Cosmetics in Ancient Past Reading Answers

Aug 19, 2023

Cosmetics in Ancient Past Reading Answers is a topic of the IELTS academic reading topic which includes 13 questions. Cosmetics in Ancient Past Reading Answers is taken from E-ENG-school IELTS Reading Test With Answers Key. The specified IELTS topic generates 2 types of questions: write your answers in boxes on your answer sheet. and choose True, False or Not Given. Candidates should read the IELTS Reading passage thoroughly in order to recognize synonyms, identify keywords, and answer the questions below. Candidates can further enhance their reading skills by going through IELTS reading practice papers available on the website. Candidates can use IELTS reading topics like Cosmetics in Ancient Past Reading Answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Cosmetics in Ancient Past Reading Answers

Since cosmetics and perfumes are still in wide use today, it is interesting to compare the attitudes, customs and beliefs related to them in ancient times to those of our own day and age. Cosmetics and perfumes have been popular since the dawn of civilization; it is shown by the discovery of a great deal of pertinent archeological material, dating from the third millennium BC. Mosaics, perfume glass flasks, stone vessels, ovens, cooking-pots, clay jars, etc., some inscribed by the hand of the artisan . Evidence also appears in the Bible and other classical writings, where it is written that spices and perfumes were prestigious products known throughout the ancient world and coveted by kings and princes. The written and pictorial descriptions, as well as archaeological findings,all show how important body care and aesthetic appearance were in the lives of the ancient people. The chain of evidence spans many centuries, detailing the usage of cosmetics in various cultures from the earliest period of recorded history.
In antiquity, however, at least in the onset, cosmetics served in religious ceremonies and for healing purposes. Cosmetics were also connected with cultic worship and witchcraft: to appease the various gods, fragrant ointments were applied to the statuary images and even to their attendants . From this, in the course of time, developed the custom of personal use, to enhance the beauty of the face and the body, and to conceal defects.
Perfumes and fragrant spices were precious commodities in antiquity, very much in demand, and at times even exceeded silver and gold in value. Therefore they were luxury products, used mainly in the temples and in the homes of the noble and the wealthy. The Judean kings kept them in treasure houses (2 Kings 20:13). And the Queen of Sheba brought to Solomon "camels laden with spices, gold in great quantity and precious stones." (1 Kings 10:2,10). However, within time, the use of cosmetics became the custom of that period. The use of cosmetics became widespread among the lower classes as well as among the wealthy; in the same way they washed the body, so they used to care for the body with substances that softened the skin and anoint it with fragrant oils and ointments.
Facial treatment was highly developed and women devoted many hours to it. They used to spread various scented creams on the face and to apply makeup in vivid and contrasting colors. An Egyptian papyrus from the 16th century BC contains detailed recipes to remove blemishes, wrinkles, and other signs of age. Greek and Roman women would cover their faces in the evening with a "beauty mask" to remove blemishes, which consisted mainly of flour mixed with fragrant spices, leaving it on their face all night. The next morning they would wash it off with asses' milk. The very common creams used by women in the ancient Far East, particularly important in the hot climate and prevalent in that area of the globe, were made up of oils and aromatic scents. Sometimes the oil in these creams was extracted from olives, almonds, gourds, sesame,or from trees and plants; but, for those of limited means, scented animal and fish fats were commonly used.
Women in ancient past commonly put colors around their eyes. Besides beautification, its purpose was also medicinal as covering the sensitive skin of the lids with colored ointments that prevented dryness and eye diseases: the eye-paint repelled the little flies that transmitted eye inflammations. Egyptian women colored the upper eyelid black and the lower one green, and painted the space between the upper lid and the eyebrow gray or blue. The women of Mesopotamia favored yellows and reds. The use of kohl for painting the eyes is mentioned three times in the Bible, always with disapproval by the sages (2 Kings, 9:30; Jeremiah 4:30; Ezekiel 23:40). In contrast, Job names one of his daughters "Keren Happukh" —"horn of eye paint" (Job 42:14)
Great importance was attached to the care for hair in ancient times. Long hair was always considered a symbol of beauty, and kings, nobles and dignitaries grew their hair long and kept it well-groomed and cared for. Women devoted much time to the style of the hair, while not culling, they would apply much care to it by arranging it skillfully in plaits and "building it up" sometimes with the help of wigs. Egyptian women generally wore their hair flowing down to their shoulders or even longer. In Mesopotamia, women cherished long hair as a part of their beauty, and hair flowing down their backs in a thick plait and tied with a ribbon is seen in art. Assyrian women wore their hair shorter, braiding and binding it in a bun at the back . In Ancient Israel, brides would wear their hair long on the wedding day as a sign of their virginity.Ordinary people and slaves, however, usually wore their hair short, mainly for hygienic reasons, since they could not afford to invest in the kind of treatment that long hair required.
From the Bible and Egyptian and Assyrian sources, as well as the words of classical authors, it appears that the centers of the trade in aromatic resins and incense were located in the kingdom of Arabia, and even as far as India, where some of these precious aromatic plants were grown. "Dealers from Sheba and Rammah dealt with you, offering the choicest spices..." (Ezekiel 27:22). The Nabateans functioned as the important middlemen in this trade; Palestine also served as a very important component , as the trade routes crisscrossed the country. It is known that the Egyptian Queen Hatsheput (15th century BC) sent a royal expedition to the Land of Punt (Somalia) in order to bring back myrrh seedlings to plant in her temple. In Assyrian records of tribute and spoils of war, perfumes and resins are mentioned;the text from the time of Tukulti-Ninurta II (890-884 BC) refers to balls of myrrh as part of the tribute brought to the Assyrian king by the Aramaean kings. The trade in spices and perfumes is also mentioned in the Bible as written in Genesis (37:25-26), "Camels carrying gum tragacanth and balm and myrrh".

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Questions 15-21
Reading Passage has seven Paragraphs, A-G
Which Paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter in boxes 15-21 on your answer sheet.

Recipes to conceal facial defects caused by ageing

Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: an Egyptian Papyrus from 16th century contains detailed recipes to remove blemishes, wrinkles and other signs or age.
Keyword: age, recipes
Keyword Location: Section D, 4th line
Explanation: as is evident from the supporting sentence that these recipes, written on an Egyptian papyrus, were for removing or concealing facial defects like blemishes and wrinkles which in modern times are known to have been caused by aging of a person.

Perfumes were presented to conquerors in war

Answer: G
Supporting Sentence: in Assyrian records of tribute and spoils of war, perfumes and resins are mentioned; the text from the time of Tukulti-Ninurta-II (890-884BC) refers to balls of myrrh as part of the tribute brought to Assyrian King by the Aramaean King.
Keyword: perfumes, war
Keyword Location: Section G, 11th Line
Explanation: many records of tribute that were made in history show that perfumes were indeed presented as tribute. The record of Tukulti-Ninurta even goes on point out that balls of myrrh [a gum resin used as perfume] were brought as tribute from one king to another, who has probably won the war because tribute was paid to conquerors.

Long hairs of girls had special meaning in marriage

Answer: F
Supporting Sentence: In Ancient Israel, brides would wear their hair long on the wedding day as sign of their virginity.
Keyword: hair, long, wedding
Keyword Location: Section F, 10th and 11th Line
Explanation: as the supporting sentence states girls in ancient Israel would wear their hair long as this had special meaning during their marriage which was to signify their virginity.

Evidence exists in abundance showing cosmetics use in Ancient times

Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: the chain of evidence spans many centuries detailing the usage of cosmetics in various cultures from the earliest period of recorded history.
Keyword: Evidence, Cosmetics
Keyword Location: Section A, 12th and 13th Line.
Explanation: there are many records that exist from the earliest period of history (Ancient times) that serve as evidence to use of cosmetics as they either talk about usage of cosmetics or allude to it.

Protecting eyes from fly transmitted diseases

Answer: E
Supporting Sentence: Besides beautification, its purpose was also medicinal as covering the sensitive skin of the lids with coloured ointments that prevented dryness and eye diseases: the eye-paint repelled the little
flies that transmitted the eye-inflammations.
Keyword: fly, diseases, transmitted
Keyword Location: Section E, 3rd and 4th Line
Explanation: the eye paints/ointments served dual purpose, not only they beautified the eyes but their composition was medicinal which prevented many eye-diseases, the repulsion of flies that transmitted eye diseases being one of them.

From witchcraft to beautification

Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: Cosmetics were also connected with cultic worship and witchcraft: to appease the various gods, fragrant ointments were applied to the statutory images and even to their attendants. From this,
in the course of time, developed the custom of personal use, to enhance the beauty of face and the body, and to conceal defects.
Keyword: witchcraft, beauty
Keyword Location: Section B, 3rd and 6th Line
Explanation: Cosmetics initially were connected to mystic practices which were to referred to as witchcraft which involved applying cosmetics to statutes and attendants which led to people applying those cosmetics on themselves and this personal use of cosmetics evolved into beautification as these cosmetics could conceal facial defects.

More expensive than gold

Answer: C
Supporting Sentence: Perfumes and fragrant spices were precious commodities in antiquity, very much in demand, and at times even exceeded silver and Gold in value.
Keyword: Gold, value, exceeded
Keyword Location: Section C, 2nd Line.
Explanation: because perfumes and Fragrant spices were luxury items and were in high demand in ancient times, but their supply was limited. So, their prices rose up and a time came when these items became more
expensive than gold and silver.

Questions 22-27

Do the following Statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
In boxes 22-27 in your answer sheet, write

TRUE, if the statement agrees with information provided
FALSE, if the information provided is contradictory to the statement.
NOT GIVEN, if there is no information to corroborate with the statement

The written record for cosmetics and perfumes dates back to the third millennium BC

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Since perfumes and spices were luxury products, their use was exclusive to the noble and the wealthy

Answer: FALSE
Supporting Sentence: Therefore, they were luxury products used mainly in temples and in the homes of Noble and wealthy. However, within time, the use of cosmetics became custom of that period.
Keyword: luxury, products, noble, wealthy
Keyword Location: Section C, 3rd and 4th Line
Explanation: the use of perfumes and spices was not exclusive to the noble and wealthy because although expensive they were mainly (not exclusively) used by temples and nobles, with time people in lower strata of society began to use them as it began a customary practice in society as customs are followed by everyone.

In the ancient Far East, fish fats were used as a cream by women from poor households

Answer: TRUE
Supporting Sentence: The very common creams used by women in ancient Far East, particularly important in the hot climate and prevalent in that area of the globe, were made up of oils and aromatic scents.
Sometimes the oil in these creams was extracted from olives almonds, gourds, sesame, or from trees and plants; but, for those of limited means, scented animal and fish fats were commonly used.
Keyword: ancient Far East, Women, Cream, Fish fat
Keyword Location: Section D, 8th, 9th and 11th Line
Explanation: in the ancient Far East, women were using different types of oils and aromatic scents as creams but these oils and scents were derived from equally precious materials like almonds, olives, sesame etc. so poor women had no option but to find a cheaper alternative which is why fish fats were used in creams by women of limited means.

The teachings in the Bible were repeatedly against the use of Kohl for painting the eyes

Answer: TRUE
Supporting Sentence: The use of Kohl for painting the eyes is mentioned three times in the Bible, always with disapproval by the sages.
Keyword: Bible, Kohl
Keyword Location: Section E, 7th and 8th Line.
Explanation: Bible was against the use of Kohl because in the book itself the kohl and its use are mentioned three time at three different places and each time its presented in a disapproving light by the sages which
leads to the conclusion that kohl is repeatedly mentioned in the Bible and always with disapproval i.e., Bible is against the use of Kohl.

Long hair as symbol of beauty was worn solely by women of ancient cultures.

Answer: FALSE
Supporting Sentence: long hair was always considered a symbol of beauty and kings; nobles and dignitaries grew their hair long and kept it well groomed and cared for.
Keyword: beauty, long, hair symbol
Keyword Location: Section F, 1st and 2nd Line.
Explanation: long hair was indeed a symbol of beauty in ancient cultures but it was not exclusively worn by women because it is written in the passage that even kings (who were men), nobles and dignitaries (who were mostly men) also kept their hair long and their hair was well groomed and cared for because it was a symbol of beauty.