The History of the Tortoise- IELTS Reading Answers

Reading Passage

The History of the Tortoise

Questions 27-30

27 What had to transfer from sea to land before any animals could migrate?

28 Which TWO processes are mentioned as those in which animals had to make big changes as they moved onto land?

29 Which physical feature. possessed by their ancestors, do whales lack?

30 Which animals might ichthyosaurs have resembled?

Questions 31-33

31 Turtles were among the first group of animals to migrate back to the sea.

32 It is always difficult to determine where an animal lived when its fossilized remains are incomplete.

33 The habitat of ichthyosaurs can be determined by the appearance of their fossilized remains.

Questions 34-39

Method of determining where the ancestors of turtles and tortoises come from

Step 1: 71 species of living turtles and tortoises were examined and a total of 34 …………….were taken from the bones of their forelimbs.

Step 2: The data was recorded on a 35 ………………. (necessary for comparing the information). Outcome: Land tortoises were represented by a dense 36 ……………… of points towards the top. Sea turtles were grouped together in the bottom part.

Step 3: The same data was collected from some living 37 ……………… species and added to the other results. Outcome: The points for these species turned out to be positioned about

38 ……………… up the triangle between the land tortoises and the sea turtles.

Step 4: Bones of R quenstedti and P talampayensis were examined in a similar way and the results were added.

Outcome: The position of the points indicated that both these ancient creatures were 39………………….

Questions 40

According to the writer, the most significant thing about tortoises is that

1. they are able to adapt to life in extremely dry environments.
2. their original life form was a kind of primeval bacteria,
3. they have so much in common with sea turtles.
4. they have made the transition from sea to land more than once.

Reading Answer

27 Answer: plants

Question type: Short Answer Question

Answer location: Paragraph 1

Answer explanation: In the last line of the first paragraph, it is stated, “And we mustn’t forget the plants, without whose prior invasion of the land none of the other migrations could have happened.” We can understand from these lines that plants had to transfer from sea to land before any animals could migrate, that is prior to the invasion of the land. Thus, the answer is to plant.

28 Answer: breathing and reproduction

Question type: Short Answer Question

Answer location: Paragraph 2

Answer explanation: The introductory lines of the 2nd paragraph states that moving from water to land involved a major redesign of every aspect of life, including breathing and reproduction. These lines indicate that breathing and reproduction were the two processes in which animals had to make big changes as they moved out of the land. Thus, the answer is breathing and reproduction.

29 Answer: gills

Question type: Short Answer Question

Answer location: Paragraph 2,line 9

Answer explanation: We find a reference for Whales in the 2nd paragraph, which states that Whales (including the small whales we call dolphins) and dugongs, with their close cousins the manatees, ceased to be land creatures altogether and reverted to the full marine habits of their remote ancestors. They don‘t even come ashore to breed. In the 9th line of the 2nd paragraph, it is stated that they do, however, still breathe air, having never developed anything equivalent to the gills of their earlier marine incarnation. These lines suggest that although the gills were possessed by their ancestors, Whales lacked gills as their physical characteristics. Hence, the answer is gills.

30 Answer: dolphin

Question type: Short Answer Questions

Answer location: Paragraph 3,line 6

Answer explanation: The 6th line of the 3rd paragraph states that Ichthyosarus were reptilian contemporaries of the dinosaurs, with fins and streamlined bodies. The fossils look like dolphins and they surely lived like dolphins, in the water. It is evident from these lines that dolphins resembled ichthyosaurs. Hence, the answer is dolphins.

31 Answer: Not Given

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 2, line 2

Answer explanation: We find a reference in the 2nd line of paragraph 2, which states that Nevertheless, a good number of thoroughgoing land animals later turned around, abandoned their hard-earned terrestrial re-tooling, and returned to the Water again. Although these lines indicate that a large number of thoroughgoing land animals went back to the sea again, it is not mentioned whether the turtles were the first group of animals to migrate back to the sea. Thus, the answer is Not Given.

32 Answer: False

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 3, line 5

Answer explanation: Paragraph 3, Line 5 states the writer saying, “You might wonder how we can tell whether fossil animals lived on land or in water, especially if only fragments are found. Sometimes it’s obvious.” These lines indicate that though the fossilized remains are in fragments (incomplete), it’s not always difficult (sometimes it’s obvious) to determine if the animal lived in water or land. Thus, the statement agrees with the information, so, the answer is True.

33 Answer: True

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 3, line 6

Answer explanation: In the 6th line of paragraph 3, it is mentioned that Ichthyosarus were reptilian contemporaries of the dinosaurs, with fins and streamlined bodies. The fossils look like dolphins and they surely lived like dolphins, in the water. These lines indicate that the habitat of ichthyosaurus can be determined by the appearance of their fossilized remains. Hence, the statement agrees with the information, so, the answer is True.

34 Answer: 3 measurements

Question type: Flowchart Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 4

Answer explanation: The initial lines of the 4th paragraph states that Walter Joyce and Jacques Gauthier, at Yale University, obtained three measurements in these particular bones of 71 species of living turtles and tortoises. They used a kind of triangular graph paper to plot the three measurements against one another. It is evident from these lines that 71 species of living turtles and tortoises were examined and a total of 3 measurements were taken from the bones of their forelimbs. Thus, the answer is 3 measurements.

35 Answer: (triangular) graph

Question type: Flowchart Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 4,line 3

Answer explanation: The 3rd line of the 4th paragraph illustrates that a kind of triangular graph paper was used to plot the three measurements against one another. These lines suggest that the data was recorded using a triangular graph which was necessary for comparing the information. Thus, the answer is a (triangular) graph.

36 Answer: cluster

Question type: Flowchart Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 4,line 4

Answer explanation: The 4th line of the 4th paragraph reveals that all the land tortoise species formed a tight cluster of points in the upper part of the triangle; all the water turtles cluster in the lower part of the triangular graph. We can deduce from these lines that when the data was recorded using a triangular graph, the land tortoises were represented by a dense (tight) cluster of points towards the top, and the sea turtles were all grouped in the bottom part. Thus, the answer is a cluster.

37 Answer: amphibious

Question type: Flowchart Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 4, line 6

Answer explanation: Paragraph 4, line 6 states that there was no overlap, except when they added some species that spend time both in water and on land. Sure enough, these amphibious species show up on the triangular graph approximately halfway between the ‘wet cluster’ of sea turtles and the ‘dry cluster’ of land tortoises. It is clear from these lines that the same data was collected from some living amphibious species and added to other results. Hence, the answer is amphibious.

38 Answer: halfway

Question type: Flowchart Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 4,line 6

Answer explanation: We can understand from the 6th line of the 4th paragraph that when there was no overlap, some data was collected from some living amphibious species and added to other results. These amphibious species show up on the triangular graph approximately halfway between the ‘wet cluster’ of sea turtles and the ‘dry cluster’ of land tortoises, that is the points for the amphibious species turned out to be positioned about halfway up the triangle between the land tortoise and the sea turtles. Thus, the answer is halfway.

39 Answer: dry-land tortoises

Question type: Flowchart Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 4,last line

Answer explanation: The last line of the 4th paragraph states that the bones of P quenstedti and P. talampayensis leave us in no doubt. Their points on the graph are right in the thick of the dry cluster. Both these fossils were dry-land tortoises. They come from the era before our turtles returned to the water. We can deduce from these lines that the position of the points indicated that both these ancient creatures were dry-land tortoises. Thus, the answer is dry-land tortoises.

40 Answer: D

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraph 6

Answer explanation: We can identify the most significant thing about tortoises in the last paragraph (paragraph 6)of the reading passage, where it is mentioned that tortoises, therefore, represent a remarkable double return. In common with all mammals, reptiles, and binds, their remote ancestors were marine fish and before that various more or less worm-like creatures stretching back, still in the sea, to the primeval bacteria. Later ancestors lived on land and stayed there for a very large number of generations. Later ancestors still evolved back into the water and became sea turtles. And finally, they returned yet again to the land as tortoises, some of which now live in the driest of deserts. These lines indicate that the tortoises changed their habitat from sea to land more than once. Hence, the answer is D.

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