The Olympic Torch – IELTS Reading Answers

Raajdeep Saha

10 min read

Updated On Oct 03, 2023

Reading Passage
The Olympic Torch Reading Answers with Explanation

Limited-Time Offer : Access a FREE 10-Day IELTS Study Plan!

The Academic passage, ‘The Olympic Torch Reading Answers’, is a reading passage that consists of 14 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.

Ideally, you should not spend more than 20 minutes on a passage. You must scan the material for important terms, comprehend the subject, and then respond in accordance with the instructions. Also, read the IELTS reading passage, pick out significant words, and recognize synonyms in order to provide a one-word response.

Take the reading practice passage, The Olympic Torch below, and try more IELTS reading practice tests.

The question types found in this passage are:

Reading Passage

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14, which are based on the Reading Passage below.

The Olympic Torch

Since 776 B.C, when the Greek people held their first-ever Olympic Games, the Games were hosted every four years at Olympia city. Back then, a long journey for the Olympic torch was made before the opening ceremony of each Olympic Games. The Greek people would light a cauldron of flames on the altar, a ritual devoted to Hera, the Greek Goddess of birth and marriage.

The reintroduction of flame to the Olympics occurred at the Amsterdam 1928 Games, for which a cauldron was lit yet without a torch relay. The 1936 Berlin Summer Games held the first Olympic torch relay, which was not resumed in the Winter Olympics until 1952. However, in that year the torch was lit not in Olympia, Greece, but in Norway, which was considered as the birthplace of skiing. Until the Innsbruck 1964 Winter Olympics in Austria, the Olympic flame was reignited at Olympia.

The torch is originally an abstract concept of a designer or group of designers. A couple of design groups handed in their drafts to the Olympic Committee in the hope that they would get the chance to create the torch. The group that wins the competition will come up with a design for a torch that has both aesthetic and practical value. After the torch is completed, it has to succeed in going through all sorts of severe weather conditions. The appearance of the modern Olympic torch is attributed to Disney artist John Hench, who designed the torch for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. His design laid a solid foundation for all the torches in the future.

The long trip to the Olympic area is not completed by one single torch, but by thousands of them, so the torch has to be replicated many times. Approximately 10,000 to 15,000 torches are built to fit thousands of runners who take the torches through every section of the Olympic Relay. Every single runner can choose to buy his or her torch as a treasured souvenir when he or she finishes his or her part of the relay.

The first torch in the modern Olympics (the 1936 Berlin Games) was made from a slender steel rod with a circular platform at the top and a circular hole in the middle to jet flames. The name of the runner was also inscribed on the platform as a token of thanks. In the earlier days, torches used everything from gunpowder to olive oil as fuels. Some torches adopted a combination of hexamine and naphthalene with a flammable fluid. However, these materials weren’t exactly the ideal fuel sources, and they could be quite hazardous sometimes. In the 1956 Olympics, the torch in the final relay was ignited by magnesium and aluminum, but some flaming pieces fell off and seared the runner’s arms.

To promote the security rate, liquid fuels made its first appearance at the 1972 Munich Games. Since then, torches have been using fuels that are pressurized into the form of a liquid. When the fuels are burnt, they turn into gas to produce a flame. Liquid fuel becomes safer for the runner and can be stored in a light container. The torch at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics is equipped with an aluminum base that accommodates a tiny fuel tank. As the fuel ascends through the modified handle, it is squeezed through a brass valve that has thousands of little openings. As the fuel passes through the tiny openings, it accumulates pressure. Once it makes its way through the openings, the pressure decreases and the liquid becomes gas so it can burn up.

The torch in 1996 was fuelled by propylene, a type of substance that could give out a bright flame. However, since propylene was loaded with carbon, it would produce plenty of smoke which was detrimental to the environment. In 2000, the designers of the Sydney Olympic torch proposed a lighter and cheaper design, which was harmless to the environment. For the fuel, they decided to go with a combination of 35 percent propane (a gas that is used for cooking and heating) and 65 percent butane (a gas that is obtained from petroleum), thus creating a powerful flame without generating much smoke.

Both the 1996 and 2000 torches adopted a double-flame burning system, enabling the flames to stay lit even in severe weather conditions. The exterior flame bums at a slower rate and at a lower temperature. It can be perceived easily with its big orange flame, but it is unstable. On the other hand, the interior flame bums faster and hotter, generating a small blue flame with great stability, due to the internal site offering protection from the wind. Accordingly, the interior flame would serve as a pilot light, which could relight the eternal flame if it should go out.

As for the torch of the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, the top section was made of glass in which the flame burned, for the purpose of echoing the theme of ‘Light the Fire Within’ of that Olympics. This torch was of great significance for the following designs of the torches.

Questions 1- 3

Complete the summary below.

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

Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

The Olympic torch, as requested by the Olympic Committee, will be carefully designed so that it is capable of withstanding all kinds of 1 ……………… Generally, the design of the modern Olympic torch enjoys the 2 ………… value. The torch must be copied, and thousands of torches are constructed to accommodate thousands of runners who will carry them through each leg of the Olympic relay. Each runner has an opportunity to purchase the torch as a(n) 3 ………….. at the end of his or her leg of the relay.

Questions 4-9

Look at the following statements (Questions 4-9) and the list of Olympic torches below.

Match each statement with the correct Olympic torch, A-H.

Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 4-9 on your answer sheet.

List of Olympic Torches

A ancient Greek Olympic flames

B Berlin Games torch (1936)

C 1952 Winter Games flame

D 1956 Games torch

E Munich Games torch (1972)

F 1996 torch (Atlanta)

G 2000 torch (Sydney)

H 2002 torch (Salt Lake City)

4 first liquid fuel

5 not environmentally friendly

6 beginning to record the runners’ name

7 potentially risky as it burnt the runner’s arms

8 special for a theme of ‘Light’

9 not lit in Greek

Questions 10-14

Label the diagram below.

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

Write your answers in boxes 10-14 on your answer sheet.

The Structure of the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Torches

Note: The questions mentioned in the image above are from (36-40), which should actually be numbered (10-14). So, solve the questions accordingly.

The Olympic Torch Reading Answers with Explanation

1 Answer: severe weather conditions

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 3, line 4

Answer explanation: In the specified lines, it is given that “After the torch is completed, it has to succeed in going through all sorts of severe weather conditions.”. It can be said that the Olympic torch was carefully designed so that it is capable of withstanding all kinds of severe weather conditions. Hence, the answer is ‘severe weather conditions’.

2 Answer: aesthetic and practical

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 3, line 3

Answer explanation: In the given location, it is given that “The group that wins the competition will come up with a design for a torch that has both aesthetic and practical value.”. This shows that the design of the modern Olympic torch should have aesthetic and practical value. Hence, the answer is ‘aesthetic and practical’.

3 Answer: (treasurable) souvenir

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph 4, line 3

Answer explanation: In the mentioned location, it is stated that “Every single runner can choose to buy his or her torch as a treasurable souvenir when he or she finishes his or her part of the relay.”. It can be concluded that each runner has an opportunity to purchase the torch as a treasured souvenir at the end of his or her leg of the relay. Hence, the answer is ‘(treasurable) souvenir’.

4 Answer: E