A Disaster of Titanic Proportions Reading Answers

Dec 11, 2023

A Disaster of Titanic Proportions Reading Answers is a general reading topic. A Disaster of Titanic Proportions Reading Answers have a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. The specified topic generates 2 question types: no more than 2 words, and true, false, not given. Candidates should read the IELTS Reading passage thoroughly in order to recognize synonyms, identify keywords, and answer the questions below. IELTS reading practice papers, which feature topics such as A Disaster of Titanic Proportions Reading Answers. Candidates can use IELTS reading answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

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Section 1

Read the passage to answer the below given questions

A Disaster of Titanic Proportions Reading Answers

A Disaster of Titanic Proportions

At 11:39 p.m. on the evening of Sunday, 14 April 1912, lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee on the forward mast of the Titanic sighted an eerie, black mass coming into view directly in front of the ship. Fleet picked up the phone to the helm, waited for Sixth Officer Moody to answer, and yelled: “Iceberg, right ahead!” The greatest disaster in maritime history was about to be set in motion.
Thirty-seven seconds later, despite the efforts of officers in the bridge and engine room to steer around the iceberg, the Titanic struck a piece of submerged ice, bursting rivets in the ship’s hull and flooding the first five watertight compartments. The ship’s designer, Thomas Andrews, carried out visual inspection of the ship’s damage and informed Captain Smith at midnight that the ship would sink in less than two hours.
By 12:30 a.m., the lifeboats were being filled with women and children, after Smith had given the command for them to be uncovered and swung out 15 minutes earlier. The first lifeboat was successfully lowered 15 minutes later, with only 28 of its 65 seats occupied. By 1:15 a.m., the waterline was beginning to reach the Titanic’s name on the ship’s bow, and over the next hour, every lifeboat would be released as officers struggled to maintain order amongst the growing panic on board.
The dosing moments of the Titanic’s sinking began shortly after 2 a.m., as the last lifeboat was lowered and the ship’s propellers lifted out of the water, leaving the 1,500 passengers still on board to surge towards the stern. At 2:17 a.m., Harold Bride and Jack Philips tapped out their last wireless message after being relieved of duty as the ship’s wireless operators, and the ship’s band stopped playing. Less than a minute later, occupants of the lifeboats witnessed the ship’s lights flash once, then go black, and a huge roar signaled the Titanic’s contents plunging towards the bow, causing the front half of the ship to break off and go under. The Titanic’s stem bobbed up momentarily, and at 2:20 a.m., the ship finally disappeared beneath the frigid waters.
What or who was responsible for the scale of this catastrophe? Explanations abound, some that focus on very small details. Due to a last-minute change in the ship’s officer line-up, iceberg lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee were making do without a pair of binoculars that an officer transferred off the ship in Southampton had left in a cupboard onboard, unbeknownst to any of the ship’s crew. Fleet, who survived the sinking, insisted at a subsequent inquiry that he could have identified the iceberg in time to avert disaster if he had owned the binoculars.
Less than an hour before the Titanic struck the iceberg, wireless operator Cyril Evans on California, located just 20 miles to the north, tried to contact operator Jack Philips on the Titanic to warn him of pack ice in the area. “Shut up, shut up, you’re jamming my signal,” Philips replied. “I’m busy.” The Titanic’s wireless system had broken down for several hours earlier that day, and Philips was clearing a backlog of personal messages that passengers had requested to be sent to family and friends in the USA. ieltsxpress
Nevertheless, Captain Smith had maintained the ship’s speed of 22 knots despite multiple earlier warnings of ice ahead. It has been suggested that Smith was under pressure to make headlines by arriving early in New York, but maritime historians such as Richard Howell have countered this perception, noting that Smith was simply following common procedure at the time, and not behaving recklessly.
One of the strongest explanations for the severe loss of life has been the fact that the Titanic did not carry enough lifeboats for everyone on board. Maritime regulations at the time tied lifeboat capacity to the ship size, not to the number of passengers on board. This meant that the Titanic, with room for 1,178 of its 2,222 passengers, actually surpassed the Board of Trade’s requirement that it carry lifeboats for 1,060 of its passengers. ieltsxpress small logo
Nevertheless, with lifeboats being lowered less than half full in many cases, and only 712 passengers surviving despite a two-and-a-half-hour window of opportunity, more lifeboats would not have guaranteed more survivors in the absence of better training and preparation. Many passengers were confused about where to go after the order to launch lifeboats was given; a lifeboat drill scheduled for earlier on the same day that the Titanic struck the iceberg was cancelled by Captain Smith to allow passengers to attend church.

Section 2

Answer and Explanation

Questions 1-6

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer

Time	Person’s	Position	Action
11:39 p.m	(1) ___________	(2) ___________	A reported sighting of the iceberg
(3) ___________	Andrews	Ship’s designer	Reported how long the Titanic could stay afloat
12:15 a.m	Smith	Captain	Ordered (4)___________ to be released
2:17 a.m	Bride & Philips	(5) ___________	Relayed final (6) ___________

Ques:1

Answer: FLEET
Supporting statement: “......At 11:39 p.m. on the evening of Sunday, 14 April 1912, lookouts Frederick Fleet .......”
Keywords: evening, fleet
Keyword Location: para A, line 1
Explanation: It is given that at 11:39 PM in the evening, the people were Frederick fleet and Reiginald on the titanic.

Ques:2

Answer: LOOKOUT
Supporting statement: “......lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee on the forward mast of the Titanic sighted an eerie.......”
Keywords: lookouts, sighted
Keyword Location: para A, line 1
Explanation: It is given that the lookouts were Fredrick and Reginald who looked out an eerie coming towards the ship.

Ques:3

Answer: MIDNIGHT/12.00 AM
Supporting statement: “......The ship’s designer, Thomas Andrews, carried out visual inspection of the ship’s damage and informed Captain Smith at midnight that the ship would sink in less than two hours........”
Keywords: visual, inspection
Keyword Location: para B, line 3
Explanation: after looking out to the damage the iceberg had done, Andrews informed Smith that the ship will sink in less than two hours. It was at midnight when this happened.

Ques:4

Answer: LIFEBOATS
Supporting statement: “......By 12:30 a.m., the lifeboats were being filled with women and children, after Smith had given the command for them to be uncovered and swung out 15 minutes earlier.......”
Keywords: lifeboats, command
Keyword Location: para B, line 6
Explanation: It is given that around 12:30 PM they were ordered to take out the lifeboats and fill them with women and children.

Ques:5

Answer: WIRELESS OPERATIONS
Supporting statement: “......wireless operator Cyril Evans on California, located just 20 miles to the north, tried to contact operator Jack Philips.......”
Keywords: wireless, contact
Keyword Location: para E, line 1
Explanation: It is given that the wireless operator Cyril tried to contact the operator when he was only 20 miles to the north side from the ship.

Ques:6

Answer: (WIRELESS) MESSAGE
Supporting statement: “......Jack Philips tapped out their last wireless message after being relieved of duty as the ship’s wireless operator, and the ship’s band stopped playing........”
Keywords: wireless, operators
Keyword Location: para C, line 4
Explanation: It is given that Jack was the one who tapped out the last wireless message. Because after that he was relieved from wireless duty.

Questions 7-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 7—13 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE – if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE – if the statement contradicts with the information
NOT GIVEN – if there is no information on this

The binoculars for the men on watch had been left in a crew locker in Southampton.

Answer: FALSE
Supporting statement: “......pair of binoculars that an officer transferred off the ship in Southampton had left in a cupboard onboard......”
Keywords: transferred, cupboard
Keyword Location: para D, line 4
Explanation: The pair of binoculars were not left in the crew locker but they were left in a cupboard.

The missing binoculars were the major factor leading to the collision with the iceberg.

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: there has been no instance in the passage that mention that the missing binoculars led to the collision with the iceberg.

Philips missed notification about the ice from Evans because the Titanic’s wireless system was not functioning at the time.

Answer: FALSE
Supporting statement: “......, tried to contact operator Jack Philips on the Titanic to warn him of pack ice in the area. “Shut up, shut up, you’re jamming my signal,” Philips replied. “I’m busy.”.......”
Keywords: pack, jamming
Keyword Location: para E, line 2
Explanation: It is given that Jack was approached from the wireless device warning him for the iceberg. To which he replied “he was busy”.

Captain Smith knew there was ice in the area.

Answer: TRUE
Supporting statement: “.......Nevertheless, Captain Smith had maintained the ship’s speed of 22 knots despite multiple earlier warnings of ice ahead.......”
Keywords: maintained, warnings
Keyword Location: para E, line 7
Explanation: It is given that the captain was informed of the iceberg coming ahead and he was acting mindfully after that.

Howell believed the captain’s failure to reduce speed was an irresponsible action.

Answer: FALSE
Supporting statement: “.......Richard Howell have countered this perception, noting that Smith was simply following common procedure at the time, and not behaving recklessly.......”
Keywords: perception, procedure
Keyword Location: para E, line 9
Explanation: It is given that Richard Howell saw that the captain is not decreasing the speed. But he knew that it was a common procedure and not an irresponsible action.

The Titanic was able to seat more passengers in lifeboats than the Board of Trade required.

Answer: TRUE
Supporting statement: “......Titanic, with room for 1,178 of its 2,222 passengers, actually surpassed the Board of Trade’s requirement that it carry lifeboats for 1,060 of its passengers......”
Keywords: room, requirements
Keyword Location: para F, line 4
Explanation: It is given that the Titanic had room for 1178 of its passengers compared to 1060 passengers suggested by board of trade. Hence it is clear that Titanic had more seats than the board of trade’s requirements.

A lifeboat drill would have saved more lives

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: It is not mentioned in the passage that a lifeboat drill could have saved more life. It could have saved but it is not given in the passage.

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