Planets of the Sun Reading Answers

May 7, 2025

Planets of the Sun Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. Planets of the Sun Reading Answers has a total of 13 IELTS questions in total.In the question set you have to choose the appropriate letter from A-D. In the next question set you have to say whether the following statements are TRUE & FALSE. In the last set you have to fill the blank with the correct answer only with one word.

The IELTS Reading section is an essential part of the test that evaluates a candidate's comprehension and analysis of various passage types. You will work through a number of IELTS reading practice problems in this section that resemble actual test situations. These questions are designed to help you improve your ability to recognize essential concepts, extract particular facts, and make inferences. Practicing these IELTS reading problems can help you get comfortable with the structure and increase your confidence for the exam, regardless of whether you are studying for the Academic or General Training module.

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Section 1 PLANETS OF THE SUN

1. You know that the earth goes round the sun and the moon goes round the earth. You know also perhaps that there are several other bodies which like the earth go round the sun. All these, including our earth, are called planets of the sun. The moon is called a satellite of the earth because it hangs on to it. The other planets have also got their satellite. The sun and the planets with their satellites form a happy family. This is called the solar system. Solar means belonging to the sun, and the sun being the father of all the planets, the whole group is called the solar system.

2. At night you see thousands of stars in the sky. Only a few of these are the planets and these are really not called stars at all. Can you distinguish between a planet and a star? The planets are really quite tiny like our earth, compared to the stars but they look bigger in the sky because they are much nearer to us. Just as the moon, which is really quite a baby, looks as big because it is quite near to us. But the real way to distinguish the stars from the planets is to see if they twinkle or not. Stars twinkle, planets do not. That is because the planets only shine because they get the light of our sun. It is only the sunshine on the planets only shine because they get the light of the sun. It is only the sunshine on the planets that we see. The real stars are like our sun. They shine of themselves because they are very hot and burning. In reality our sun itself if a star, only it looks bigger as it is nearer and we see it as a great ball of fire. So, then our earth belongs to the family of the sun — the solar system.

3. Astronomers, those people who study the stars, tell us that long, ago the earth and all the planets were part of the sun. The sun was then as it is now a mass of flaming matter, terribly hot. Somehow little bits of the sun got loose and they shot out into the air. But they could not wholly get rid of their father, the sun. It was as if a rope was tied to them and they shot

out into the air. But they could not wholly get rid of their father, the sun. It was as if a rope was tied to them and they kept whirling round the sun.

4. In this way, our earth also shot out from the sun. It must have been very hot, but as it was very much smaller than the sun, it started to cool. The sun is also getting less hot but it will take millions of years to cool down. The earth took much less time to cool. When it was hot, nothing could live on it — no men or animal or plant or tree. Everything would have been

burnt up then.

5. So the earth cooled over a long time. Gradually the surface of the earth became cooler although the interior remained very hot. Even now if you go down a coal mine, it becomes hotter as you go down. When the earth cooled, all the water vapour in the air condensed into water and probably came down as rain. All this water filled the great hollows in the earth

and so the great oceans and seas were formed.

6. As the earth became cooler and the oceans also became possible for living to exist on the earth's surface or in the sea.

Questions 28-30

Choose the appropriate letter from A-D.

28. What is the whole group, of the sun, the planets and their satellite, is called?

A. Solar family.

B. Solar system.

C. Lunar system.

D. Planets family.

Answer: B

Supporting statement: The whole group is called the solar system.

Keywords: whole group, solar system

Keyword Location: Para 1, Lines 6-7

Explanation: The text states that a happy family is formed by the sun, planets, and their satellites. We refer to this as the solar system. Since the sun is the parent of all planets, the entire group is referred to as the solar system. The word "solar" implies "belonging to the sun."

29. Which of the two twinkle, stars or the planets?

A. Stars.

B. Planets.

C Neither of the two.

D. Both.

Answer: A

Supporting statement: Stars twinkle, planets do not.

Keywords: twinkle, planets

Keyword Location: Para 2, Line 6

Explanation: According to the text, the stars twinkle and the planets do not twinkle.

30. What are the astronomers?

A. they study the planets.

B. they study the moon.

C. they study the satellites.

D. they study the stars.

Answer: D

Supporting statement: Astronomers, those people who study the stars,

Keywords: Astronomers, stars

Keyword Location: Para 3, Line 1

Explanation: According to the text, people who study the sky, called astronomers, tell us that the Earth and all of the planets were once a part of the sun.

Questions 31-33

On the basis of your reading of the above passage, say whether the following statements are TRUE & FALSE.

Write the answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank number.

31. Our earth is a planet.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: All these, including our earth, are called planets of the sun.

Keywords: Earth, planets

Keyword Location: Para 1, Line 1

Explanation: The text states that the planet we live on is called Earth as it is the only planet that can sustain life.

32. The sun moves around the earth.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement:You know that the earth goes round the sun

Keywords: goes, round

Keyword Location: Para 1, Line 1

Explanation: The text states that the Earth goes around the sun as the sun is at the centre and the father of all the planets.

33. The moon goes round the sun.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: The moon goes round the earth.

Keywords: moon, round

Keyword Location: Para 1, Line 1

Explanation: The text states that the moon is a satellite of the Earth, meaning it goes around the Earth and not the Sun.

34. The sun is a star.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: In reality our sun itself if a star,

Keywords: reality, itself

Keyword Location: Para 2, Line 9

Explanation: The text states that the sun is also a star but it looks bigger as it is nearer and we see it as a great ball of fire.

35. The sun is the father of all planets.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: But they could not wholly get rid of their father, the sun.

Keywords: wholly, father

Keyword Location: Para 3, Line 3

Explanation: The text states that all the planets, including our Earth, came out of the sun, so the sun is said to be the father of all the planets.

36. After our earth shot out from the sun, it cooled over in a very short time.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: So the earth cooled over a long time.

Keywords: cooled, long time

Keyword Location: Para 5, Line 1

Explanation: The text states that it took a long time for the earth to cool down after it came out of the sun.

Questions 37-40

Use ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.

The earth goes round the sun and the (37)..................goes round the earth.

Answer: MOON

Supporting statement: You know that the earth goes round the sun and the moon goes round the earth.

Keywords: goes, round

Keyword Location: Para 1, Lines 1-2

Explanation: The text states that the Earth goes around the sun and the moon goes around the Earth.

Both the earth and the moon are called(38)............. the of the sun.

Answer: PLANETS

Supporting statement: All these, including our earth, are called planets of the sun.

Keywords: including, sun

Keyword Location: Para 1, Line 1

Explanation: The text states that as the sun is the father of all the planets and moon so all the planets including our earth are called the planets of the sun

The planets are quite (39)............like our earth.

Answer: TINY

Supporting statement: The planets are really quite tiny like our earth,

Keywords: planets, tiny

Keyword Location: Para 2, Lines 2-3

Explanation: The text states that the planets are small/tiny in size just like our planet earth.

The real way to distinguish the stars from the planets is to see if they (40).................or not.

Answer: TWINKLE

Supporting statement:But the real way to distinguish the stars from the planets is to see if they twinkle or not. Stars twinkle, planets do not.

Keywords: distinguish, twinkle

Keyword Location: Para 2, Line 5

Explanation: The text states that the one way to differentiate between stars and planets is to see if they are twinkling, as only stars twinkle and planets do not ,as they have no light of their own.

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