The History of Building Telegraph Lines IELTS Reading Answers

Dec 1, 2022

The History of Building Telegraph Lines IELTS Reading Answers consists of an IELTS Reading Passage and 14 questions to be completed in 20 minutes. The History of Building Telegraph Lines IELTS Reading Answers includes two types of questions including- true/false/not given, no more than two words/ a number. For answering true/false/not given questions, skim the passage and find the relevance of the statements to answer. To answer no more than two words/ a number, Candidates should maintain the word count for using only two words and answer by reading the IELTS passage efficiently. Reading the passage thoroughly would help candidates to understand the statement provided and answer it with the choice of options.

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Reading Passage Questions

The idea of electrical communication seems to have begun as long ago as 1746 when about 200 monks at a monastery in Paris arranged themselves in a line over a mile long, each holding ends of 25 ft iron wires. The abbot, also a scientist, discharged a primitive electrical battery into the wire, giving all the monks a simultaneous electrical shock. “This all sounds very silly, but is in fact extremely important because, firstly, they all said ‘ow’ which showed that you were sending a signal right along the line; and, secondly, they all said ‘ow’ at the same time, and that meant that you were sending the signal very quickly, “explains Tom Standage, author of the Victorian Internet and technology editor at the Economist. Given a more humane detection system, this could be a way of signaling over long distances.
With wars in Europe and colonies beyond, such a signaling system was urgently needed. All sorts of electrical possibilities were proposed, some of them quite ridiculous. Two Englishmen, William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone came up with a system in which dials were made to point at different letters, but that involved five wires and would have been expensive to construct.
Much simpler was that of an American, Samuel Morse, whose system only required a single wire to send a code of dots and dashes. At first, it was imagined that only a few highly skilled encoders would be able to use it but it soon became clear that many people could become proficient in Morse code. A system of lines strung on telegraph poles began to spread in Europe and America.
The next problem was to cross the sea. Britain, as an island with an empire, led the way. Any such cable to be insulated and the first breakthrough came with the discovery that a rubber-like latex from a tropical tree on the Malay peninsula could do the trick. It was called gutta-percha. The first attempt at a cross channel cable came in 1850. With thin wire and thick installation, it floated and had to be weighed down with a lead pipe.
It never worked well as the effect of water on its electrical properties was not understood, and it is reputed that a French fisherman hooked out a section and took it home as a strange new form of seaweed. The cable was too big for a single boat so two had to start in the middle of the Atlantic, join their cables and sail in opposite directions. Amazingly, they succeeded in 1858, and this enabled Queen Victoria to send a telegraph message to President Buchanan. However, the 98-word message took more than 19 hours to send and a misguided attempt to increase the speed by increasing the voltage resulted in the failure of the line a week later.
By 1870, a submarine cable was heading towards Australia. It seemed likely that it would come ashore at the northern port of Darwin from where it might connect around the coast to Queensland and New South Wales. It was an undertaking more ambitious than spanning an ocean. Flocks of sheep had to be driven with the 400 workers to provide food. They needed horses and bullock carts and, for the parched interior, camels. In the north, tropical rains left the teams flooded. In the centre, it seemed that they would die of thirst. One critical section in the red heart of Australia involved finding a route through the McDonnell mountain range and the finding water on the other side.
The water was not only essential for the construction team. There had to be telegraph repeater stations every few hundred miles to boost the signal and the staff obviously had to have a supply of water. Just as one mapping team was about to give up and resort to drinking brackish water, some aboriginals took pity on them. Altogether, 40,000 telegraph poles were used in the Australian overland wire. Some were cut from trees. Where there were no trees, or where termites ate the wood, steel poles were imported.
On Thursday, August 22, 1872, the overland line was completed and the first messages could be sent across the continent; and within a few months, Australia was at last in direct contact with England via the submarine cable, too. The line remained in service to bring news of the Japanese attack on Darwin in 1942. It could cost several pounds to send a message and it might take several hours for it to reach its destination on the other side of the globe, but the world would never be the same again. Governments could be in touch with their colonies. Traders could send cargoes based on demand and the latest prices. Newspapers could publish news that had just happened and was not many months old

Solution and Explanation

Questions 1-6:
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-6 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

Question 1- In the research of French scientists, the metal lines were used to send a message.

Answer: TRUE
Supporting Sentence: the 98-word message took more than 19 hours to send and a misguided attempt to increase the speed by increasing the voltage resulted in the failure of the line a week later.
Keywords: shopping, traditional
Keyword Location: Paragraph E
Explanation: When the French were successful in 1858, the author claims, Queen Victoria was able to telegraph President Buchanan. The 98-word message was sent, but it took more than 19 hours to do so. A week later, the line failed as a result of an ineffective attempt to increase the speed by raising the voltage..

Question 2- Abbots gave the monks an electrical shock at the same time, which constitutes the exploration of the long-distance signaling.

Answer: TRUE
Supporting Sentence: Given a more humane detection system, this could be a way of signaling over long distances.
Keywords: electrical shock, signaling
Keyword Location: Paragraph A
Explanation: The author referred to in paragraph A In 1746, it appears that the concept of electrical communication first emerged. When over 200 monks at a Parisian monastery lined up with each holding the ends of 25-foot iron wires in a line that was over a mile long. The monks were all struck by an electrical shock at the same time when the abbot, a scientist by training, discharged a crude electrical battery into the wire. In the event that a more forgiving detection technology is created, this might be a method of communicating across great distances.

Question 3- Using Morse Code to send message need to simplify the message firstly.

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: The author tries to illustrate in paragraph C that only a small number of really expert encoders could use it. Later, it was discovered that virtually anyone could learn how to read Morse code. As a result, the passage does not contain the sentence above.

Question 4- Morse was a famous inventor before he invented the code

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: The author attempts to emulate Samuel Morse in paragraph C, whose technique only required a single wire to communicate a code of dots and dashes. As a result, the passage does not contain the sentence above.

Question 5- The water is significant to early telegraph repeater on the continent.

Answer: TRUE
Supporting Sentence: There had to be telegraph repeater stations every few hundred miles to boost the signal and the staff obviously had to have a supply of water.
Keywords: signal and staff
Keyword Location: Paragraph G
Explanation: In paragraph G, Water was not only crucial for the construction crew, according to the author. Every few hundred miles, there needed to be telegraph repeater stations to boost the signal, and the workers needed access to water.

Question 6- US Government offered fund to the 1st overland line across the continent.

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: No relevant information was found based on the question in the reading passage.

Questions 7-14:
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/ OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 7-14 on your answer sheet.

Question 7- Why is the disadvantage for Charles Wheatstone’s telegraph system to fail in the beginning?

Answer: It’s expensive
Supporting Sentence: Two Englishmen, William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone came up with a system in which dials were made to point at different letters, but that involved five wires and would have been expensive to construct.
Keywords: William Cooke and Charles
Keyword Location: Paragraph B
Explanation: In paragraph B, according to the author, such a communication system was a necessity because of the battles raging in Europe and other colonies. Electrical applications of every kind were suggested, some of which were pretty absurd. A device with dials pointing to various letters was created by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone, but it required five wires and was prohibitively expensive to design.

Question 8- What material was used for insulating cable across the sea?

Answer: latex
Supporting Sentence: Any such cable to be insulated and the first breakthrough came with the discovery that a rubber-like latex from a tropical tree on the Malay peninsula could do the trick.
Keywords: Malay peninsula
Keyword Location: Paragraph D
Explanation: The author mentioned that Britain, an empire-ruled island, was a pioneer. The discovery led to the first innovation, which required any such cable to be insulated. That the solution rested in a rubber-like latex derived from a tropical tree on the Malay peninsula. Gutta-percha was the name of it.

Question 9- What was used by British pioneers to increase the weight of the cable in the sea?

Answer: lead pipe
Supporting Sentence: The first attempt at a cross channel cable came in 1850. With thin wire and thick installation, it floated and had to be weighed down with a lead pipe.
Keywords: weighed, lead pipe.
Keyword Location: Paragraph D
Explanation: The first effort at a cross-channel cable was made in 1850, the author noted. It was named gutta-percha. In 1850, it was the first attempt made to build a cross-channel cable. It floated and needed to be weighted down with a lead pipe due to its thin wire and heavy installation. Due to the thin wire and thick installation, it floated and needed to be grounded with a lead pipe.

Question 10- What did Fisherman mistakenly take the cable as?

Answer: Unusual Seaweed
Supporting Sentence: It never worked well as the effect of water on its electrical properties was not understood, and it is reputed that a French fisherman hooked out a section and took it home as a strange new form of seaweed.
Keywords: strange, seaweed
Keyword Location: Paragraph E
Explanation: The author claimed that the relationship between water and its electrical properties was unclear. According to a French fisherman, who acquired a piece and brought it home as a novel type of seaweed. Two boats were required to start in the middle of the Atlantic, attach their cables, and then sail in opposite ways because the cable was too large for a single vessel.

Question 11- Who was the message firstly sent to across the Atlantic by the Queen?

Answer: President Buchanan
Supporting Sentence: Amazingly, they succeeded in 1858, and this enabled Queen Victoria to send a telegraph message to President Buchanan.
Keywords: cables and sail
Keyword Location: Paragraph E
Explanation: Within the paragraph E, the author mentions that a, French fishermen took a piece they had fished out and brought it home to use as a bizarre new type of seaweed. Two boats were required to start in the middle of the Atlantic, attach their cables, and then sail because the cable was too large for one boat to use alone.

Question 12- What giant animals were used to carry the cable through the desert?

Answer: camels
Supporting Sentence: They needed horses and bullock carts and, for the parched interior, camels.
Keywords: horses and bullock carts
Keyword Location: Paragraph F
Explanation: According to the author Australia was the destination of an underwater cable in the year 1870. It appeared plausible that it would touch down in Darwin, Australia's northernmost port, from where it may link to the coasts of Queensland and New South Wales. More ambitious than crossing an ocean, it was a project. To supply for the 400 labourers, flocks of sheep had to be driven. They required camels for the dry interior as well as horses and bullock waggons.

Question 13- What weather condition did it delay the construction in north Australia?

Answer: tropical rain
Supporting Sentence: They needed horses and bullock carts and, for the parched interior, camels. In the north, tropical rains left the teams flooded.
Keywords: flooded, McDonnell mountain
Keyword Location: Paragraph F
Explanation: The author mentioned they required horses, bullock carts, and camels for the parched interior. Tropical rains in the north inundated the teams. They appeared to be dying of thirst in the center. Obtaining a passage through the McDonnell mountain range and finding water on the other side was a vital piece in Australia's red heart.

Question 14- How long did it take to send a telegraph message from Australia to England

Answer: several hours
Supporting Sentence: It could cost several pounds to send a message and it might take several hours for it to reach its destination on the other side of the globe, but the world would never be the same again.
Keywords: destination, globe
Keyword Location: Paragraph H
Explanation: The author mentioned The line remained in service to bring news of the Japanese attack on Darwin in 1942. Sending a message could cost many pounds, and it could take several hours for it to reach its intended recipient on the other side of the planet. The world would never be the same.

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