The Woolly Mammoth Revival Project Reading Answers

Jul 2, 2025

The Woolly Mammoth Revival Project Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. The Woolly Mammoth Revival Project Reading Answers has a total of 14 IELTS questions in total. In the question set, you have to choose which paragraph contains the given statement. In the next question set given, you have to complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. In the last question set, you have to match each statement with the correct person, A, B or C.

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 recognise essential concepts, extract particular facts, and make inferences. Practising 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.

Check: Get 10 Free Sample Papers
Check: Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for Free Trial Class Now

Section 1 THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH REVIVAL PROJECT

A.The passenger pigeon was a legendary species. Flying in vast numbers across North America, with potentially many millions within a single flock, their migration was once one of nature's great spectacles. Sadly, the passenger pigeon's existence came to an end on 1 September 1914, when the last living specimen died at Cincinnati Zoo. Geneticist Ben Novak is lead researcher on an ambitious project which now aims to bring the bird back to life through a process known as 'de-extinction'. The basic premise involves using cloning technology to turn the DNA of extinct animals into a fertilised embryo, which is carried by the nearest relative still in existence — in this case, the abundant band-tailed pigeon — before being born as a living, breathing animal. Passenger pigeons are one of the pioneering species in this field, but they are far from the only ones on which this cutting-edge technology is being trialled

B.In Australia, the thylacine, more commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger, is another extinct creature which genetic scientists are striving to bring back to life. There is no carnivore now in Tasmania that fills the niche which thylacines once occupied, ' explains Michael Archer of the University of New South Wales. He points out that in the decades since the thylacine went extinct, there has been a spread in a 'dangerously debilitating' facial tumour syndrome which threatens the existence of the Tasmanian devils, the island's other notorious resident. Thylacines would have prevented this spread because they would have killed significant numbers of Tasmanian devils. 'If that contagious cancer had popped up previously, it would have burned out in whatever region it started. The return of thylacines to Tasmania could help to ensure that devils are never again subjected to risks of this kind. '

C.If extinct species can be brought back to life, can humanity begin to correct the damage it has caused to the natural world over the past few millennia? The idea of de-extinction is that we can reverse this process, bringing species that no longer exist back to life,' says Beth Shapiro of University of California Santa Cruz's Genomics Institute. 'I don't think that we can do this. There is no way to bring back something that is 100 per cent identical to a species that went extinct a long time ago. ' A more practical approach for long-extinct species is to take the DNA of existing species as a template, ready for the insertion of strands of extinct animal DNA to create something new; a hybrid, based on the living species, but which looks and/or acts like the animal which died out.

D.This complicated process and questionable outcome begs the question: what is the actual point of this technology? 'For us, the goal has always been replacing the extinct species with a suitable replacement,' explains Novak. 'When it comes to breeding, band-tailed pigeons scatter and make maybe one or two nests per hectare, whereas passenger pigeons were very social and would make 10,000 or more nests in one hectare.' Since the disappearance of this key species, ecosystems in the eastern US have suffered, as the lack of disturbance caused by thousands of passenger pigeons wrecking trees and branches means there has been minimal need for regrowth This has left forests stagnant and therefore unwelcoming to the plants and animals which evolved to help regenerate the forest after a disturbance. According to Novak, a hybridised band-tailed pigeon, with the added nesting habits of a passenger pigeon, could, in theory, re-establish that forest disturbance, thereby creating a habitat necessary for a great many other native species to thrive.

E.Another popular candidate for this technology is the woolly mammoth. George Church, professor at Harvard Medical School and leader of the Woolly Mammoth Revival Project, has been focusing on cold resistance, the main way in which the extinct woolly mammoth and

it's nearest living relative, the Asian elephant, differ. By pinpointing which genetic traits made it possible for mammoths to survive the icy climate of the tundra, the project's goal is to return mammoths, or a mammoth-like species, to the area. 'My highest priority would be

preserving the endangered Asian elephant, ' says Church, 'expanding their range to the huge ecosystem of the tundra. Necessary adaptations would include smaller ears, thicker hair, and extra insulating fat, all for the purpose of reducing heat loss in the tundra, and all traits found

in the now extinct woolly mammoth. ' This repopulation of the tundra and boreal forests of Eurasia and North America with large mammals could also be a useful factor in reducing carbon emissions — elephants punch holes through snow and knock down trees, which encourages

grass growth. This grass growth would reduce temperatures, and mitigate emissions from melting permafrost.

F.While the prospect of bringing extinct animals back to life might capture imaginations, it is, of course, far easier to try to save an existing species which is merely threatened with extinction. 'Many of the technologies that people have in mind when they think about de-extinction can be used as a form of "genetic rescue", ' explains Shapiro. She prefers to focus the debate on how this emerging technology could be used to fully understand why various species went extinct in the first place, and therefore how we could use it to make genetic modifications which could prevent mass extinctions in the future. ' l would also say there's an incredible moral hazard

to not do anything at all, ' she continues. We know that what we are doing today is not enough, and we have to be willing to take some calculated and measured risks. '

Questions 14-17

Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs, A-F. Which paragraph contains the following information? NB You may use any letter more than once.

14. a reference to how further disappearance of multiple species could be avoided

Answer: F

Supporting statement: While the prospect of bringing extinct animals back to life might capture imaginations, it is, of course, far easier to try to save an existing species which is merely threatened with extinction.

Keywords: extinct, species

Keyword Location: Para F, Lines 1-2

Explanation: According to the text, it is obviously far easier to try to save a species that is already in danger of going extinct, even though the idea of saving an animal from extinction may seem like a fanciful hope.

15. explanation of a way of reproducing an extinct animal using the DNA of only that species

Answer: A

Supporting statement: the DNA of extinct animals into a fertilised embryo, which is carried by the nearest relative still in existence

Keywords: DNA, fertilised, existence

Keyword Location: Para A, Lines 7-8

Explanation: The paragraph explains the fundamental idea of utilising cloning technology to create a fertilised egg from an extinct animal's DNA, which is then implanted into its nearest living relatives.

16. reference to a habitat which has suffered following the extinction of a species

Answer: D

Supporting statement: Since the disappearance of this key species, ecosystems in the eastern US have suffered,

Keywords: disappearance, eastern US

Keyword Location: Para D, Lines 4-5

Explanation: Ecosystems in the eastern United States have suffered since passenger pigeons went extinct, since there hasn't been much of a need for regrowth due to the lack of disturbance generated by thousands of the birds destroying trees and branches.

17. mention of the exact point at which a particular species became extinct

Answer: A

Supporting statement: Sadly, the passenger pigeon's existence came to an end on 1 September 1914,

Keywords: passenger pigeon's, 1914

Keyword Location: Para A, Lines 3-4

Explanation: The passenger pigeons went extinct on 1 September 1914, after the last living specimen died at Cincinnati Zoo.

Questions 18-22

Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

The woolly mammoth revival project, Professor George Church and his team are trying to identify the (18)............... which enabled mammoths to live in the tundra. The findings could help preserve the mammoth's close relative, the endangered Asian elephant. According to Church, introducing Asian elephants to the tundra would involve certain physical adaptations to minimise (19)...................... To survive in the tundra, the species would need to have the mammoth-like features of thicker hair, (20) …………of a reduced size and more (21)................ Repopulating the tundra with mammoths or Asian elephant/mammoth hybrids would also have an impact on the environment, which could help to reduce temperatures and decrease (22) ….......

Answer: GENETIC TRAITS

Supporting statement: By pinpointing which genetic traits made it possible for mammoths to survive the icy climate of the tundra,

Keywords: genetic traits, mammoths

Keyword Location: Para E, Lines 4-5

Explanation: The mammals might have been able to survive the Tundra due to their genetic traits, according to the text.

Answer: HEAT LOSS

Supporting statement: all for the purpose of reducing heat loss in the tundra,

Keywords: heat loss, tundra

Keyword Location: Para E, Line 9

Explanation: According to the Church, claims that bringing Asian elephants to the Arctic would require some physical changes to reduce heat loss.

Answer: EARS

Supporting statement: Necessary adaptations would include smaller ears, thicker hair, and extra insulating fat,

Keywords: adaptations, smaller ears

Keyword Location: Para E, Line 8

Explanation: According to the text, Asian elephants will need smaller ears similar to the Mammoth to survive in the Arctic world.

Answer: (INSULATING) FAT

Supporting statement: and extra insulating fat,

Keywords: extra, fat

Keyword Location: Para E, Line 9

Explanation: According to the text, Asian elephants will need to have a layer of extra insulating fat in their body to survive the tundra.

Answer: (CARBON) EMISSIONS

Supporting statement: useful factor in reducing carbon emissions

Keywords: factor, carbon

Keyword Location: Para E, Line 11

Explanation: According to the text, repopulating the boreal and tundra forests in North America and Eurasia with large mammals may also help lower carbon emissions.

Questions 23-26

Match each statement with the correct person, A, B or C.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

23. Reintroducing an extinct species to its original habitat could improve the health of a particular species living there.

Answer: B

Supporting statement: The return of thylacines to Tasmania could help to ensure that devils are never again subjected to risks of this kind

Keywords: thylacines, Tasmania

Keyword Location: Para B, Line 10

Explanation: According to the paragraph, Michael Archer discovered that a common facial tumour syndrome has emerged in the decades since the thylacine went extinct, endangering the Tasmanian devil's existence. Reintroducing the thylacine to Tasmania may help guarantee that this threat won't ever be faced by the species again.

24. It is important to concentrate on the causes of an animal's extinction.

Answer: C

Supporting statement: why various species went extinct in the first place

Keywords: species, extinct

Keyword Location: Para F, Line 5

Explanation: According to the paragraph, to completely comprehend the reasons behind the extinction of many species, Beth Shapiro wants to centre the discussion on the usage of technology.

25. A species brought back from extinction could have an important beneficial impact on the vegetation of its habitat.

Answer: A

Supporting statement: re-establish that forest disturbance, thereby creating a habitat necessary for a great many other native species to thrive.

Keywords: re-establish, habitat

Keyword Location: Para D, Line 11

Explanation: According to the passage, Novak's hybrid pigeon, which possesses the extra nesting behaviours of the "passenger pigeon," has the potential to restore forest disturbance, thereby providing the habitat that many other species require to thrive.

26. Our current efforts at preserving biodiversity are insufficient.

Answer: C

Supporting statement: We know that what we are doing today is not enough,

Keywords: doing, enough

Keyword Location: Para F, Line 8

Explanation: According to the passage, Beth Shapiro believes that all the things done by humans are not enough to preserve biodiversity.

List of People

A Ben Novak

B Michael Archer

C Beth Shapiro

Read More IELTS Reading Related Samples