The Pursuit Of Knowledge IELTS Academic Reading Sample with Explanation
IELTS Academic Reading section contains three passages and forty questions. There are different types of questions found in each IELTS academic reading passage. This IELTS reading sample - The Pursuit Of Knowledge is an IELTS Academic reading topic. The IELTS reading passage contains the following question types from IELTS Academic Reading Question Types:
- Sentence Completion
- Short- answer question
- Yes/No/ Not- Given
IELTS Reading section tests the reading proficiency of the candidates through a passage and follow-up questions. There are about 40 questions of different types. The section tests the understanding ability through different task types.
Check: Get 10 Free Sample Papers
Check: Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for Free Trial Class Now
Section 1
Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions
The Pursuit Of Knowledge IELTS Academic Reading Sample
- According to the great English lexicographer Samuel Johnson, knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it (Boswell Life vol. 2 p, 383 18 April 1775). In the information-driven world we now inhabit, the latter has assumed a much greater level of importance.
- At the time of the European Renaissance, which spanned the fourteenth, fifteenth and six-teenth centuries, it was considered possible for the educated, well-read man, the so-called Renaissance man, to possess the sum total of human knowledge. Admittedly, the body of knowledge then available was restricted, being held firmly in check by several important factors; the paucity of books in circulation at that time; the difficulty of acquiring copies of the texts; the need to copy texts by hand; and the cost of doing so. The example of Lupus of Ferrieres’ search for the Arsrhetorica of Fortunatus in the ninth century was repeated again and again throughout the Latin West until the momentous advent of printing in the middle of the fifteenth century. Printed books saw the end of some of the practical limitations placed on the spread of human knowledge. The first revolution in Information technology had begun.
- Renaissance man was rapidly left behind by this development; and, henceforth, it would be increasingly difficult for the educated man to cope with the expansion of knowledge that flowed through Europe via the medium of movable type. In today’s world, the scenario could hardly be more different. The most well-read individual, whom we could legitimately call information man, or homo sapiens, would certainly be considerably more knowledgeable than Renaissance man, Yet, because of the ever-expanding increase in the sum total of human knowledge over the latter half of the last millennium, and the changes in the world of technology, easy access to information has reduced the stature of the educated individual. All that he can hope to be now is an expert in a narrow field, not the all-knowing polymath of yesteryear.
- It Is not surprising to see people overwhelmed by the unlimited stream of Information. There is simply too much of it to assimilate, and it is difficult to know what to do with the data once it is received; which brings us back to Johnson’s words. But we need to add another dimension to his dictum, one which was probably true in his time, but is even more pertinent today: people need to be able to live the knowledge they acquire and not just know it or know where to find it. Our deficiency in this regard is, perhaps, the most singular failure of the modern information age.
- Acquisitiveness is a natural human Instinct. Children collect cards of footballers, or whatever is the latest fad, Stamps, coins and books are targets for children and adult collectors (dike, as their basic instincts are played upon and nurtured by market forces. The desire to gather knowledge is nothing new. What is astonishing, however, Is the way in which people treat the knowledge ones It has been collected. It is as if the collection were an end in Itself; and herein lies the great deception, We have turned the world into a large machine of information, a veritable vortex into which we are all being Inexorably sucked, People beaver away amassing raw data, labouring under the misapprehension that they are doing something worthwhile when all that is really happening is the movement of information from one place to another, We should hardly be surprised that, as this becomes apparent, disillusionment and stress in the workplace arc becoming sadly the all too common consequences.
- The world Is not really the richer for having the current wealth of knowledge at its fingertips. It is like standing amongst the wealth of the British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationals in Paris or other great libraries and not being able to read. So what is to be done? Training in collecting and processing relevant information, followed by learning to collate, analyse and select or discard is the obvious solution, But there is such a dearth of people who know what to do that one remains pessimistic.
The pursuit of knowledge is sadly not all it is cracked up to be.
Section 2
Solution With Explanation
Question 1-7: Sentence Completion
Complete the sentences below. Use no more than four words from the passage to complete each blank space.
Q1. Samuel Johnson was an___________________.
Answer: English lexicographer
Supporting sentence: according to the great English lexicographer Samuel Johnson, knowledge is of two kinds.
Keywords: Lexicographer, English
Keyword location: Paragraph 1; line1
Explanation: It is mentioned in the first line of the first paragraph that Samuel Johnson distinguished knowledge into two types; 1st - where we know the subject itself 2. We know where to find information on it.
Read More IELTS Reading Samples
Q2. Renaissance man supposedly possessed all__________________.
Answer: (of) Human knowledge
Supporting sentence: It was considered possible for the educated, well-read man; the so-called Renaissance man to possess the sum total of human knowledge.
Keywords: Educated, well-read man, Renaissance, Human Knowledge
Keyword location: Paragraph 2; line 2-3
Explanation: Line number 2 and 3 in the second paragraph clearly mentions that it is possible for a well-educated and well- read man or a Renaissance man to possess all of the human knowledge.
Q3. The spread of knowledge changed with the all-important___________________.
Answer: Advent of printing
Supporting sentence: ‘The example of Lupus of Ferriere search for the Ars Rhetorica of Fortunatus in the ninth century was repeated again and again throughout the Latin West until the momentous advent of printing in the middle of the fifteenth century’.
Keywords: Advent, Printing, Ars Rhetorica of Fortunatus, Ninth Century, Latin West
Keyword location: Paragraph 2; Line 7th – 8th
Explanation: The eighth line of second paragraph clearly mentions how advents of printing helped people by easing down their labor in repetitive writing of the same text again and again.
Q4. According to the writer, today’s information man knows more than_______________.
Answer: Renaissance man
Supporting sentence: ‘The most well-read individual whom we could legitimately call information man or homo-sapiens, would certainly be considerably more knowledgeable than Renaissance man’.
Keywords: Individual, information, man, homo-sapiens, knowledgeable.
Keyword location: Paragraph 4; line 2nd – 3rd
Explanation: Line 2nd of paragraph four states that in today’s world a well- read individual and a educated person is considered more knowledgeable than a Renaissance man.
Q5. The standing of the modern educated man has been diminished by _________________.
Answer: Easy access to information/easily accessible information/easy information access
Supporting sentence: ‘Easy access to information has reduced the stature of the educated individual’.
Keywords: Easy, Access, information, stature, educated man.
Keyword location: Paragraph 4; line 5th- 6th.
Explanation: line number 5th and 6th of fourth paragraph state that the changes in worlds technology has brought easy access to information which in- turn has led to diminishing the stature of educated individuals.
Q6. The polymath of the Renaissance is described as_______________________ .
Answer: All- knowing
Supporting sentence: ‘The changes in the world of technology; easy access to information has reduced the stature of the educated individual. All that he can hope to be now is an expert in a narrow field, not the all-knowing polymath of yesteryear’.
Keywords: Yesteryear, polymath, Renaissance man, Human knowledge, all- Knowing.
Keyword location: Paragraph 4; line 6th – 8th
Explanation: In the passage it is clearly mentioned that Renaissance man is the one who possess all of the human knowledge and here in paragraph fourth; line 6th and 7th clearly state that educated individuals can now choose to be expert in particular filed unlike the renaissance man of yesteryear who knew everything.
Q7. In today’s world, people’s arcs are weighed down by the endless ______________.
Answer: Stream of Information
Supporting sentence: ‘It is not surprising to see people overwhelmed by the unlimited stream of Information, there is simply too much of it to assimilate and it is difficult to know what to do with the data once it is received’.
Keywords: Stream, too much, information, assimilates, data, overwhelmed.
Keyword location: Paragraph 5; line 1st- 2nd.
Explanation: In line first and second of paragraph 5th it is mentioned; how bulk of information has weighed down educated man as people only gather unlimited information from endless streams and do not know how to process it.
Question 8- 11: Short- answer question
Answer the questions below, Use NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Q8. How does the writer describe people’s inability in the modern world to use the knowledge that they obtain?
Answer: The most singular failure
Supporting sentence: ‘People need to be able to live the knowledge they acquire not just know it or know where to find it. Our deficiency in this regard is, perhaps, the most singular failure of the modern information age’.
Keywords: Deficiency, people, knowledge, singular form, modern, age, failure.
Keyword location: Paragraph 5th, line 5- 6
Explanation: People in today’s modern information age have simply too much information but they do not know where to use it, the easy access to pool of knowledge but its improper utilization bring us back to the words of Samuel Johnson where he described people’s inability to live the knowledge they gather thus this is the most singular failure of modern information age.
Q9. What is the desire to collect things described as?
Answer: A natural human instinct
Supporting sentence: Acquisitiveness is a natural human instinct, children collect cards of footballers or whatever is the latest fad, Stamps, coins and books are targets for children and adult collectors (dike, as their basic instincts are played upon and nurtured by market forces’.
Keywords: Acquisitiveness, children, collect, adults, latest fad, coins, books, stamps, market forces.
Keyword location: Paragraph 6, line 1st- 3rd
Explanation: Acquisitiveness means the excessive interest in acquiring money or material things, and in paragraph sixth it is clearly described that acquisitiveness is a natural human instinct.
Q10. According to the author, what has the world turned into?
Answer: A vortex/ a veritable vortex/ a large information machine
Supporting sentence: We have turned the world into a large machine of information; a veritable vortex into which we are all being inexorably sucked.
Keywords: Vortex, veritable, large, information
Keyword location: Paragraph 6, line 6th- 7th
Explanation: According to the author we have changed the modern world into veritable vortex; a large information machine in which we ourselves are sucked inexorably. People gather information thinking they are doing something worthwhile, when all that is happing is movement of information from one place to another.
Q11. What are the consequences in the workplace of moving large amounts of raw data around?
Answer: Disillusionment and stress
Supporting sentence: ‘We should hardly be surprised that, as this becomes apparent, disillusionment and stress in the workplace arc becoming sadly the all too common consequences’.
Keywords: Disillusionment, stress, consequence, workplace, sad.
Keyword location: Paragraph 6; line 10th- 11th
Explanation: Line 10 and 11 of paragraph six illustrate that because of uselessly and unnecessary collection of data by people disillusionment and stress has become a common consequence and is part of their daily lives.
Questions 12- 14: Yes/No/ Not- Given
Do the statements below agree with the information in Reading Passage?
Write:
Yes: - if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
No: – if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
Not-Given: - if there is no information about the statement in the passage
Q12. As the world has a wealth of knowledge within easy reach, it is now richer:
Answer: NO
Supporting sentence: The world is not really the richer for having the current wealth of knowledge at its fingertips
Keywords: Not, wealth, knowledge, easy reach, richer.
Keyword location: Paragraph 7, line 1
Explanation: First line of paragraph 7 clearly denotes that the having pool of information and current wealth of knowledge on our fingertips does not make the world a richer place; in fact human beings are suffering this wealth.
Q13. Knowledge processing courses will soon be obligatory for all library workers.
Answer: Not Given
Explanation: No such information has been given in the passage.
Q14. The author believes that the pursuit of knowledge is worthwhile.
Answer: NO
Supporting sentence: The pursuit of knowledge is sadly not all it is cracked up to be.
Keywords: Not, Sadly, Pursuit, Knowledge, cracked up.
Keyword location: Last line of the passage.
Explanation: The author clearly denotes at the end of the passage that pursuit of knowledge is not that worthwhile as it is supposed to be; as there is lack of people who clearly know where to analyze the knowledge that being pessimistic is the only option left.
Comments