Ritual Structures IELTS Reading Answers

Aug 10, 2023

Ritual Structures IELTS Reading Answers is a topic of the IELTS general reading topic which includes
14 questions. The specified IELTS topic generates choose the correct letter and choose one word type of questions. 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 Ritual Structures IELTS Reading Answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

New research sheds light on the disappearance of an ancient society

The Harappan Civilisation of ancient Pakistan and India flourished 5,000 years ago, but a thousand years later their cities were abandoned. The Harappan Civilisation was a sophisticated Bronze Age society who built 'megacities' and traded internationally in luxury craft products, and yet seemed to have left almost no depictions of themselves. But their lack of self-imagery - at a time when the Egyptians were carving and painting representations of themselves all over their temples is only part of the mystery.
'There is plenty of archaeological evidence to tell us about the rise of the Harappan Civilisation, but relatively little about its fall,' explains archaeologist Dr Cameron Petrie of the University of Cambridge. 'As populations increased, cities were built that had great baths, craft workshops, palaces and halls laid out in distinct sectors. Houses were arranged in blocks, with wide main streets and narrow alleyways, and many had their own wells and drainage systems.
It was very much a "thriving" civilisation. Then around 2100 BC, a transformation began. Streets went uncleaned, buildings started to be abandoned, and ritual structures fell out of use. After their final demise, a millennium passed before really large-scale cities appeared once more in South Asia.
Some have claimed that major glacier-fed rivers changed their course, dramatically affecting the water supply and agriculture; or that the cities could not cope with an increasing population, they exhausted their resource base, the trading economy broke down or they succumbed to invasion and conflict; and yet others that climate change caused an environmental change that affected food and water provision. It is unlikely that there was a single cause for the decline of civilization. But the fact is, until now, we have had little solid evidence from the area for most of the key elements,' said Petrie. 'A lot of the archaeological debate has really only been well argued speculation.
A research team led by Petrie, together with Dr Ravindanath Singh of Banaras Hindu University in India, found early in their investigations that many of the archaeological sites were not where they were supposed to be, completely altering understanding of the way that this region was inhabited in the past. When they carried out a survey of how the larger area was settled in relation to sources of water, they found inaccuracies in the published geographic locations of ancient settlements ranging from several hundred meters to many kilometers.
They realized that any attempts to use the existing data were likely to be fundamentally flawed. Over the course of several seasons of fieldwork they carried out new surveys, finding an astonishing 198 settlement sites that were previously unknown.
Now, research published by Dr Yama Dixit and Professor David Hodell, both from Cambridge's Department of Earth Sciences, has provided the first definitive evidence for climate change affecting the plains of north-western India, where hundreds of Harappan sites are known to have been situated. The researchers gathered shells of Melanoides tuberculate snails from the sediments of an ancient lake and used geochemical analysis as a means of tracing the climate history of the region.
'As today, the major source of water into the lake is likely to have been the summer monsoon, says Dixit. 'But we have observed that there was an abrupt change about 4,100 years ago, when the amount of evaporation from the lake exceeded the rainfall - indicative of a drought.' Hodell adds: 'We estimate that the weakening of the Indian summer monsoon climate lasted about 200 years before recovering to the previous conditions, which we still see today.
It has long been thought that other great Bronze Age civilisations also declined at a similar time, with a global-scale climate event being seen as the cause. While it is possible that these localscale processes were linked, the real archaeological interest lies in understanding the impact of these larger-scale events on different environments and different populations. 'Considering the vast area of the Harappan Civilisation with its variable weather systems, eplains Singh, 'it is essential that we obtain more climate data from areas close to the two great cities at Mohenjodaro and Harappa and also from the Indian Punjab.'
Petrie and Singh's team is now examining archaeological records and trying to understand details of how people led their lives in the region five millennia ago. They are analyzing grains cultivated at the time, and trying to work out whether they were grown under extreme conditions of water stress, and whether they were adjusting the combinations of crops they were growing for different weather systems.
They are also looking at whether the types of pottery used, and other aspects of their material culture, were distinctive to specific regions or were more similar across larger areas. This gives insight into the types of interactive networks the population was involved in, and whether those changed.
Petrie believes that archaeologists are in a unique position to investigate how past societies responded to environmental and climatic change. 'By investigating responses to environmental pressures and threats, we can learn from the past to engage with the public, and the relevant governmental and administrative bodies, to be more proactive in issues such as the management and administration of water supply, the balance of urban and rural development, and the importance of preserving cultural heritage in the future.'

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Questions 27-31
Reading Passage 3 has eight paragraphs, A-H. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.
You may use any letter more than once

Question 27: proposed explanations for the decline of the Harappan Civilisation

Answer: C
Supporting statement: “...and yet others that climate change caused an environmental change that affected food and water provision. It is unlikely that there was a single cause for the decline of civilization…”
Keywords: climate change, environmental change, food, water, provision, decline of civilization
Keyword Location: para C, line 1
Explanation: According to the writer, some have claimed that major glacier-fed rivers changed their course, dramatically affecting the water supply and agriculture; or that the cities could not cope with an increasing population, they exhausted their resource base, the trading economy broke down or they succumbed to invasion and conflict. It is unlikely that there was a single cause for the decline of civilization.

Question 28: reference to a present-day application of some archaeological research findings

Answer: H
Supporting statement: “...Petrie believes that archaeologists are in a unique position to investigate how past societies responded to environmental and climatic change…”
Keywords: Petrie, archaeologists, unique position, investigate, past societies, environmental, climatic
Keyword Location: para H, line 1
Explanation: According to the writer, Petrie believes that archaeologists are in a unique position to investigate how past societies responded to environmental and climatic change. 'By investigating responses to environmental pressures and threats, we can learn from the past to engage with the public, and the relevant governmental and administrative bodies, to be more proactive in issues

Question 29: a difference between the Harappan Civilisation and another culture of the same period

Answer: A
Supporting statement: “...The Harappan Civilisation was a sophisticated Bronze Age society who built 'megacities' and traded internationally in luxury craft products…”
Keywords: Harappan Civilisation, sophisticated, Bronze Age, society, megacities, traded, internationally, luxury, craft products
Keyword Location: para A, line 2
Explanation: According to the writer, the Harappan Civilisation was a sophisticated Bronze Age society who built 'megacities' and traded internationally in luxury craft products, and yet seemed to have left almost no depictions of themselves. But their lack of self-imagery - at a time when the Egyptians were carving and painting representations of themselves all over their temples is only part of the mystery

Question 30: a description of some features of Harappan urban design

Answer: B
Supporting statement: “...As populations increased, cities were built that had great baths, craft workshops, palaces and halls laid out in distinct sectors…”
Keywords: populations, increased, cities, built, great baths, craft workshops, palaces, halls, distinct sectors.
Keyword Location: para B, line 1
Explanation: According to the writer, there is plenty of archaeological evidence to tell us about the rise of the Harappan Civilisation. As populations increased, cities were built that had great baths, craft workshops, palaces and halls laid out in distinct sectors. Houses were arranged in blocks, with wide main streets and narrow alleyways, and many had their own wells and drainage systems.

Question 31: reference to the discovery of errors made by previous archaeologists

Answer: D
Supporting statement: “...many of the archaeological sites were not where they were supposed to be, completely altering…”
Keywords: archaeological sites, completely, altering, understanding, region, inhabited
Keyword Location: para D, line 1
Explanation: According to the writer, many of the archaeological sites were not where they were supposed to be, completely altering understanding of the way that this region was inhabited in the past.

Questions 32-36
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Looking at evidence of climate change Yama Dixit and David Hodell have found the first definitive evidence of climate change affecting the plains of north-western India thousands of years ago. By collecting the 32.................. of snails and analyzing them, they discovered evidence of a change in water levels in a 33.................... in the region. This occurred when there was less 34........ than evaporation, and suggests that there was an extended period of drought. Petrie and Singh's team are using archaeological records to look at 35........ from five millennia ago, in order to know whether people had adapted their agricultural practices to changing climatic conditions. They are also examining objects including 36........... so as to find out about links between inhabitants of different parts of the region and whether these changed over time.

Question 32:

Answer: shells
Supporting statement: “...The researchers gathered shells of Melanoides tuberculate snails from the sediments of an ancient lake…”
Keywords: researchers, shells, Melanoides tuberculate, snails, sediments, ancient lake, geochemical analysis, climate history
Keyword Location: para E, line 2
Explanation: According to the writer, the researchers gathered shells of Melanoides tuberculate snails from the sediments of an ancient lake and used geochemical analysis as a means of tracing the climate history of the region.

Question 33:

Answer: lake
Supporting statement: “...observed that there was an abrupt change about 4,100 years ago, when the amount of evaporation from the lake exceeded the rainfall - indicative of a drought…”
Keywords: 4,100 years ago, evaporation, exceeded the rainfall, indicative, drought
Keyword Location: para E, line 4
Explanation: According to the writer, they observed that there was an abrupt change about 4,100 years ago, when the amount of evaporation from the lake exceeded the rainfall - indicative of a drought.

Question 34:

Answer: rainfall
Supporting statement: “...observed that there was an abrupt change about 4,100 years ago, when the amount of evaporation from the lake exceeded the rainfall - indicative of a drought…”
Keywords: 4,100 years ago, evaporation, exceeded the rainfall, indicative, drought
Keyword Location: para E, line 4
Explanation: According to the writer, they observed that there was an abrupt change about 4,100 years ago, when the amount of evaporation from the lake exceeded the rainfall - indicative of a drought.

Question 35:

Answer: grains
Supporting statement: “...They are analyzing grains cultivated at the time, and trying to work out whether they were grown under extreme conditions of water stress…”
Keywords: grains, cultivated, extreme conditions, water stress, combinations of crops, weather systems
Keyword Location: para G, line 2
Explanation: According to the writer, Petrie and Singh's team examined archaeological records and analyzed grains cultivated at the time, and tried to work out whether they were grown under extreme conditions of water stress, and whether they were adjusting the combinations of crops they were growing for different weather systems.

Question 36:

Answer: pottery
Supporting statement: “...They are also looking at the types of pottery used, and other aspects of their material culture…”
Keywords: types of pottery, material culture, distinctive, specific regions, larger areas
Keyword Location: para G, line 3
Explanation: According to the writer, Petrie and Singh's team is looking at whether the types of pottery used, and other aspects of their material culture, were distinctive to specific regions or were more similar across larger areas. This gives insight into the types of interactive networks the population was involved in, and whether those changed.

Questions 37-40

Look at the following statements (Questions 3840) and the list of researchers below. Match each statement with the correct
researcher, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter, A, B, C or D, in boxes 3740 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.

Question 37: Finding further information about changes to environmental conditions in the region is vital.

Answer: B
Supporting statement: “...archaeological sites were not where they were supposed to be, completely altering understanding of the way that this region was inhabited in the past…”
Keywords: research team, Petrie, Dr Ravindanath Singh, Banaras Hindu University, archaeological sites, inhabited
Keyword Location: para D, line 1
Explanation: According to the writer, Petrie along with Dr Ravindanath Singh of Banaras Hindu University in India, found early in their investigations that many of the archaeological sites were not where they were supposed to be, completely altering understanding of the way that this region was inhabited in the past.

Question 38: Examining previous patterns of behavior may have long-term benefits.

Answer: A
Supporting statement: “...Petrie believes that archaeologists are in a unique position to investigate how past societies responded to environmental and climatic change…”
Keywords:Petrie, archaeologists, unique, position, investigate, past societies, environmental, climatic change
Keyword Location: para H, line 1
Explanation: According to the writer, Petrie believes that archaeologists are in a unique position to investigate how past societies responded to environmental and climatic change. By investigating responses to environmental pressures and threats, they learnt from the past to engage with the public, and the relevant governmental and administrative bodies, to be more proactive in issues such as the management and administration of water supply, etc.

Question 39: Rough calculations indicate the approximate length of a period of water shortage.

Answer: D
Supporting statement: “...We estimate that the weakening of the Indian summer monsoon climate lasted about 200 years before recovering to the previous conditions…”
Keywords: Hodell, weakening , Indian, summer, monsoon, climate, 200 years, recovering, previous conditions
Keyword Location: para E, line 5
Explanation: According to the writer, Hodell estimated that the weakening of the Indian summer monsoon climate lasted about 200 years before recovering to the previous conditions, which we still see today.

Question 40: Information about the decline of the Harappan Civilisation has been lacking.

Answer: A
Supporting statement: “...there is plenty of archaeological evidence to tell us about the rise of the Harappan Civilisation, but relatively little about its fall…”
Keywords: plenty, archaeological, evidence, rise, Harappan Civilisation, fall
Keyword Location: para B, line 1
Explanation: According to the writer, archaeologist Dr Cameron Petrie of the University of Cambridge explains that there is plenty of archaeological evidence to tell us about the rise of the Harappan Civilisation, but relatively little about its fall.

List of Researchers