Hunting Perfume in Madagascar - IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation
In the IELTS Reading section, candidates are tested on their ability by reading a passage and answering questions related to the passage. Candidates must answer different sets of questions, each with a unique question type. The reading component of the IELTS examines candidates' comprehension abilities by presenting them with a variety of tasks. This IELTS Reading sample - Hunting Perfume in Madagascar contains three question types:
- Fill in the blanks with only one word
- Select A-E with relevance to the passage
- Select True, False or Not Given
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Section 1
Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions
Hunting Perfume in Madagascar IELTS Reading Sample
- Ever since the unguentari plied their trade in ancient Rome, perfumers have to keep abreast of changing fashions. These days they have several thousand ingredients to choose from when creating new scents, but there is always demand for new combinations. The bigger the “palette7 of smells, the better the perfumer’s chance of creating something fresh and appealing. Even with everyday products such as shampoo and soap, kitchen cleaners and washing powders, consumers are becoming increasingly fussy. And many of today’s fragrances have to survive tougher treatment than ever before, resisting the destructive power of bleach or a high temperature wash cycle. Chemists can create new smells from synthetic molecules, and a growing number of the odors on the perfumer’s palette are artificial. But nature has been in the business far longer.
- The island of Madagascar is an evolutionary hot spot; 85% of its plants are unique, making it an ideal source for novel fragrances. Last October, Quest International, a company that develops fragrances for everything from the most delicate perfumes to cleaning products, sent an expedition to Madagascar in pursuit of some of nature’s most novel fragrances. With some simple technology, borrowed from the pollution monitoring industry, and a fair amount of ingenuity, the perfume hunters bagged 20 promising new aromas in the Madagascan rainforest. Each day the team set out from their “hotel”—a wooden hut lit by kerosene lamps, and trailed up and down paths and animal tracks, exploring the thick vegetation up to 10 meters on either side of the trail. Some smells came from obvious places, often big showy flowers within easy reach- Others were harder to pin down. “Often it was the very small flowers that were much more interesting,'' says Clery. After the luxuriance of the rainforest, the little-known island of Nosy Hara was a stark, dry place geologically and biologically very different from the mainland, “Apart from two beaches, the rest of the Island Is impenetrable, except by hacking through the bush, says Clery. One of the biggest prizes here was a sweet- smelling sap weeping from the gnarled branches of some ancient shrubby trees in the parched Interior. So far no one has been able to identify the plant.
- With most flowers or fruits, the hunters used a technique originally designed to trap and identify air pollutants. The technique itself is relatively simple. A glass bell jar or flask IS fitted over the flower. The fragrance molecules are trapped in this “headspace” and can be extracted by pumping the air out over a series of filters which absorb different types of volatile molecules. Back home in the laboratory, the molecules are flushed out of the filters and injected into a gas chromatograph for analysis. If it Is Impossible to attach the headspace gear, hunters fix an absorbent probe close to the source of the smell. The probe looks something like a hypodermic syringe, except that the ‘needle’ is made of silicone rubber which soaks up molecules from the air. After a few hours, the hunters retract the rubber needle and seal the tube, keeping the odor molecules inside until they can.be injected into the gas chromatograph in the laboratory.
- Some of the most promising fragrances were those given off by resins that oozed from the bark of trees. Resins are the source of many traditional perfumes, including frankincense and myrrh. The most exciting resin came from a Calophyllum tree, which produces a strongly scented medicinal oil. The sap of this Calophyllum smelt rich and aromatic, a little like church incense. But It also smelt of something the fragrance industry has learnt to live without castoreum, a substance extracted from the musk glands of beavers and once a key ingredient in many perfumes. The company does not use animal products any longer, but it was wonderful to find a tree with an animal smell.
- The group also set out from the island to capture the smell of coral reefs. Odors that conjure up sun kissed seas are highly sought after by the perfume industry. “From the ocean, the only thing we have is seaweed, and that has a dark and heavy aroma. We hope to find something unique among the corals,” says Dir. The challenge for the hunters was to extract a smell from water rather than air. This was an opportunity to try Clery’s new “aquaspace” apparatus, a set of filters that work underwater. On Nosy Hara, jars were fixed over knobs of coral about 2 meters down and water pumped out over the absorbent filters. So what does coral smell like? “It’s a bit like lobster and crab,” says Clery. The team’s task now is to recreate the best of the captured smells. First they must identify the molecules that make up each fragrance. Some ingredients may be quite common chemicals. But some may be completely novel, or they may be too complex or expensive to make in the lab. The challenge then is to conjure up the fragrances with more readily available materials. “We can avoid the need to import plants from the rainforest by creating the smell with a different set of chemicals from those in the original material,” says Clery. “If we get it right, you can sniff the sample and it will transport you straight back to the moment you smelt it in the rainforest.”
Section 2
Solution and Explanation
Questions 14-18
The reading passage has seven paragraphs A-E
Which paragraphs contain the following details: Write the correct number, A-E, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
NB: You may use any letter more than once.
- One currently preferred spot to pick up plants for novel finding
Answer: B
Supporting sentence: The island of Madagascar is an evolutionary hotspot; 85% of its plants are unique, making it an ideal source for novel fragrances.
Keywords: 'hotspot', 'unique', 'ideal', 'novel fragrance'
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, line- first
Explanation: As according to the paragraph, the island of Madagascar which is known as an 'evolutionary hotspot' is famous for a large percentage of plants and their unique characteristics as they are the perfect source of making excellent perfumes.
Read More IELTS Reading Related Samples
- A new task seems to be promising yet producing limited finding in fragrance source
Answer: E
Supporting sentence: The challenge for the hunters was to extract a smell from water rather than air. This was an opportunity to try Clery's new "aquaspace,"
Keywords: 'challenge','opportunity'
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, line-5
Explanation: According to the text, the group who collect fragrances set out from the island to extract the smell of coral reefs, and it is the most challenging task as the hunters were to capture fragrances from water rather than air. This process is known as "aquaspace". Though this task sounds like a new and promising technique or new opportunity, it has some limitations too.
- The demanding conditions for fragrance to endure.
Answer: A
Supporting sentence: The bigger the palette of smells, the better the perfumer's chance of creating something fresh and appealing.
Even with everyday products such as shampoo and soap, kitchen cleaners and washing powders, consumers are becoming increasingly fussy.
Keywords: ' bigger', 'fresh and appealing', 'increasingly fussy'
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, line- 3 and 4
Explanation: According to paragraph A, consumers are becoming fastidious and highly concerned about the fragrances they used. Even in daily use products they always demand for new combinations, something attractive in nature. In this scenario the perfumers need to make something better and as according to the consumers' requirements.
- A substitute for substance no longer available to the perfume manufacture
Answer: D
Supporting sentence: But it also smelt of something the fragrance industry has learnt to live without, castoreum, a substance extracted from the musk glands of beavers and once a key ingredient in many perfumes.
Keywords: 'to live without', 'once a key ingredient'
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, line- 5
Explanation: According to the narrator, some strongly scented perfumes are made of various plant extracts like resins, furthermore many animal products like castoreum, a substance extracted from the musk glands of beavers once used as the main ingredient in many fragrances. But it is no longer available now and the company does not use animal products in fragrances.
- Description of an outdoor expedition on land chasing new fragrances.
Answer: B
Supporting sentence: After the luxuriance of the rainforest, the little known island of Nosy Hara was a stark, dry place geologically and biologically very different from the mainland.
Keywords: 'little known island', 'different from the mainland'
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, line- 7
Explanation: It is clearly mentioned that the small island, known as Nosy Hara is a dry place, geologically and biologically distinct from the mainland. But it is a place where they can get some ingredients to make good aromatic perfumes.
Questions 19-23
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
In boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
- Manufacturers can choose to use synthetic odors for the perfume nowadays.
Answer: True
Supporting sentence: Chemists can create new smells from synthetic molecules, and a glowing number of the odors on the perfumer's palette are artificial. But nature has been in the business far longer.
Keywords: 'synthetic molecules', 'artificial'.
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, last line
Explanation: As it is mentioned that the perfumers can make fragrances from various artificial ingredients. It is not necessary to depend only on natural substances to make perfumes. Chemists can use synthetic molecules too. So the statement is correct.
- Madagascar is chosen to be a place for hunting plants which are rare in other parts of the world.
Answer: True
Supporting sentence: The island of Madagascar is an evolutionary hotspot; 85% of its planet is unique, making it an ideal source for novel fragrances.
Keywords: 'unique', 'novel fragrances'.
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, line - 1
Explanation: As it is mentioned in the text that of becoming an 'evolutionary hotspot' the island of Madagascar is famous for its great percentage of plants which are distinct in nature from others as they are the perfect ingredients of making excellent perfumes. Hence the statement is True.
- Capturing the smell is one of the most important things for creating new aromas.
Answer: Not given
- The technique the hunters used to trap fragrance molecules is totally out of their ; ingenuity.
Answer: False
Supporting sentence: With some simple technology, borrowed from the pollution monitoring industry, and a fair amount of ingenuity, the perfume hunters bagged 20 promising new aromas in the Madagascar rainforest.
With most flowers of fruits, the hunters used a technique originally designed to trap and identify air pollutants.
Keywords: ' simple technology', 'ingenuity', 'technique', 'trap and identify'
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, line 3 and Paragraph C, first line.
Explanation: According to the two mentioned Paragraphs the hunters used the technique with most flowers or fruits to extract aromatic substances used in making fragrances. The technique is originally designed to trap and recognise air pollutants. Rather the technique is very simple to use. Hence the statement is incorrect.
- Most customers prefer perfume made of substance extracted from the musk I glands of animals.
Answer: Not given
Questions 24-26
Fill in the blanks and answer the questions below with only one word.
24) Answer: Headspace
Supporting sentence: The fragrance molecules are trapped in this "headspace".
Keyword: 'headspace'
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, line- 3
Explanation: Here in Paragraph C it is clearly mentioned that the fragrance molecules are caught in headspace and are collected by pumping the air out through various filters which absorb different types of volatile aroma molecules.
25) Answer: Filters
Supporting sentence: Back home in the laboratory , the molecules are flushed out of the filters.
Keyword: 'filters'
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, line- 4
Explanation: As according to the mentioned paragraph after extracting the fragrance molecules they are swept out through the various filters in the laboratory and injected into a gas chromatograph for further examination.
26) Answer: Needle
Supporting sentence: The probe looks something like a hypodermic syringe, except that the 'needle' is made of silicon rubber.
Keyword: 'needle'
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, line- 6
Explanation: The needle as mentioned in the text is made of silicon rubber which helps to absorb fragrance molecules from the air.
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