An Important Language Development Reading Answer

Feb 4, 2023

An Important Language Development Reading Answer contains a write up about the Cuneiform. An Important Language Development Reading Answer contains a total of 8 paragraphs. Related to the paragraphs are 13 questions. Candidates in this IELTS Section will be shown various question types with clear instructions. The paragraphs contain information about development of language through cuneiform signs. The excavations and interpretations made have also been mentioned.

An Important Language Development Reading Answer is an IELTS Reading passage which comprises two types of questions:complete the sentence and true/false and not given. Candidates are required to read each paragraph attentively and thoroughly. The interpretation of each paragraph is must. An overall theme of the paragraph is required to answer the questions. The important information must be remembered. Some information might be missing in the paragraphs which must be answered as not given. To gain proficiency, candidates can practice from IELTS reading practice test.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

An Important Language Development Reading Answer

Cuneiform, the world’s first known system of handwriting, originated some 6.000 years ago in Summer in what is now southern Iraq. It was most often inscribed on palm sized, rectangular clay tablets measuring several centimeters across, although occasionally, larger tablets or cylinders were used. Clay was an excellent medium for writing. Other surfaces which have been employed - for example, parchment, papyrus and paper - are not long - lasting and are easily destroyed by fire and water. But clay has proved to be resistant to those particular kinds of damage.
The word ‘cuneiform’ actually refers to the marks or signs inscribed in the clay. The original cuneiform signs consisted of a series of lines - triangular, vertical, diagonal and horizontal. Sumerian writers would impress these lines into the wet clay with a stylus - a long, thin, pointed instrument which looked somewhat like a pen. Oddly, the signs were often almost too small to see with the naked eye. Cuneiform signs were used for the writing of at least a dozen languages. This is similar to how the Latin alphabet is used today for writing English, French, Spanish and German for example.
Before the development of cuneiform, tokens were used by the Sumerians to record certain information. For example, they might take small stones and use them as tokens or representations of something else, like a goat. A number of tokens, then, might mean a herd of goats. These tokens might then be placed in a cloth container and provided to a buyer as a receipt for a transaction, perhaps five tokens for five animals. It was not that different from what we do today when we buy some bread and the clerk gives us back a piece of paper with numbers on it to confirm the exchange.
By the 4th century BCE, the Sumerians had adapted this system to a form of writing. They began putting tokens in a container resembling an envelope, and now made of clay instead of cloth. They then stamped the outside to indicate the number and type of tokens inside. A person could then ‘read’ what was stamped on the container and know what was inside.
Gradually, Sumerians developed symbols for words. When first developed, each symbol looked like the concrete thing it represented. For example, an image which resembled the drawing of a sheep meant just that. Then another level of abstraction was introduced when symbols were developed for intangible ideas such as ‘female’ of ‘hot’ or ‘God’. Cuneiform, in other words, evolved from a way used primarily to track and store information into a way to represent the world symbolically. Over the centuries, the marks became ever more abstract, finally evolving into signs that looked nothing like what they referred to, just as the letters ‘h-o-u-s-e’ have no visual connection to the place we live in. At this last stage in the evolution of cuneiform, the signs took the form of triangles, which became common cuneiform signs.
As the marks became more abstract, the system became more efficient because there were fewer marks a ‘reader’ needed to learn. But cuneiform also became more complex because society itself was becoming more complex, so there were more ideas and concepts that needed to be expressed. However, most linguists and historians agree cuneiform developed primarily as a tool for accounting. Of the cuneiform tablets that have been discovered, excavated and translated, about 75 percent contain this type of practical information, rather than artistic or imaginative work.
Cuneiform writing was used for thousands of years, but it eventually ceased to be used in everyday life. In fact, it died out and remained unintelligible for almost 2.000 years. In the late 19th century, a British army officer, Henry Rawlinson, discovered cuneiform inscriptions which had been carved in the surface of rocks in the Behistun mountains in what is present-day Iran. Rawlinson made impressions of the marks on large pieces of paper, as he balanced dangerously on the surrounding rocks.
Rawlinson took his copies home to Britain and studied them for years to determine what each line stood for, and what each group of symbols meant. He found that in the writing on those particular rocks every word was repeated three times in three languages: Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. Since the meanings in these languages were already known to linguists, he could thus translate the cuneiform. Eventually, he fully decoded the cuneiform marks and he discovered that they described the life of Darius, a king of the Persian Empire in the 5th century BCE.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 1-5

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

In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet, write

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

Cuneiform tablets were produced in different shapes and sizes.

Answer: True
Supporting Statement: It was most often inscribed on palm sized, rectangular clay tablets measuring several centimeters across, although occasionally, larger tablets or cylinders were used.
Keywords: Cuneiform, tablets
Keyword Location: Paragraph A
Explanation: As per paragraph A, it has been mentioned that the world's first system of handwriting, known as Cuneiform, began approximately 6,000 years ago in Summer in what is now southern Iraq. The majority of the time, it was inscribed on clay tablets the size of a palm that were rectangular and few centimeters wide, however occasionally larger tablets or cylinders were also utilized. So, the correct answer is True.

When Sumerian writers marked on the clay tablets, the tablets were dry

Answer: False
Supporting Statement: Sumerian writers would impress these lines into the wet clay with a stylus - a long, thin, pointed instrument which looked somewhat like a pen. Oddly, the signs were often almost too small to see with the naked eye.
Keywords: Sumerian writers, wet clay
Keyword Location: Paragraph B
Explanation: As per paragraph B, it has been clearly stated that a stylus, which was a long, thin, pointed tool that resembled a pen, was used by Sumerian authors to imprint these lines into the moist clay. Strangely, the placards were frequently extremely impossible to see with the naked eye. As the question statement is contrary to the actual information. Thus, the correct answer is False.

Cuneiform was often difficult to read because of its size.

Answer: True
Supporting Statement: Oddly, the signs were often almost too small to see with the naked eye. Cuneiform signs were used for the writing of at least a dozen languages. This is similar to how the Latin alphabet is used today for writing English, French, Spanish and German for example.
Keywords: Too small, naked eye
Keyword Location: Paragraph B
Explanation: As per paragraph B, it has been mentioned that the signs were frequently extremely impossible to see with the human eye. For the writing of at least a dozen languages, cuneiform symbols were employed. This is comparable to how the Latin alphabet is still used to write languages like English, French, Spanish, and German. So, the correct answer is True.

A number of languages adopted cuneiform.

Answer: True
Supporting Statement: This is similar to how the Latin alphabet is used today for writing English, French, Spanish and German for example.
Keywords: Similar, Latin alphabet
Keyword Location: Paragraph B
Explanation: As per paragraph B, it has been mentioned that the signs were frequently extremely impossible to see with the human eye. For the writing of at least a dozen languages, cuneiform symbols were employed. This is comparable to how the Latin alphabet is still used to write languages like English, French, Spanish, and German. So, the correct answer is True.

Cuneiform signs, can be found in some modern alphabets.

Answer: Not Given
Explanation: There has been no relevant information provided in the paragraph associated with the question statement. Thus, the correct answer is Not Given.

Questions 6-13

Complete the notes below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 6-13 on your answer sheet,

The development and translation of cuneiform

Before cuneiform

tokens, for example, 6……………… were often used
The first tokens were kept in containers made of 7………….
tokens were used as a 8………….. to give when selling something

By 4th century BCE

tokens were put in a container that looked like a clay 9………….

Complex, abstract symbols developed

at first, signs looked like what they indicated, e.g. 10……………..
then signs became more abstract
eventually, cuneiform signs shaped like 11………… were developed
According to experts, cuneiform was mainly used for 12……………….

19th-century translation of cuneiform inscriptions by Henry Rawlinson

Rawlinson found cuneiform inscriptions in the Behistun mountains
Rawlinson copied inscriptions onto 13……………………..
Rawlinson realized that each word of the inscriptions appeared in different languages
When translated, Rawlinson found the writings were about a 5th-century BCE king

Question 6)

Answer: Stones
Supporting Statement: Before the development of cuneiform, tokens were used by the Sumerians to record certain information. For example, they might take small stones and use them as tokens or representations of something else, like a goat.
Keywords: Tokens, stones, goat
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: As per paragraph C, it has been mentioned clearly that the Sumerians recorded specific information using tokens prior to the invention of cuneiform. For instance, they would use tiny stones as tokens or representations of other things, such as a goat. So, the correct answer is stones as per the explanation provided.

Question 7)

Answer: Cloth
Supporting Statement: These tokens might then be placed in a cloth container and provided to a buyer as a receipt for a transaction, perhaps five tokens for five animals.
Keywords: Tokens, containers
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: As per paragraph C, it has been clearly mentioned that perhaps five tokens for five animals could be put in a cloth container and given to a buyer as a receipt for the sale. So, the correct answer is cloth as per the explanation provided
and lines of paragraph C.

Question 8)

Answer: Receipt
Supporting Statement: These tokens might then be placed in a cloth container and provided to a buyer as a receipt for a transaction, perhaps five tokens for five animals. It was not that different from what we do today when we buy some bread and the clerk gives us back a piece of paper with numbers on it to confirm the exchange.
Keywords: Tokens, cloth container, receipt
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: As per paragraph C, it has been mentioned that perhaps five tokens for five animals could be put in a fabric container and given to a buyer as a receipt for the sale. It was very similar to what happens now when we buy bread and the cashier hands us a piece of paper with numbers on it to verify the transaction. So, the correct answer is receipt as per the explanation provided.

Question 9)

Answer: Envelope
Supporting Statement: By the 4th century BCE, the Sumerians had adapted this system to a form of writing. They began putting tokens in a container resembling an envelope, and now made of clay instead of cloth. They then stamped the outside
to indicate the number and type of tokens inside.
Keywords: Sumerians, an envelope
Keyword Location: Paragraph D
Explanation: As per paragraph D, it has been mentioned that the Sumerians had converted this system to writing by the fourth century BCE. They started putting tokens in an envelope-shaped container that was now made out of clay as opposed to fabric. The quantity and kind of tokens within were then stamped on the outside. So, the correct answer is envelope as per the explanation provided.

Question 10)

Answer: Sheep
Supporting Statement: Sumerians developed symbols for words. When first developed, each symbol looked like the concrete thing it represented. For example, an image which resembled the drawing of a sheep meant just that.
Keywords: Sumerians, sheep
Keyword Location: Paragraph E
Explanation: As per paragraph E, it has been mentioned that the Sumerians created word symbols. Each sign initially resembled the item it was meant to represent. For instance, a picture that resembled a sketch of a sheep had the same meaning. So, the correct answer is sheep as per the explanation provided in the sand lines of paragraph E.

Question 11)

Answer: Triangles
Supporting Statement: Over the centuries, the marks became ever more abstract, finally evolving into signs that looked nothing like what they referred to, just as the letters ‘h-o-u-s-e’ have no visual connection to the place we live in. At this last
stage in the evolution of cuneiform, the signs took the form of triangles, which became common cuneiform signs.
Keywords: Signs, triangles
Keyword Location: Paragraph E
Explanation: As per paragraph E, it has been mentioned that the markings evolved into signs that looked nothing like the things they were meant to represent throughout the years, just as the letters "h-o-u-s-e" have no visual association with the location we dwell. The final stage of cuneiform development saw the development of triangle-shaped signs, which later became standard cuneiform symbols. So, the correct answer is triangles as per the explanation provided.

Question 12)

Answer: Accounting
Supporting Statement: But cuneiform also became more complex because society itself was becoming more complex, so there were more ideas and concepts that needed to be expressed. However, most linguists and historians agree cuneiform
developed primarily as a tool for accounting.
Keywords: Cuneiform, linguists and historians
Keyword Location: Paragraph F
Explanation: As per paragraph F, it has been mentioned that Cuneiform, also developed in complexity as society did, as there were more ideas and conceptions that needed to be communicated. Cuneiform, however, was largely designed as an accounting instrument, according to the majority of linguists and historians. So, the correct answer is accounting as per the explanation provided.

Question 13)

Answer: Paper
Supporting Statement: In the late 19th century, a British army officer, Henry Rawlinson, discovered cuneiform inscriptions which had been carved in the surface of rocks in the Behistun mountains in what is present-day Iran. Rawlinson made
impressions of the marks on large pieces of paper, as he balanced dangerously on the surrounding rocks.
Keywords: Pieces of paper
Keyword Location: Paragraph G
Explanation: As per paragraph G, it has been clearly stated that cuneiform writings were cut into the surface of rocks in the Behistun highlands in what is now Iran in the late 19th century by Henry Rawlinson, a British army commander. Rawlinson perched precariously on the nearby rocks as he made imprints of the marks on sizable pieces of paper. So, the correct answer is paper as per the explanation provided.

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