African Nomadic Tribes Reading Answers

Aug 13, 2024

African Nomadic tribes Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. African Nomadic tribes Reading Answers has a total of 7 IELTS questions in total. You have to fill in the blanks with correct answers in the questions.

Candidates should read the IELTS Reading passage thoroughly to recognise synonyms, identify keywords, and answer the questions below. IELTS Reading practice papers, which feature topics such as African Nomadic tribes Reading Answers. Candidates can use IELTS reading practice questions and answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

Section 1

AFRICAN NOMADIC TRIBES

The Berbers: The Sahara was once grassy woodland until human activity and a changing climate turned it into the immense desert we know today. The Berbers were the only people who decided to call it home. The earliest evidence we have of the Berbers shows that they descended from Stone Age tribes that lived around the coast of North Africa sometime around 5,000 BCE. As these tribes of people united by similar languages mingled together, they established a common identity that became the basis for the Berber culture.

The Tuareg: They live mainly in true desert country, whereas the southerners live primarily in steppe and savanna. The southerners breed zebu cattle and camels, some of which are sold to the northern Tuareg. The raiding of caravans and travellers was important in pre-European times, as was caravan trading, which declined with the introduction of motor vehicles. Droughts across southern Mauritania, Senegal, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad in the 1970s and '80s both reduced the numbers of the southern Tuareg and eroded their traditional pastoral way of life.

Timbuktu: It is about 15km north of the River Niger. The city of Timbuktu is a city in Mali, West Africa. It is home to the prestigious Qur'anic Sankore University and other madrasas and was an intellectual and spiritual capital and centre for the propagation of Islam throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its three great mosques, Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia, recall Timbuktu's golden age. Although continuously restored, these monuments are today under threat from desertification. It is also at the intersection of an east-west and a north-south Trans-Saharan trade across the Sahara to Araouane.

It was important historically as an entrepot (warehouse or depot) for rock salt from Taoudenni. Its geographical setting made it a natural meeting point for nearby African populations and nomadic Berber and Arab peoples from the north. Its long history as a trading outpost that linked West Africa with Berber, Arab, and Jewish traders throughout North Africa, and thereby indirectly with traders from Europe, has given it a fabled status, and in the West, it was for long a metaphor for exotic, distant lands: "from here to Timbuktu." Timbuktu's long-lasting contribution to Islamic and world civilization is scholarship. By the fourteenth century, important books were written and copied in Timbuktu, establishing the city as the centre of a significant written tradition in Africa.

Questions 15-21

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS/ OR A NUMBER for each answer.

15. .... is Timbuktu's long-lasting contribution to Islamic and world civilization.

Answer: SCHOLARSHIP

Supporting statement: “......Timbuktu's long-lasting contribution to Islamic and world civilization is scholarship.......”

Keywords: contribution, scholarship

Keyword Location: para 3, Line 12

Explanation: The text explicitly mentions that the long-lasting contribution of Timbuktu to Islamic and world civilization is "scholarship." This refers to the city’s historical role as a centre for learning, where important books were written and copied. This contribution is significant because it established Timbuktu as a key intellectual hub in Africa.

16. The name of the tribe which inhabited the ……. desert is the Berbers.

Answer: SAHARA

Supporting statement: “......The Berbers were the only people who decided to call it [the Sahara] home.......”

Keywords: desert, Berbers

Keyword Location: para 1, Line 2

Explanation: The passage identifies the Sahara as the desert inhabited by the Berbers. It states that the Berbers were the only people who chose to live in the Sahara Desert after it transformed from grassy woodland to an immense desert.

17. Timbuktu was an intellectual and spiritual capital and centre for the …....

Answer: PROPAGATION OF ISLAM

Supporting statement: “.....The city of Timbuktu is a city in Mali, West Africa. It is home to the prestigious Qur'anic Sankore University and other madrasas and was an intellectual and spiritual capital.......”

Keywords: capital, propagation

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 2-4

Explanation: The passage describes Timbuktu as an intellectual and spiritual capital that played a central role in the propagation of Islam across Africa during the 15th and 16th centuries.

18. The Berbers descended from Stone Age tribes that lived around the coast

Of ………..

Answer: NORTH AFRICA

Supporting statement: “.....The earliest evidence we have of the Berbers shows that they descended from Stone Age tribes that lived around the coast of North Africa sometime around 5,000 BCE.......”

Keywords: tribes, coast

Keyword Location: para 1, Line 3-4

Explanation: The passage provides specific historical information about the origin of the Berbers, stating that they descended from Stone Age tribes that lived around the coast of North Africa.

19. Historically, Timbuktu is known as an …….. from Taoudenni.

Answer: ENTREPOT FOR ROCKSALT

Supporting statement: “.....It was important historically as an entrepot (warehouse or depot) for rock-salt from Taoudenni.......”

Keywords: entrepot, rock-salt

Keyword Location: para 3, Line 6

Explanation: The passage states that Timbuktu was historically known as an entrepot (a place where goods are stored or deposited) for rock salt from Taoudenni. This specific role of Timbuktu in the trade of rock salt explains its historical significance and provides the correct answer.

20. .... eroded the traditional pastoral way of life of the Tuareg.

Answer: DROUGHTS

Supporting statement: “.....Droughts across southern Mauritania, Senegal, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad in the 1970s and '80s both reduced the numbers of the southern Tuareg and eroded their traditional pastoral way of life.......”

Keywords: eroded, traditional

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 8-9

Explanation: The passage explains that droughts in the 1970s and '80s had a devastating impact on the Tuareg people, particularly those living in the southern regions of Africa. These droughts not only reduced their population but also severely impacted their traditional way of life.

21. Timbuktu is at the …….. east-west and a north-south Trans-Saharan trade across the Sahara to Araouane.

Answer: INTERSECTION

Supporting statement: “......It is also at the intersection of an east-west and a north-south Trans-Saharan trade across the Sahara to Araouane......”

Keywords: intersection, east-west

Keyword Location: para 3, Line 7

Explanation: The passage mentions that Timbuktu is located at the "intersection" of two major Trans-Saharan trade routes—one running east-west and the other north-south. This strategic location made it a significant trading hub, which explains why "intersection" is the correct answer.

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