A History of Fingerprinting Reading Answers

Dec 23, 2022

A History of Fingerprinting Reading Answers is a topic which elaborates about fingerprinting as a mode of personal identification. The given IELTS topic has been taken from the book called “Get Ready for IELTS - Reading: IELTS 4+ (A2+) (Collins English for IELTS)”. There are 14 questions total in the the topic called A History of Fingerprinting Reading Answers, which the candidates should attempt within the given time span of 20 minutes. The topic is divided into three different types of questions, which are, choose the correct heading, no more than two words, and True/False/Not Given. The candidates should read thoroughly the IELTS reading passage in order to recognize the synonyms and identify the keywords and for answering the questions below. Similar kinds of topics like Seaweed for A History of Fingerprinting Reading Answers are included in the IELTS reading practice papers, which the candidates can take into their consideration for performing a good score in this section.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

A History of Fingerprinting Reading Answers

To detectives, the answers lie at the end of our fingers. Fingerprinting offers an accurate and infallible means of personal identification. The ability to identify a person from a mere fingerprint is a powerful tool in the fight against crime. It is the most commonly used forensic evidence, often outperforming other methods of identification. These days, older methods of ink fingerprinting, which could take weeks, have given way to newer, faster techniques like fingerprint laser scanning, but the principles stay the same. No matter which way you collect fingerprint evidence, every single person’s print is unique. So, what makes our fingerprints different from our neighbour’s?
A good place to start is to understand what fingerprints are and how they are created. A fingerprint is the arrangement of skin ridges and furrows on the tips of the fingers. This ridged skin develops fully during foetal development, as the skin cells grow in the mother’s womb. These ridges are arranged into patterns and remain the same throughout the course of a person’s life. Other visible human characteristics, like weight and height, change over time whereas fingerprints do not. The reason why every fingerprint is unique is that when a baby’s genes combine with environmental influences, such as temperature, it affects the way the ridges on the skin grow. It makes the ridges develop at different rates, buckling and bending into patterns. As a result, no two people end up having the same fingerprints. Even identical twins possess dissimilar fingerprints.
It is not easy to map the journey of how the unique quality of the fingerprint came to be discovered. The moment in history it happened is not entirely dear. However, the use of fingerprinting can be traced back to some ancient civilisations, such as Babylon and China, where thumbprints were pressed onto clay tablets to confirm business transactions. Whether people at this time actually realised the full extent of how fingerprints were important for identification purposes is another matter altogether. One cannot be sure if the act was seen as a means to confirm identity or a symbolic gesture to bind a contract, where giving your fingerprint was like giving your word.
Despite this uncertainty, there are those who made a significant contribution towards the analysis of fingerprinting. History tells us that a 14th century Persian doctor made an early statement that no two fingerprints are alike. Later, in the 17th century, Italian physician Marcello Malpighi studied the distinguishing shapes of loops and spirals in fingerprints. In his honour, the medical world later named a layer of skin after him. It was, however, an employee for the East India Company, William Herschel, who came to see the true potential of fingerprinting. He took fingerprints from the local people as a form of signature for contracts, in order to avoid fraud. His fascination with fingerprints propelled him to study them for the next twenty years. He developed the theory that fingerprints were unique to an individual and did not change at all over a lifetime. In 1880 Henry Faulds suggested that fingerprints could be used to identify convicted criminals. He wrote to Charles Darwin for advice, and the idea was referred on to Darwin’s cousin, Sir Francis Galton. Galton eventually published an in-depth study of fingerprint science in 1892.
Although the fact that each person has a totally unique fingerprint pattern had been well documented and accepted for a long time, this knowledge was not exploited for criminal identification until the early 20th century. In the past branding, tattooing and maiming had been used to mark the criminal for what he was. In some countries, thieves would have their hands cut off. France branded criminals with the fleur-de-lis symbol. The Romans tattooed mercenary soldiers to stop them from becoming deserters.
For many years police agencies in the Western world were reluctant to use fingerprinting, much preferring the popular method of the time, the Bertillon System, where dimensions of certain body parts were recorded to identify a criminal. The turning point was in 1903 when a prisoner by the name of Will West was admitted into Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. Amazingly, Will had almost the same Bertillon measurements as another prisoner residing at the very same prison, whose name happened to be William West. It was only their fingerprints that could tell them apart. From that point on, fingerprinting became the standard for criminal identification.
Fingerprinting was useful in identifying people with a history of crime and who were listed on a database. However, in situations where the perpetrator was not on the database and a crime had no witnesses, the system fell short. Fingerprint chemistry is a new technology that can work alongside traditional fingerprinting to find more clues than ever before. From organic compounds left behind on a print, a scientist can tell if the person is a child, an adult, a mature person or a smoker, and much more. It seems, after all these years, fingers continue to point the way.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Questions 1-6:

Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-G from the list of headings below.
(Guide: The candidate has to choose correct headings for the given questions for paragraph B-G, from the list of headings given below the questions. You have to write the correct answers in the boxes numbered 1-6 in your answer sheets.)

List of Headings

Key people that made a difference
An alternative to fingerprinting
The significance of prints
How to identify a criminal
Patterns in the making
Family connections
Exciting new developments
A strange coincidence
Punishing a criminal
An uncertain past

Paragraph B

Answer: V
Supporting Sentence: These ridges are arranged into patterns and remain the same throughout the course of a person’s life.
Keyword: patterns, arranged
Keyword Location: Paragraph B
Explanation: The paragraph B in the passage implies that at the time of foetal development, the ridges skin develops fully as the skin cells starts growing inside the womb of a mother. These particular ridges are arranged accordingly in pattern wise and it remained as it is throughout a person’s life.

Paragraph C

Answer: x
Supporting Sentence: However, the use of fingerprinting can be traced back to some ancient civilisations, such as Babylon and China, where thumbprints were pressed onto clay tablets to confirm business transactions.
Keyword: traced back
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: The paragraph C states that fingerprinting, on the other hand, may be traced back to some ancient civilisations, such as Babylon and China, where thumbprints were pressed into clay tablets to validate economic transactions. It is debatable whether individuals at the time realised the full extent to which fingerprints were used for identification purposes.

Paragraph D

Answer: i
Supporting Sentence: “He wrote to Charles Darwin for advice, and the idea was referred on to Darwin’s cousin, Sir Francis Galton. Galton eventually published an in-depth study of fingerprint science in 1892.”
Keyword: Charles Darwin, Sir Francis Galton
Keyword Location: Paragraph D
Explanation: In paragraph D, it discusses the main historical figures who had a vital influence in fingerprint analysis. To validate our response, we can go to paragraph D, line number 15th states that it was written to Charles Darwin for help, and the proposal was forwarded on to Darwin's cousin, Sir Francis Galton. In 1892, Galton released an in-depth examination of fingerprint science.

Paragraph E

Answer: iv
Supporting Sentence: “In the past branding, tattooing and maiming had been used to mark the criminal for what he was.”
Keyword: criminal
Keyword Location: Paragraph E
Explanation: The paragraph E in the above passage depicts that branding, tattooing, and maiming were previously employed to mark the criminal’s identification and whereabouts.

Paragraph F

Answer: viii
Supporting Sentence: “Amazingly, Will had almost the same Bertillon measurements as another prisoner residing at the very same prison, whose name happened to be William West”
Keyword: same, amazingly, happened to be
Keyword Location: Paragraph F
Explanation: The paragraph F in the above passage suggests that Will had nearly the same Bertillon dimensions as another inmate at the same institution, William West."

Paragraph G

Answer: vii
Supporting Sentence: Fingerprint chemistry is a new technology that can work alongside traditional fingerprinting to find more clues than ever before.
Keyword: new technology
Keyword Location: Paragraph G
Explanation: Paragraph G implies that fingerprint chemistry is a new methodology which have the abilities to work aside old fingerprinting method, in order to trace more clues. A scientist can remarks that if the what kind of personality a person carries be it childish, an adult, a mature person or a smoker, from the earliest organic compounds.

Question 7-9:
Complete the sentences.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
(Guide: In questions 7- 9, we have to complete the sentence and choose just not more than two words from the passage to fill in the answers in boxes numbering 7- 9)

Unlike other (human) characteristics that you can see, fingerprints never change.

Answer: (human) characteristics
Supporting Sentence: “Other visible human characteristics, like weight and height, change over time whereas fingerprints do not.”
Keyword: human characteristics
Keyword Location: Paragraph B
Explanations: The paragraph B in the passage states that the weight and height, for example, are observable human features that fluctuate over time, although fingerprints do not.

Although genetically the same, identical twins do not share the same fingerprints.

Answer: identical twins
Supporting Sentence: Even identical twins possess dissimilar fingerprints.
Keyword:identical twins
Keyword Location: Paragraph B
Explanations: The paragraph B in the passage examines that nobody has the same fingerprints. Even identical twins have unique fingerprints.

A fingerprint was a substitute for a signature in Indian contracts.

Answer: signature
Supporting Sentence: “ He took fingerprints from the local people as a form of signature for contracts”
Keyword: signature
Keyword Location: Paragraph D
Explanations: The paragraph D in the passage states that in case of a substitute, a fingerprint was taken for the purpose of contracts.

Questions 10-14:

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

For questions numbering from 10-14, You have to write:

TRUE	If you find the statement agreeing with the information
FALSE	If you find the statement contradicting the information
NOT GIVEN	If you don’t find any relevant information.

(Guide: First you have to read the IELTS reading sample - A History of Fingerprinting, Then you have to read the question and answers accordingly.)

Fingerprinting is the only effective method for identifying criminals.

Answer: FALSE
Supporting Sentence: The ability to identify a person from a mere fingerprint is a powerful tool in the fight against crime.
Keyword: fingerprinting
Keyword Location: Paragraph A
Explanation: Paragraph A in the passagw examines that fingerprinting is a reliable and infallible method of identifying people. The capacity to identify a person based solely on a fingerprint is a valuable tool in the fight against crime. Therefore, the statement is a FALSE one.

The ridges and patterns that makeup fingerprints develop before birth.

Answer: TRUE
Supporting Sentence: This ridged skin develops fully during foetal development, as the skin cells grow in the mother’s womb.
Keyword: ridged skin
Keyword Location: Paragraph B
Explanation: The paragraph B in the passage depicts that as the skin cells proliferate in the mother's womb, this ridged skin matures entirely. So, the statement is regarded as TRUE.

Malpighi conducted his studies in Italy.

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: No justified information in order to prove the validation of the said sentence.

Roman soldiers were tattooed to prevent them from committing violent crimes.

Answer: FALSE
Supporting Sentence: “The Romans tattooed mercenary soldiers to stop them from becoming deserters.”
Keyword: romans
Keyword Location: Paragraph E
Explanation: The paragraph E in the passage states that tattoo are made on Roman soldiers’ bodies in order to prohibit them from betraying and leaving from the army troops. So, it is a FALSE statement.

Fingerprint chemistry can identify if a fingerprint belongs to an elderly person.

Answer: TRUE
Supporting Sentence: “From organic compounds left behind on a print, a scientist can tell if the person is a child, an adult, a mature person or a smoker, and much more.”
Keyword: fingerprint
Keyword Location: Paragraph G
Explanation: Paragraph G in the passage depicts that a scientist can detect if a person is a youngster, an adult, a mature person, or a smoker based on organic components left behind on a print, and much more. Therefore, the assertion is a TRUE one.

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