The Great Australian Fence Reading Answers
The Great Australian Fence Reading Answers contains a passage and questions, assessing candidates' reading ability. In IELTS Reading, candidates must respond to a range of questions, each of which is different. Students' comprehension skills are tested in the IELTS Reading part utilizing a variety of issue types. There are two types of questions for the passage "The Great Australian Fence Reading Answers":
- Yes/No/Not Given
- Choose the appropriate letters
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Section 1
Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions
The Great Australian Fence Reading Answers
- A war has been going on for almost a hundred years between the sheep farmers of Australia and the dingo, Australia’s wild dog. To protect their livelihood, the farmers built a wire fence, 3,307 miles of continuous wire mesh, reaching from the coast of South Australia all the way to the cotton fields of eastern Queensland, just short of the Pacific Ocean.
- The Fence is Australia’s version of the Great Wall of China, but even longer, erected to keep out hostile invaders, in this case hordes of yellow dogs. The empire it preserves is that of the woolgrowers, sovereigns of the world’s second largest sheep flock, after China’s - some 123 million head - and keepers of a wool export business worth four billion dollars. Never mind that more and more people - conservationists, politicians, taxpayers and animal lovers - say that such a barrier would never be allowed today on ecological grounds. With sections of it almost a hundred years old, the dog fence has become, as conservationist Lindsay Fairweather ruefully admits, ‘an icon of Australian frontier ingenuity’.
- To appreciate this unusual outback monument and to meet the people whose livelihoods depend on it, I spent part of an Australian autumn traveling the wire. It’s known by different names in different states: the Dog Fence in South Australia, the Border Fence in New South Wales and the Barrier Fence in Queensland. I would call it simply the Fence.
- For most of its prodigious length, this epic fence winds like a river across a landscape that, unless a big rain has fallen, scarcely has rivers. The eccentric route, prescribed mostly by property lines, provides a sampler of outback topography: the Fence goes over sand dunes, past salt lakes, up and down rock-strewn hills, through dense scrub and across barren plains.
- The Fence stays away from towns. Where it passes near a town, it has actually become a tourist attraction visited on bus tours. It marks the traditional dividing line between cattle and sheep. Inside, where the dingoes are legally classified as vermin, they are shot, poisoned and trapped. Sheep and dingoes do not mix and the Fence sends that message mile after mile.
- What is this creature that by itself threatens an entire industry, inflicting several millions of dollars of damage a year despite the presence of the world’s most obsessive fence? Cousin to the coyote and the jackal, descended from the Asian wolf, Cam's lupus dingo is an introduced species of wild dog. Skeletal remains indicate that the dingo was introduced to Australia more than 3,500 years ago probably with Asian seafarers who landed on the north coast. The adaptable dingo spread rapidly and in a short time became the top predator, killing off all its marsupial competitors. The dingo looks like a small wolf with a long nose, short pointed ears and a bushy tail. Dingoes rarely bark; they yelp and howl. Standing about 22 inches at the shoulder - slightly taller than a coyote - the dingo is Australia’s largest land carnivore.
- The woolgrowers’ war against dingoes, which is similar to the sheep ranchers’ rage against coyotes in the US, started not long after the first European settlers disembarked in 1788, bringing with them a cargo of sheep. Dingoes officially became outlaws in 1830 when governments placed a bounty on their heads. Today bounties for problem dogs killing sheep inside the Fence can reach $500. As pioneers penetrated the interior with their flocks of sheep, fences replaced shepherds until, by the end of the 19th century, thousands of miles of barrier fencing crisscrossed the vast grazing lands.
- The dingo started out as a quiet observer,’ writes Roland Breckwoldt, in A Very Elegant Animal: The Dingo, ‘but soon came to represent everything that was dark and dangerous on the continent.’ It is estimated that since sheep arrived in Australia, dingo numbers have increased a hundredfold. Though dingoes have been eradicated from parts of Australia, an educated guess puts the population at more than a million.
- Eventually government officials and graziers agreed that one well-maintained fence, placed on the outer rim of sheep country and paid for by taxes levied on woolgrowers, should supplant the maze of private netting. By 1960, three states joined their barriers to form a single dog fence.
- The intense private battles between wool growers and dingoes have usually served to define the Fence only in economic terms. It marks the difference between profit and loss. Yet the Fence casts a much broader ecological shadow for it has become a kind of terrestrial dam, deflecting the flow of animals inside and out. The ecological side effects appear most vividly at Sturt National Park. In 1845, explorer Charles Sturt led an expedition through these parts on a futile search for an inland sea. For Sturt and other early explorers, it was a rare event to see a kangaroo. Now they are ubiquitous for without a native predator the kangaroo population has exploded inside the Fence. Kangaroos are now cursed more than dingoes. They have become the rivals of sheep, competing for water and grass. In response state governments cull* more than three million kangaroos a year to keep Australia’s national symbol from overrunning the pastoral lands. Park officials, who recognise that the fence is to blame, respond to the excess of kangaroos by saying The fence is there, and we have to live with it.
Section 2
Solution with Explanation
Question 1-4:
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
- Why was the fence built?
- to separate the sheep from the cattle
- to stop the dingoes from being slaughtered by farmers
- to act as a boundary between properties
- to protect the Australian wool industry
Answer: D
Supporting Statement: To protect their livelihood, the farmers built a wire fence, 3,307 miles of continuous wire mesh, reaching from the coast of South Australia all the way to the cotton fields of eastern Queensland, just short of the Pacific Ocean.
Keywords: fence, built
Keywords Location: Paragraph 1, Line 2
Explanation: The fence was built to protect the livelihood of farmers which is the Wool industry. Hence, to protect the Australian wool industry is the correct answer. Thus, the correct answer is “D”.
Read More IELTS Reading Related Articles
- On what point do the conservationists and politicians agree?
- Wool exports are vital to the economy.
- The fence poses a threat to the environment.
- The fence acts as a useful frontier between states.
- The number of dogs needs to be reduced.
Answer: B
Supporting Statement: such a barrier would never be allowed today on ecological grounds.
Keywords: point, conservationists, politicians, agree
Keywords Location: Paragraph 2, 3rd statement
Explanation: “A threat” and “a barrier never be allowed” have the same meaning in this context.
“Environment” and “ecological grounds” are interchangeable in this case. As these barriers pose a threat to the environment, hence, the answer is correct.
- Why did the author visit Australia?
- to study Australian farming methods
- to investigate how the fence was constructed
- because he was interested in life around the fence
- because he wanted to learn more about the wool industry
Answer: C
Supporting Statement: To appreciate this unusual outback monument and to meet the people
Keywords: author, visit, Australia
Keywords Location: Paragraph 3, Line 1
Explanation: “Life around the fence” & “meet people whose livelihoods depend on it (fence)” have the same meaning in this context. “Interested in” & “appreciate” have the same meaning in this context. Hence, C is the correct answer
- How does the author feel about the fence?
- impressed
- delighted
- shocked
- annoyed
Answer: A
Supporting Statement: For most of its prodigious length, this epic fence winds like a river across a landscape that, unless a big rain has fallen, scarcely has rivers
Keywords: fence, epic
Keywords Location: Paragraph 4, Line 1
Explanation: We could easily choose Option A as the correct answer after reading paragraph 4 because: “Impressed” and “prodigious” are interchangeable, having the same meaning in this case. Thus, the correct answer is “A”.
Questions 5-11:
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
In boxes 5-11 on your answer sheet write
YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO, if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
- The fence serves a different purpose in each state.
Answer: NO
Supporting Statement: It’s known by different names in different states: the Dog Fence in South Australia, the Border Fence in New South Wales, and the Barrier Fence in Queensland. I would call it simply the Fence.
Keywords: fence, serves, different purpose, state
Keywords Location: Paragraph 3, Line 3-5
Explanation: We can conclude from paragraph 3 that "the fence just has different names in different states," not that each state has a different purpose. Thus, the correct answer is “NO”.
- The fence is only partially successful.
Answer: YES
Supporting Statement: Never mind that more and more people - conservationists, politicians, taxpayers and animal lovers - say that such a barrier would never be allowed today on ecological grounds.
Keywords: never, allowed
Keywords Location: Paragraph 2, Line 3
Explanation: The fence would not be allowed based on ecological grounds though it serves the purpose. Hence, it is partially successful.
- The dingo is indigenous to Australia.
Answer: No
Supporting Statement: the dingo has introduced to Australia more than 3,500 years ago probably with Asian seafarer
Keywords: dingo, indigenous, Australia
Keywords Location: Paragraph 6, Line 4-5
Explanation: After reading paragraph 6, “Indigenous” and “was introduced to” contradict each other in this case. As they are opposite to each other, the correct answer is “NO”
- Dingoes have flourished as a result of the sheep industry.
Answer: YES
Supporting Statement: It is estimated that since sheep arrived in Australia, dingo numbers have increased a hundredfold
Keywords: Dingoes, flourished, the sheep industry
Keywords Location: Paragraph 8, Line 3-4
Explanation: After reading paragraph 8, “Sheep industry” & “sheep arrived in Australia” have the same meaning in this case.“Flourished” refers to “ numbers have increased a hundredfold”.
Thus, the correct answer is “YES”
- Dingoes are known to attack humans.
Answer: NOT GIVEN.
- Kangaroos have increased in number because of the fence.
Answer: YES
Supporting Statement: Now they are ubiquitous for without a native predator the kangaroo population has exploded inside the Fence
Keywords: Kangaroos, increased in number, fence
Keywords Location: Paragraph 10, Line 7-8
Explanation: After reading paragraph 10, “Increased in number” and “ubiquitous” have the same meaning in this case. With the predator gone due to the fence, the number of kangaroos have also increased. Thus, the correct answer is “YES”.
- The author does not agree with the culling of kangaroos.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Questions 12-13:
Choose the appropriate letters A-D.
Write them in boxes 12-13 on your answer sheet.
- When did the authorities first acknowledge the dingo problem?
- 1788
- 1830
- 1845
- 1960
Answer: B
Supporting Statement: Dingoes officially became outlaws in 1830 when governments placed a bounty on their heads.
Keywords: authorities, acknowledge, dingo problem
Keywords Location: Paragraph 7, Line 3-4
Explanation: After reading paragraph 7, “First acknowledge” and “officially became outlaws” have the same meaning in this case. Hence the authorities first acknowledged the problem in 1830 is the correct answer.
- How do the park officials feel about the fence?
- philosophical
- angry
- pleased
- proud13
Answer: A
Supporting Statement: Park officials, who recognize that the fence is to blame, respond to the excess of kangaroos by saying The fence is there, and we have to live with it.
Keywords: park officials, about the fence
Keywords Location: Paragraph 10, Last Line
Explanation: park officials say that the fence is to blame but as it is there, they will have to live with it. This contradicting opinion is philosophical and hence, it is the correct answer.
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