Venus in Transit Reading Answers

Justin

4 min read

Updated On Aug 14, 2024

Venus in Transit
Answers

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This article contains the Venus in Transit reading answers.

Venus in Transit 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 practice test Venus in Transit below and try more IELTS reading practice tests from IELTSMaterial.com.

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Venus in Transit

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on the Reading Passage below. Find the practice test with the Venus in Transit PDF here.

Answers

Question number	Answer	Explanation
14	F	Paragraph F provides the information that “finally determined a value for the AU based on all these parallax measurements: 153340,000 km.” The term ‘all these parallax measurements’ implies that the parallax principle has been applied in different ways. Hence, the correct answer is “F.”
15	D	Paragraph D states that “fleeing on a French warship crossing the Indian Ocean, Le Gentil saw a wonderful transit – but the ship’s pitching.” This line from the paragraph describes the event which prevented a transit observation. Hence, the correct answer is “D.”
16	G	In paragraph G, there’s a line that states that “such transits have paved the way for what might prove to be one of the most vital breakthroughs in the cosmos.” From the words ‘might prove to be one of the most vital breakthroughs’, we can deduce that it discusses the potential future discoveries leading on from transit observations. Hence, the correct answer is “G.”

17	E	The last lines of paragraph E mention that “while the early transit timings were as precise as instruments would allow, the measurements were dogged by the ‘black drop’ effect.” Since the measurement was dogged, early astronomical instruments failed to detect certain physical states of Venus. Hence, the correct answer is “E.”
18	D	The lines in paragraph F conveys that “Jonathan Franz Encke, Director of the Berlin Observatory, finally determined a value for AU based, and knowing the width of Earth’s orbit, the parallax shift lets astronomers calculate the distance.” Both these lines confirm that Jonathan Franz Encke calculated the distance of the Sun from the Earth based on observation of Venus. Hence, the correct answer is “D.”
19	A	Paragraph B confirms that it was Edmond Halley who understood the distance of the Sun from the Earth could be worked out by comparing observation of transit through the line “by timing the transit from two widely-separated locations, teams of astronomers could calculate the parallax angle. Calculating this angle would allow astronomers to measure what was then the ultimate goal: the distance of the Earth from the Sun.” Hence, the correct answer is “A.”
20	B	From Paragraph C, through the line “the distance of the planets from the Sun governed their orbital speeds, which were easily measurable.” puts forward information that it was Johannes Kepler who realised that the time taken by a planet to go round the Sun depends on its distance from the Sun. Hence, the correct answer is “B.”
21	C	As per paragraph D, “fleeing on a French warship crossing the Indian Ocean, Le Gentil saw was a wonderful transit – but the ship’s pitching and rolling rule out any attempt at making accurate observations.” Therefore, Guillaume Le Gentil witnessed a Venus transit but was unable to make any calculations. Hence, the correct answer is “C.”
22	FALSE	In paragraph B, there’s a line stating, “Halley observed a transit of the innermost planet, Mercury, from the desolate island of St Helena in the South Pacific.” Halley observed one transit of the planet Mercury, not Venus. As the information contradicts the statement, the correct answer is “FALSE.”
23	FALSE	The line in paragraph D mentions that “Ironically after travelling nearly 50,000 kilometers, his view was clouded out at the last moment.” Since his view was clouded, Le Gentil was not able to observe a second Venus transit. As the information contradicts the statement, the correct answer is “FALSE.”
24	TRUE	Paragraph E mentions that “when Venus begins to cross the Sun’s disc, it looks smeared not circular – which makes it difficult to establish timings.” As Venus looks smeared, not circular, it means that the shape of Venus appears to be distorted when it starts to pass in front of the Sun. As the information agrees with the statement, the correct answer is “TRUE.”
25	NOT GIVEN	None of the passages mentions the atmosphere of Venus being toxic. Hence, the correct answer is “NOT GIVEN.
26	TRUE	According to paragraph F, “the parallax principle can be extended to measure the distance to the stars.” Thus, this line confirms that the parallax principle allows astronomers to work out how far away distant stars are from the Earth.

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