Great Migrations - IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation
The IELTS reading section examines a candidate’s comprehending skills within the stipulated amount of time. The reading section comprises passages followed with different kinds of questions to holistically judge a student’s grasping abilities while reading. This particular IELTS Reading Practice Test has a passage on- “Great Migrations” which consists of the following types of questions:
- True/False/Not Given
- Match with the Given List.
- Answer in one word only
The IELTS Reading Practice Tests contain a variety of sample passages with different kinds of questions which will equip a student with all the possible dimensions of this section. These practice tests should be taken with utmost seriousness to perform brilliantly on D-Day.
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Section 1
Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions
Great Migrations IELTS Reading Sample
Animal migration, however it is defined, is far more than just the movement of animals. It can loosely be described as travel that takes place at regular intervals - often in an annual cycle - that may involve many members of a species, and is rewarded only after a long journey. It suggests inherited instinct. The biologist Hugh Dingle has identified five characteristics that apply, in varying degrees and combinations, to all migrations. They are prolonged movements that carry animals outside familiar habitats; they tend to be linear, not zigzaggy;they involve special behaviours concerning preparation (such as overfeeding) and arrival; they demand special allocations of energy. And one more: migrating animals maintain an intense attentiveness to the greater mission, which keeps them undistracted by temptations and undeterred by challenges that would turn other animals aside.
An arctic tern, on its 20,000 km flight from the extreme south of South America to the Arctic circle, will take no notice of a nice smelly herring offered from a bird-watcher's boat along the way. While local gulls will dive voraciously for such handouts, the tern flies on.
Why? The arctic tern resists distraction because it is driven at that moment by an instinctive sense of something we humans find admirable: larger purpose. In other words, it is determined to reach its destination. The bird senses that it can eat, rest and mate later. Right now it is totally focused on the journey; its undivided intent is arrival.
Reaching some gravelly coastline in the Arctic, upon which other arctic terns have converged, will serve its larger purpose as shaped by evolution: finding a place, a time, and a set of circumstances in which it can successfully hatch and rear offspring.
But migration is a complex issue, and biologists define it differently, depending in part on what sorts of animals they study. Joe! Berger, of the University of Montana, who works on the American pronghorn and other large terrestrial mammals, prefers what he calls a simple, practical definition suited to his beasts: 'movements from a seasonal home area away to another home area and back again'. Generally the reason for such seasonal back-and-forth movement is to seek resources that aren't available within a single area year-round.
But daily vertical movements by zooplankton in the ocean - upward by night to seek food, downward by day to escape predators - can also be considered migration. So can the movement of aphids when, having depleted the young leaves on one food plant, their offspring then fly onward to a different host plant, with no one aphid ever returning to where it started.
Dingle is an evolutionary biologist who studies insects. His definition is more intricate than Berger's, citing those five features that distinguish migration from other forms of movement. They allow for the fact that, for example, aphids will become sensitive to blue light (from the sky) when it's time for takeoff on their big journey, and sensitive to yellow light (reflected from tender young leaves) when it's appropriate to land.
Birds will fatten themselves with heavy feeding in advance of a long migrational flight. The value of his definition, Dingle argues, is that it focuses attention on what the phenomenon of wildebeest migration shares with the phenomenon of the aphids, and therefore helps guide researchers towards understanding how evolution has produced them all. Human behaviour, however, is having a detrimental impact on animal migration.
The pronghorn, which resembles an antelope, though they are unrelated, is the fastest land mammal of the New World. One population, which spends the summer in the mountainous Grand Teton National Park of the western USA, follows a narrow route from its summer range in the mountains, across a river, and down onto the plains. Here they wait out the frozen months, feeding mainly on sagebrush blown clear of snow. These pronghorn are notable for the invariance of their migration route and the severity of its constriction at three bottlenecks. If they can't pass through each of the three during their spring migration, they can't reach their bounty of summer grazing; if they can't pass through again in autumn, escaping south onto those windblown plains, they are likely to die trying to overwinter in the deep snow.
Pronghorn, dependent on distance vision and speed to keep safe from predators, traverse high, open shoulders of land, where they can see and run. At one of the bottlenecks, forested hills rise to form a V, leaving a corridor of open ground only about 150 metres wide, filled with private homes. Increasing development is leading toward a crisis for the pronghorn, threatening to choke off their passageway.
Conservation scientists, along with some biologists and land managers within the USA's National Park Service and other agencies, are now working to preserve migrational behaviours, not just species and habitats. A National Forest has recognised the path of the pronghorn, much of which passes across its land, as a protected migration corridor. But neither the Forest Service nor the Park Service can control what happens on private land at a bottleneck. And with certain other migrating species, the challenge is complicated further - by vastly greater distances traversed, more jurisdictions, more borders, more dangers along the way. We will require wisdom and resoluteness to ensure that migrating species can continue their journeying a while longer.
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Section 2
Solution with Explanations
Questions 1-5
Do the following statements agree with the information given in 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
Question 1: Local gulls and migrating arctic terns behave in the same way when offered food.
Answer: FALSE
Supporting Sentence: While local gulls will dive voraciously for such handouts, the tern flies on.
Keywords: Local gulls, migrating arctic terns, behave, the same way, offered food
Keyword Location: second paragraph
Explanation: The first few lines of the second paragraph suggest that when an arctic tern flies 20,000 km from the extreme south of South America to the Arctic circle, it takes no notice of a nice smelly hearing handed out by a bird watcher’s boat on the way. On the other hand, local gulls will dive voraciously for such an offer. These lines indicate that the local gulls are more attracted to the handouts (food), while the arctic terns fail to pay attention to food while migrating. Their behaviour in this context differs drastically.
Question 2: Expert’s definitions of migration tend to vary according to their area of study.
Answer: TRUE
Supporting Sentence: But migration is a complex issue, and biologists define it differently, depending in part on what sorts of animals they study.
Keywords: Experts’ definitions, migration, tend to vary, area of study
Keyword Location: fourth paragraph
Explanation: The author writes that migration is a complex issue and that every biologist has their own definition, depending in part on the type of animals they study. Here, biologists refer to experts, define= definitions, types of animals they study= area of study.
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Question 3: Very few experts agree that the movement of aphids can be considered migration.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Question 4: Aphids’ journeys are affected by changes in the light that they perceive.
Answer: TRUE
Supporting Sentence: sensitive to blue light (from the sky) when it's time for takeoff on their big journey, and sensitive to yellow light
Keywords: Aphids’ journey, affected, changes, light, perceive
Keyword Location: sixth to eleventh lines of the sixth paragraph.
Explanation: It illustrates that aphids will become sensitive to blue light (from the sky) when it's time for them to embark on their big journey and they are also sensitive to yellow light (reflection of tender young leaves) when it’s suitable to arrive. What we can take from these lines is that taking off on their big journey basically refers to the aphids’ journey, and sensitivity to blue and yellow lights indicated that they’re affected by the changes in the light they perceive.
Question 5: Dingle’s aim is to distinguish between the migratory behaviours of different species.
Answer: FALSE
Supporting Sentence: the phenomenon of wildebeest migration shares with the phenomenon of the aphids, and therefore helps guide researchers towards understanding how evolution has produced them all.
Keywords: Aim, distinguish, migratory behaviours, different species
Keyword Location: last few lines of the sixth paragraph
Explanation: Dingle in these lines argues that the value of his definition focuses its attention on the phenomenon of migration shared between that of wildebeest and aphids, thereby guiding researchers to understand how evolution has produced them all. The sentence suggests that Dingle lasered his attention on the similarities of migration rather than distinguish the migratory behaviours of different species.
Questions 6-9 (Complete/Matching sentences with correct endings) ask the candidates to match the beginning and end of given sentences.
Question 6: According to Dingle, migratory routes are likely to—
Answer: G (Follow a straight line)
Supporting Sentence: they tend to be linear, not zigzaggy;they involve special behaviours concerning preparation (such as overfeeding) and arrival; they demand special allocations of energy.
Keywords: Dingle, migratory routes, likely to
Keyword Location: Lines eight to thirteen lines of the first paragraph
Explanation: The remarks biologist Hugh Dingle recognizing five characteristics that apply to all migrations in fluctuating degrees and amalgamations. Extended movements that carry animals outside familiar habitats tend to be linear. In this context, tend to=likely to, and linear refers to following a straight line.
Question 7: To prepare for migration, animals are likely to—
Answer: C (Eat more than they need for immediate purposes)
Supporting Sentence: they tend to be linear, not zigzaggy;they involve special behaviours concerning preparation (such as overfeeding) and arrival; they demand special allocations of energy.
Keywords: Prepare, migration, animals, likely to
Keyword Location: 14-16 lines in the first paragraph
Explanation: The author mentions that they include special behaviours with regards to the preparation (overfeeding) and arrival. Basically, preparation= to prepare for migration, overfeeding=eating more than they need.
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Question 8: During migration, animals are unlikely to—
Answer: A (Be discouraged by difficulties)
Supporting Sentence: migrating animals maintain an intense attentiveness to the greater mission, which keeps them undistracted by temptations and undeterred by challenges that would turn other animals aside.
Keywords: During, migration, animals, unlikely to
Keyword Location: 17-22nd lines of the first paragraph
Explanation: The writer indicates that in order to remain undistracted by temptations, migrating animals maintain an intense attentiveness to the greater mission. They are also undeterred by the challenges that would turn other animals aside. Therefore, undeterred here indicates unlikely to be discouraged, and challenges translate to difficulties.
Question 9: Arctic terns illustrate migrating animals’ ability to—
Answer: E (Ignore distractions)
Supporting Sentence: The bird senses that it can eat, rest and mate later. Right now it is totally focused on the journey
Keywords: Arctic terns, illustrate, migrating animals’, ability
Keyword Location: 1-5th lines of the second paragraph
Explanation: The author says that when an arctic tern is on a flight of over 20,000 km, stretching from the extreme south of South America to the Arctic circle, it usually will not take notice of a nice smelly herring that is offered on the way from bird watcher’s boat. In this sentence, the words ‘will take no notice of’ means to ignore, nice smelly herring (food) translates to distractions.
In questions 10-13, the candidates are given a summary for a paragraph or two and they are asked to fill in the blanks or gaps using a word or two at most.
TITLE OF THE SUMMARY: THE MIGRATION OF PRONGHORNS
Question 10: Pronghorns rely on their eyesight and ___________ to avoid predators.
Answer: Speed
Supporting Sentence: Pronghorn, dependent on distance vision and speed to keep safe from predators, traverse high, open shoulders of land, where they can see and run.
Keywords: Pronghorns, rely on, eyesight, avoid, predators
Keyword Location: 24-25th lines of the seventh paragraph
Explanation: The author says that they are dependent on distance vision and speed to keep safe from predators. Hence, dependent on really translates to rely on, vision means eyesight, and keep safe=avoid.
Question 11: One particular population’s summer habitat is a national park, and their winter home is on the__________ where they go to avoid the danger presented by the snow at that time of year.
Answer: Plains
Supporting Sentence: if they can't pass through again in autumn, escaping south onto those windblown plains, they are likely to die trying to overwinter in the deep snow.
Keywords: Particular population, summer habitat, national park, winter home, go, avoid, danger, snow
Keyword Location: 6-12th lines of the seventh paragraph
Explanation: The author mentions one population that spends summer in the mountainous Grand Teton National Park in the western USA, a narrow route follows from its summer range in the mountains across a river, and down to the plains where they remain, waiting out the frozen months, mainly feeding on sagebrush blown clear of snow. In this sentence, one population indicates one particular population, spends the summer refers to summer habitat, Grand Teton National Park simply means a national park, and they wait out the frozen months means their winter home.
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Question 12: However, their route between these two areas contains three_____________.
Answer: Bottlenecks
Supporting Sentence: At one of the bottlenecks, forested hills rise to form a V, leaving a corridor of open ground only about 150 metres wide, filled with private homes.
Keywords: Route, two areas, contains, three
Keyword Location: Paragraph 7
Explanation: Lines 13-16 in the seventh paragraph contains the fact that the pronghorn’s invariability in their migration route was notable and that the severity of its constriction at three bottlenecks. The route basically means migration route.
Question 13: One problem is the construction of new homes in a narrow _____________ of land on the pronghorns’ route.
Answer: Corridor/passageway
Supporting Sentence: Increasing development is leading toward a crisis for the pronghorn, threatening to choke off their passageway.
Keywords: One problem, construction, new homes, narrow, land, route
Keyword Location: Paragraph 7
Explanation: The author mentions a forested hill that rises to form a V from one of the bottlenecks and leaves a 150 metres wide corridor of open ground, occupied by private homes. The increase in development is leading to a crisis for the pronghorn and threatening to choke off their passageway. Hence, the crisis here indicates one problem, increasing development translates to construction of new homes, 150 metres wide means narrow.
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