meaning
  The completed sentence must be grammatically correct and make sense.

In conclusion, the IELTS Reading passage “Crop Circles - IELTS Reading Answers” allows candidates to practise a range of question types while improving comprehension and information-identifying skills. With complete answers, keyword locations, and explanations, this article helps learners understand the passage more effectively, enhance accuracy, and boost their overall IELTS Reading score. Keep practising with more IELTS Reading Recent Actual Tests  and answers on IELTSMaterial.com to improve your speed, accuracy, and overall performance.

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