The Taman Shud Case – IELTS Reading Answers

Nehasri Ravishenbagam

11 min read

Updated On Dec 06, 2023

Reading Passage
The Taman Shud Case Reading Answers With Location and Explanation
Tips for Answering the Question Types in the Taman Shud Case Reading Passage

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The Taman Shud Case is an academic reading passage that has appeared in an IELTS Test. Since questions get repeated in the IELTS exam, these passages are ideal for practice. If you want more practice, try taking an IELTS reading practice test.

Since IELTS Reading is considered the second easiest module of the exam after Listening, try to solve and review – The Taman Shud Case Reading Answers and similar passages to ensure that your reading skills are up to the mark.

The Reading Module of the IELTS can be the top-scoring category with diligent practice. To achieve the best results in this section, you must understand how to approach and answer the different Question types in the Reading Module.

The question types found in the Taman Shud Case passage are:

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Reading Passage

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

The Taman Shud Case

It has been more than 65 years since the Taman Shud case was first opened, but this notoriously bizarre murder mystery from Australia continues to baffle scientific investigators and crime aficionados from around the world today.

On the morning of 1st December 1948, the body of an unidentified man was discovered propped against a rock wall on Somerton beach in Adelaide, opposite the Crippled Children’s home. The man was around 40-45 years old, had an athletic figure and was dressed in a smart suit and tie. He had no form of ID on him and all the labels on his clothes had been removed. The only things found on his body were an unused 10:50 a.m. ticket from Adelaide Railway Station to Henley Beach for the 30th November, a packet of chewing gums, an aluminium comb, a packet of cigarettes, a box of Bryan & May matches, sixpence and a small piece of paper with the words “Tamám shud” printed on it which means “ended” or “finished” in Persian. To make matters more interesting, the autopsy revealed that his death had been unnatural, but determined no cause of death: although he had clearly died of heart failure, his heart had been healthy and no signs of violence or poisoning were discovered in his system.

The case garnered media attention almost immediately, with dozens of people with missing friends and relatives travelling to Adelaide to have a look at the Somerton man’s body – but none of them being able to positively identify him. The next piece of evidence came when a journalist named Frank Kennedy discovered that the piece of paper with the printed words had been ripped from the last page of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, a book of collected poems by Omar Khayyám, an 11th-century Persian poet. Following pleas by the police for the public to check their copies of The Rubáiyát for any missing pages, a local man brought in the correct copy, which he reported having found in the back seat of his car six months earlier, around the time the corpse had been discovered.

This is where things get even more complicated: in the back of the book, police discovered five lines of letters that appeared to be some sort of secret code. In the back cover, they also found a phone number which led them to a 27-year-old woman known as “Jestyn” who lived on Moseley Street, a stone’s throw from the crime scene. Jestyn denied any knowledge of the man and was generally guarded and non-committal throughout the police interview. Nevertheless, the police decided not to pursue the lead. As for the code? Despite years of research by cryptology experts and students, no one has managed to crack it to this day.

It’s not just the mysterious code, however, that makes this case so popular with crime fans. It’s been more than half a century since the man’s death, but his identity is still a mystery. Although copies of the victim’s fingerprints and photograph, as well as the name “T. Keane” (which was written on some labels fund in his suitcase), were sent around the world to all Commonwealth countries, the search turned up no results. Some theories regarding the man’s origins have arisen over the years, with many believing that he was American due to the predominantly US way the stripes slanted on his tie, his aluminium comb (rare in Australia at the time) and the belief that Americans were far more likely to chew gum than Australians in the 1940s. Others also theorise that he was Jestyn’s lover, and perhaps even a Soviet spy although this all still remains just speculation for now.

Interest in the case was rekindled in 2013, following an interview on the show 60 Minutes with Kate Thompson, the daughter of “Jestyn”-whose actual name was revealed to be Jo Thompson. Kate Thompson claimed that her mother had lied to the police about not knowing the Somerton Man. She also said her mother was a Soviet spy with a “dark side” and that she might’ve been responsible for the man’s murder. Also participating in the show were Roma and Rachel Egan, wife and daughter respectively of Kate Thompson’s late brother Robin, whom many believe to have been the Somerton man’s son. The two women have backed a request to get the man’s body exhumed in the interest of proving this claim, which they also believe to be correct. A similar bid had been rejected previously in 2011 by Attorney-General John Rau, citing insufficient “public interest reasons”. There is currently a petition on Change. Org, as well as an lndieGoGo campaign to raise funds in support of solving the case.

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Questions 1-6

Complete the timeline below.
Choose NO MORE THAN T WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

1948, November 30th – The Somerton Man misses a train to 1 ……………………

1948, December 1st – The Somerton Man’s body is discovered on Somerton beach

1948, December 2nd – Post mortem reveals no 2 ……………………….

1949, January 14th – Adelaide Railway Station discover deceased man’s suitcase

1949, July 22nd – A businessman from Somerton hands in a copy of poem book that contains the 3 ……………………. and Jestyn’s 4 ………………………..

1949, July 25th – Police visit Jestyn at her house on 5 ……………………. to speak with her – she remains 6 …………………….. during questioning

Questions 7-10

Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-G below.
Write the correct letter A-G, in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet

A believes her daughter is related to the Somerton man.

B has tried to solve it for decades with no results.

C was revealed by her daughter in 2013.

D inadvertently assisted the police in their investigation.

E was only named as “Jestyn”.

F remains a mystery.

G revealed that Jo Thompson was a cruel Soviet spy.

7 The code is written on the back of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

8 Journalist Frank Kennedy

9 The identity of the woman to whom the phone number belonged

10 Kate Thompson’s sister-in-law

Questions 11-14

Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet

11 According to the autopsy on the Somerton man

A his heart failed for no reason.

B there were traces of poison in his system.

C he was physically fit.

D there was nothing wrong with his heart.

12 The copy of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám with the missing page

A was discovered in a local man’s garage.

B was in a local man’s possession for six months after the murder.

C was discovered by a local man six months after the murder.

D was found by journalist Frank Kennedy.

13 One of the reasons many believe that the Somerton Man was American is that

A he wasn’t found in any database in Commonwealth countries.

B he had been chewing gum before his death.

C his tie had an American pattern of stripes.

D the name “T. Keane” was found in his suitcase.

14 Roma and Rachel Egan

A are critical of attempts to exhume the Somerton man’s body.

B disagree that Robin Thompson was the Somerton man’s son.

C backed the request that was rejected in 2011 by Rau.

D voiced their beliefs on the same programme as Kate Thompson.

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