Classifying Societies Reading Answers

Dec 13, 2022

Classifying Societies Reading Answers is a reading passage in IELTS that proposes a categorisation of living beings. This IELTS reading passage comprises a total of 13 questions that are to answered within a time frame of 20 minutes. Classifying Societies Reading Answers comprises of question types like; true/false/not given, and no more than two words. Questions like true/false/not given in IELTS reading passage can only be solved with appropriate understanding of the cases presented in it. No more than two words can be solved with the use and implementation of keywords with the presented cues in the questions. To practice more such topics candidates can refer to IELTS reading practice papers.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Classifying Societies Reading Answers

Although humans have established many types of societies throughout history, sociologists and anthropologists tend to classify different societies according to the degree to which different groups within a society have unequal access to advantages such as resources, prestige or power, and usually refer to four basic types of societies. From least to most socially Complex they are clans, tribes, chiefdoms and states.

Clan

These are small-scale societies of hunters and gatherers, generally of fewer than 100 people, who move seasonally to exploit wild (undomesticated) food resources. Most surviving hunter-gatherer groups are of this kind, such as the Hadza of Tanzania or the San of southern Africa. Clan members are generally kinsfolk, related by descent or marriage. Clans lack formal leaders, so there are no marked economic differences or disparities in status among their members. Because clans are composed of mobile groups of hunter-gatherers, their sites consist mainly of seasonally occupied camps, and other smaller and more specialised sites. Among the latter are kill or butchery sites—locations where large mammals are killed and sometimes butchered— and work sites, where tools are made or other specific activities carried out. The base camp of such a group may give evidence of rather insubstantial dwellings or temporary shelters, along with the debris of residential occupation.

Tribe

These are generally larger than mobile hunter-gatherer groups, but rarely number more than a few thousand, and their diet or subsistence is based largely on cultivated plants and domesticated animals. Typically, they are settled farmers, but they may be nomadic with a very different, mobile economy based on the intensive exploitation of livestock. These are generally multi-community societies, with the individual communities integrated into the larger society through kinship ties. Although some tribes have officials and even a "capital" or seat of government, such officials lack the economic base necessary for effective use of The typical settlement pattern for tribes is one of settled agricultural homesteads or villages. Characteristically, no one settlement dominates any of the others in the region. Instead, the archaeologist finds evidence for isolated, permanently occupied houses or for permanent villages. Such villages may be made up of a collection of free-standing houses, like those of the first farms of the Danube valley in Europe. Or they may be clusters of buildings grouped together, for example, the pueblos of the American Southwest, and the early farming village or small town of (catalhoyuk in modern Turkey.

Chiefdom

These operate on the principle of ranking—differences in social status between people. Different lineages (a lineage is a group claiming descent from a common ancestor) are graded on a scale of prestige, and the senior lineage, and hence the society as a whole, is governed by a chief. Prestige and rank are determined by how closely related one is to the chief, and there is no true stratification into classes. The role of the chief is crucial. Often, there is local specialisation in craft products, and surpluses of these and of foodstuffs are periodically paid as obligation to the chief. He uses these to maintain his retainers, and may use them for redistribution to his subjects. The chiefdom generally has a center of power, often with temples, residences of the chief and his retainers, and craft specialists. Chiefdoms vary greatly in size, but the range is generally between about 5000 and 20,000 persons.

Early State

These preserve many of the features of chiefdoms, but the ruler (perhaps a king or sometimes a queen) has explicit authority to establish laws and also to enforce them by the use of a stand-ing army. Society no longer depends totally upon kin relationships: it is now stratified into dif-ferent classes. Agricultural workers and the poorer urban dwellers form the lowest classes, with the craft specialists above, and the priests and kinsfolk of the ruler higher still. The functions of the ruler are often separated from those of the priest: palace is distinguished from temple. The society is viewed as a territory owned by the ruling lineage and populated by tenants who have an obligation to pay taxes. The central capital houses a bureaucratic administration of officials; one of their principal purposes is to collect revenue (often in the form of taxes and tolls) and distribute it to government, army and craft specialists. Many early states developed complex redistribution systems to support these essential services.

This rather simple social typology, set out by Elman Service and elaborated by William Sanders and Joseph Marino, can be criticised, and it should not be used unthinkingly. Never-theless, if we are seeking to talk about early societies, we must use words and hence concepts to do so. Service’s categories provide a good framework to help organise our thoughts.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 1-7:
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-7 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

There’s little economic difference between members of a clan.

Answer: True
Supporting Sentence: The 'Clan' group possessed no formal leader, which led to no difference in the status of the people.
Keyword: no difference, status
Keyword Location: Paragraph B- 6th and 7th line
Explanation: The Clan had no leader because all of its members were related to one another through marriage or ancestry, and as a result, it had no royal status, which no longer existed.

The farmers of a tribe grow a wide range of plants.

Answer: Not Given
Explanation: No relevant information was found in the reading passage, thus the answer is not given.

One settlement is more important than any other settlement in a tribe.

Answer: False
Supporting Sentence: No one settlement made larger importance than the other one in a particular region.
Keyword: dominates, no one settlement
Keyword Location: Paragraph E- 3rd and 4th Line
Explanation: There were nomadic farmers, hunter-gatherers, and other types of people in the "tribe" group; none of them dominated the others.

A member’s status in a chiefdom is determined by how much land he owns.

Answer: False
Supporting Sentence: The status of a person was determined by their close relationship with the chief.
Keyword: Prestige, rank, closely related
Keyword Location: Paragraph F- 5th and 6th line
Explanation: The degree of a person's closeness to the chief dictated their rank and prestige, making the chief's position the most significant.

Some people craft goods in chiefdoms.

Answer: True
Supporting Sentence: The local specialization some people in the 'Chiefdoms' group possessed was of crafting goods.
Keywords: local specialization, craft products
Keyword Location: Paragraph G- 1st and 2nd line
Explanation: Many members learned how to craft, and any excess items they produced were offered to the Chief.

The king keeps the order of a state by keeping a military.

Answer: True
Supporting Sentence: The ruler or the king had the authority to make various laws and orders and enforce them with the aid of the army or military.
Keywords: king, army
Keyword Location: Paragraph H- 2nd and 3rd line
Explanation:The king had the authority to impose regulations and laws for the good of society and to do so with the aid of the troops.

Bureaucratic officers receive higher salaries than other members.

Answer: Not Given
Supporting Sentence: The role that the Bureaucratic officers performed was to collect revenue.
Keyword: Bureaucratic officers, collect revenue
Keyword Location: Paragraph H- 13th and 14th line
Explanation: The officers' job was to collect money from taxes and tolls and distribute it to the government, army, and artisans.

Questions 8-13

Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.

What is made at the clan work sites?

Answer: Tools
Supporting Sentence: The 'Clan' group had various sites where tools were made and activities related to the tools were done.
Keywords: tools, specified activities
Keyword Location: Paragraph C- 6th and 7th line
Explanation: Huge mammals were hunted in certain regions, and at the same spot, tools were also built to make the hunting process more efficient.

What is the other way of life for tribes besides settled farming?

Answer: Nomadic
Supporting Sentence: Other than the settled farming, other ways of life existing in the tribe were Nomadic.
Keyword: Nomadic, Settled farming
Keyword Location: Paragraph D- 2nd paragraph, 1st, and 2nd line
Explanation: The 'tribe' group's members were nomadic farmers with a distinct isolated economy.

How are Catalhoyuk’s housing units arranged?

Answer: Grouped (together)
Supporting Sentence: The cluster of buildings in Catalhoyuk’s town were all grouped.
Keywords: Catalhoyuk, grouped together
Keyword Location: Paragraph E- 8th and 10th line
Explanation: It is conclusive from the reading passage that in the town Catalhoyuk, designed buildings were clustered and grouped.

What does a chief give to his subjects as rewards besides crafted goods?

Answer: Foodstuffs
Supporting Sentence: The surpluses of craft products and foodstuffs were periodically paid to the chief.
Keywords: foodstuffs, redistribution
Keyword Location: Paragraph G- 2nd and 4th line
Explanation: It can be concluded fron the reading passage and fro the extract given above; there have been ample amount of foodstuffs and crafted products. These were maintaned by the chief and he was the responsible person for redistribution.

What is the largest possible population of a chiefdom?

Answer: 20,000
Supporting Sentence: Chiefdom possessed a great size but the population size was no more than 20,000 people.
Keywords: size, 20000
Keyword Location: Paragraph G- 7th and 8th line
Explanation: Compared to other groups, chiefdoms were noticeably larger, but their populations ranged from 5000 to 20000.

Which group of people is at the bottom of an early state but higher than the farmers?

Answer: Craft Specialists
Supporting Sentence: The agricultural workers and the poorer dwellers were categorized into the lower class, the craft specialists above them, and the priests and kinsfolk of the ruler were of the high class.
Keyword: Craft Specialists, different classes
Keyword Location: Paragraph H- 6th and 7th line
Explanation: Agriculture labourers and other lower-class residents were designated as the lower class, followed by craft specialists above them, and priests and the ruler's kin as the high class. However, society was not divided into separate classes or standards.

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