Nature on Display in American Zoos Reading Answers

Dec 13, 2022

Nature on Display in American Zoos Reading Answers is a topic about the discussion of nature in the zoos of America. The given IELTS topic has a total of 13 sets of questions which the candidates should answer within 20 minutes of the given time. The candidates should mandatorily go through the passage for understanding the core of the passage. The topic is divided into two different segments of questions, including, True/False or Not Given Answer and Choose one-word answer. The candidates should thoroughly skim the IELTS reading passage in order to analyze the gist of the passage, recognize the synonyms and identify the keywords and then should attempt to answer the questions below. The candidates for the preparation of similar kinds of topics should practice the IELTS reading practice papers.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Nature on Display in American Zoos Reading Answers

{A}. The first zoo in the United States opened in Philadelphia in 1874, followed by the Cincinnati Zoo the next year. By 1940 there were zoos in more than one hundred American cities. The Philadelphia Zoo was more thoroughly planned and better financed than most of the hundreds of zoos that would open later. But in its landscape and its mission to both educate and entertain, it embodied ideas about how to build a zoo that stayed consistent for decades. The zoos came into existence in the late nineteenth century during the transition of the United States from a rural and agricultural nation to an industrial one.

{B}. The population more than doubled between 1860 and 1990. As more middle-class people lived in cities, they began seeking new relationships with the natural world as a place for recreation, self-improvement, and Spiritual renewal. Cities established systems of public parks, and nature tourism, already popular, became even more fashionable with the establishment of national parks. Nature was thought to be good for people of all ages and classes. Nature study was incorporated into the school curriculum, and natural history collecting became an increasingly popular pastime.

{C}. At the same time, the fields of study which were previously thought of as „natural history‟ grew into separate areas such as taxonomy, experimental embryology and genetics, each with its own experts and structures. As laboratory research gained prestige in the zoology departments of American universities, the gap between professional and amateur scientific activities widened. Previously, natural history had been open to amateurs and was easily popularized, but research required access to microscopes and other equipment in laboratories, as well as advanced education.

{D}. The new zoos set themselves apart from travelling animal shows by stating their mission as the education and the advancement of science, in addition to recreation. Zoos presented zoology for the non-specialist, at a time when the intellectual distance between amateur naturalists and laboratory oriented zoologists was increasing. They attracted wide audiences and quickly became a feature of every growing and forward-thinking city. They were emblems of civic pride on a level of importance with art museums, natural history museums and botanical gardens.

{E}. Most American zoos were founded and operated as part of the public parks administration. They were dependent on municipal funds, and they charged no admission fee. They tended to assemble as many different mammal and bird species as possible, along with a few reptiles, exhibiting one or two specimens of each, and they competed with each other to become the first to display a rarity, like a rhinoceros. In the constant effort to attract the public to make return visits, certain types of display came in and out of fashion; for example, dozens of zoos built special Islands for their large populations of monkeys. In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration funded millions of dollars of construction at dozens of zoos, for the most part, the collections of animals were organized by species in a combination of enclosures according to a fairly loose classification scheme.

{F}. Although many histories of individual zoos describe the 1940s through the 1960s as a period of stagnation, and in some cases there was neglect, new zoos continued to be set up all over the country. In the 1940s and 1950s, the first zoos designed specifically for children were built, some with the appeal of farm animals. An increasing number of zoos tried new ways of organizing their displays. In addition to the traditional approach of exhibiting like kinds together, zoo planners had a new approach of putting animals in groups according to their continent of origin and designing exhibits showing animals of particular habitats, for example, polar, desert, or forest. During the 1960s, a few zoos arranged some displays according to animal behaviour; the Bronx Zoo. for instance, opened its World of Darkness exhibit of nocturnal animals. Paradoxically, at the same time as zoo displays began incorporating ideas about the ecological relationships between animals, big cats and primates continued to be displayed in bathroom like cages lined with tiles.

{G}. By the 1970s, a new wave of reform was stirring. Popular movements for environmentalism and animal welfare called attention to endangered species and to zoos that did not provide adequate care for their animals. More projects were undertaken by research scientists and zoos began hiring full-time vets as they stepped up captive breeding programs. Many zoos that had been supported entirely by municipal budgets began recruiting private financial support and charging admission fees. In the prosperous 1980s and 1990s zoos built realistic „landscape immersion‟ exhibits, many of them around the theme of the tropical rainforest and increasingly, conservation moved to the forefront of zoo agendas.

{H}. Although zoos were popular and proliferating institutions in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, historians have paid little attention to them. Perhaps zoos have been ignored because they were, and remain still multi-purpose institutions, and as such, they fall between the categories of analysis that historians often use. In addition, their stated goals of recreation, education, the advancement of science, and the protection of endangered species have often conflicted. Zoos occupy a difficult middle ground between science and showmanship, high culture and low, remote forests and the cement cityscape, and wild animals and urban people.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 1-7: Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
First, you have to Read the IELTS reading sample - Nature on display in American zoos. Then you have to read the question and answer accordingly.
For questions numbering from 1-7, You have to write:

TRUE	If you find the statement agreeing with the information
FALSE	If you find the statement contradicting the information
NOT GIVEN	If you don’t find any relevant information.

Questions:

The concepts on which the Philadelphia zoo was based soon became unfashionable.

Answer: FALSE
Supporting Sentence: The Philadelphia Zoo was more thoroughly planned and better financed than most of the hundreds of zoos that would open later but in its landscape and its mission – to both educate and entertain it embodied ideas about how to build a zoo that stayed consistent for decades.
Keyword: thoroughly planned , better financed
Keyword Location: paragraph A, 3rd line
Explanation: The line 3 of paragraph A explains that the Philadelphia Zoo embodied notions about how to establish a zoo that remained consistent for decades. It was more carefully designed and better financed than most of the hundreds of zoos that would emerge later, but in its landscape and its aim to both teach and entertain, it differed from most of them. So, the statement is FALSE.

The opening of zoos coincided with a trend for people to live in urban areas.

Answer:TRUE
Supporting Sentence: The zoos came Into existence in the late nineteenth century during the transition of the United States from a rural and agricultural nation to an industrial one.
Keyword: rural and agricultural nation
Keyword Location: paragraph A, 7th line
Explanation: The seventh line of paragraph A says that during the United States' transformation from a rural, agricultural nation to an industrial one in the late nineteenth century, zoos first appeared. Hence, it is a TRUE statement.

During the period when many zoos were opened, the study of natural history became more popular in universities than in other scientific subjects.

Answer:NOT GIVEN
Supporting Sentence: grew into separate areas
Keyword: separate areas
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, 2nd line
Explanation: No information to support the above sentence has been provided in the passage.

Cities recognized that the new zoos were as significant an amenity as museums.

Answer:TRUE
Supporting Sentence: emblems of civic pride on a level of importance with art museums
Keyword: art museums
Keyword Location: paragraph D, 7th line
Explanation: Line 7 of paragraph D explains that zoos shared a degree of significance with botanical gardens, art museums, and natural history museums as symbols of civic pride. So, the statement is a TRUE one.

Between 1940 and 1960 some older zoos had to move to new sites to expand.

Answer:NOT GIVEN
Supporting Sentence: Although many histories of individual zoos describe the 1940s through the 1960s as a period of stagnation, and in some cases there was neglect, new zoos continued to be set up all over the country.
Keyword: 1940s through the 1960s as a period of stagnation
Keyword Location: paragraph F, 1st line
Explanation: No supporting statement from the passage is available in order to justify the above sentence.

In the 1970s, new ways of funding zoos were developed.

Answer:TRUE
Supporting Sentence: 1. By the 1970s, a new wave of reform was stirring.

Many zoos that had been supported entirely by municipal budgets began recruiting private financial support and charging admission fees.

Keyword: new wave of reform
Keyword Location: paragraph G, 1st line and 4th line
Explanation: The first and fifth line of paragraph G explains that a fresh reform movement had begun by the 1970s also numerous zoos that had previously relied solely on municipal funding now solicit private funding and charge admission. Hence, the above sentence is TRUE.

There has been serious disagreement amongst historians about the role of the first zoos.

Answer: FALSE
Supporting Sentence: Although zoos were popular and proliferating institutions in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, historians have paid little attention to them.
Keyword: historians have paid little attention
Keyword Location: paragraph G, 1st line
Explanation: The beginning part of paragraph G implies that The beginning sentence of paragraph G states that the History hasn't given zoos much attention, despite the fact that they were common and expanding institutions in the United States around the turn of the 20th century. So, it is a FALSE statement.

For questions numbering from 8-13, you have to choose “No more than one word” from the given reading passage.

Upto 1940	More mammals and birds exhibited than 8 ………. 9. ………. were very popular animals in many zoos at one time
The 1940s and the 1950s	Zoos started exhibiting animals according to their 10 ………. and where they came from.
In the 1960s	Some zoos categorized animals by 11 behaviour
In the 1970s	12. ………. were employed following protests about animal care.
From 1980s onwards	The importance of 13 ………. became greater.

The Explanations for questions number 8 – 13:

Question 8:

Answer: reptiles
Supporting Sentence: They tended to assemble as many mammal and bird species as possible, along with a few reptiles
Keyword: mammal and bird species, few reptiles
Keyword Location: paragraph E, starting from line 3rd
Explanation: The third line of paragraph E explains that they tended to gather as many different types of birds and mammals, as well as a few reptiles.

Question 9:

Answer: monkeys
Supporting Sentence: In the constant effort to attract the public to make return visits, certain types of display came in and out of fashion; for example, dozens of zoos built special Islands for their large populations of monkeys.
Keyword: dozens of zoos, large populations of monkeys
Keyword Location: paragraph E, starting from line 6th
Explanation: The sixth sentence of paragraph E suggests that a number of zoos constructed dedicated Islands for their big populations of monkeys as part of their ongoing efforts to draw tourists back for repeat visits.

Question 10:

Answer:habitat(s).
Supporting Sentence: In addition to the traditional approach of exhibiting like kinds together, zoo planners had a new approach of putting animals in groups according to their continent of origin and designing exhibits showing animals of particular HABITATS, for example, polar, desert, or forest..
Keyword: HABITATS, polar, desert, or forest
Keyword Location: line 5th of paragraph F
Explanation: The fifth line of paragraph F suggests that more and more zoos experimented with novel approaches of structuring their exhibits. In addition to the conventional strategy of grouping exhibits of similar species, zoo planners developed a novel strategy that involved grouping animals according to the continent from which they originated and creating exhibits that featured animals from specific HABITATS, such as the polar, desert, or forest.

Question 11:

Answer: Behaviour
Supporting Sentence: During the 1960s, a few zoos arranged some displays according to animal behaviour
Keyword: animal behaviour
Keyword Location: paragraph F, in line 10th
Explanation: Line 10 of paragraph F says that several zoos organised several shows in the 1960s based on animal behaviour.

Question 12:

Answer: vets
Supporting Sentence: More projects were undertaken by research scientists and zoos began hiring full-time vets as they stepped up captive breeding programs.
Keyword: hiring full-time vets
Keyword Location: paragraph G, 4th line
Explanation: The fourth line of paragraph G states that the research scientists began working on more studies, and zoos hired full-time veterinarians as they expanded their captive breeding operations.

Question 13:

Answer: conservation.
Supporting Sentence: Zoos built realistic ‘landscape immersion’ exhibits, many of them around the theme of the tropical rainforest and. Increasingly, conservation moved to the forefront of zoo agendas.
Keyword: landscape immersion, conservation
Keyword Location: paragraph 7, line 5
Explanation: The fifth line of paragraph 7 implies that the tropical rainforest was a popular motif for the "landscape immersion" exhibits that zoos constructed. Conservation became a priority for zoos more and more.

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