Why Does Skin Wrinkle in Water Reading Answers

Dec 5, 2022

Why Does Skin Wrinkle in Water Reading Answers consists of 13 sets of questions, which the candiates should attempt withinh the time span of 20 minutes. The topic comprises of two different sorts of questions, like, fill in the blanks and complete the passage. The candidate's reading abilities in IELTS examination are calculated by the method of these KPIs . A thorough study of the IELTS reading passage is necessary for the candidates so that they can recognize the synonyms, identify the keywords and understand the concept provided in the passage, and then should opt for the answers given below. Candidates should undergo IELTS reading practice papers so that they can attempt similar kind of topics.

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Reading Passage Questions

Thousands of years after the invention of the bath, scientists have come up with a theory to explain why our fingers and toes wrinkle when stepped in water. Puckered or wrinkled skin gives a better grip and may have helped our ancestors uproot wet plants when foraging for food, or be steadier and more sure-footed in a slippery, wet environment, they say. Writing in Biology Letters, Tom Smulders, an evolutionary neurobiologist at Newcastle University suggests that it may be an evolutionary development, "Going back in time, this wrinkling could have helped with gathering food from wet vegetation or streams. The analogous effect in the toes could have helped our ancestors get a better footing in the rain,' he says.

The familiar wrinkles on wet fingers and toes may also have benefitted early humans in their first forays into technology. 'It might have helped handling tools in wet conditions,' Smulders added, such as fixing hunting weapons in the rain, or fishing with harpoons.

It is popularly believed that fingertips absorb water and swell up, making the skin ripple with tiny folds. But this was proved to be incorrect by studies that showed the effect disappeared when the nerves in the fingers were damaged. Rather than swelling up, fingertips shrink when they wrinkle because the blood vessels New Courses inside them contract.

The effect is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, which also governs breathing and heart rate.

Smulders investigated the benefits of wrinkled fingers after reading a paper by Mark Changizi, director of human cognition at 2A I Labs in Idaho. His report in the journal Brain, Behavior and Evolution suggested that wrinkles on fingers resemble car treads and the network drainage systems seen on mountains.

In the latest study, Smulders had 20 people move 45 submerged marbles and fishing weights from one container to another. The objects were plucked one at a time, with the forefinger and thumb of the right hand, passed through a hole in a screen separating the containers and into the thumb and forefinger of the left hand. Smulder timed them on the task, once when they had dry and unwrinkled hands before starting, and again after they had soaked their hands in water for half an hour.

The task took between 90 and 150 seconds to complete, but those with wrinkled fingers moved the wet objects 15 seconds faster on average, compared with those who began with dry hands. Wrinkles made no difference to the time it took to do the task with dry objects, according to the study reported in Biology

Letters. 'It could be working like treads on your car tyres which give you a better grip,' said Smulders.

The findings raise the question of how, and from which species, humans inherited their wrinkling skin. 'My guess is that all primates have pruney fingers, but our only evidence at the moment beyond humans is from macaques,' said Changizi. At his lab in Idaho, Changizi has done a similar, though more rudimentary, experiment and reached the same conclusions as the Newcastle team. 'The obvious application here is biologically inspired rain treads for your shoes,' Changizi said. 'We'd ideally like to have shoe treads with the right wrinkle shapes for our foot topography. And we'd ideally like to have the treads flatten so that the entire shoe grips the ground once the water is squirted out through the channels.

One question that remains is why fingers are not wrinkled all the time, even when they are not in water. The answer may be that wrinkling comes at a cost: the loss of sensitivity.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Question 1-6:
Complete the given sentences. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 1-6 of your answer sheet.

Q1. It is possible that wrinkling evolved to enable people to maintain a secure _______ in wet conditions while running and walking.

Answer: grip
Supporting Sentence: Puckered or wrinkled skin gives a better grip and may have helped our ancestors uproot wet plants when foraging for food, or be steadier and more sure-footed in a slippery, wet environment, they say.
Keywords: wrinkled skin, gives better grip
Keyword Location: Para A, lines 2-3
Explanation: Lines 2-3 of paragraph A states that according to some theories, wrinkled skin provides a better grip and may have assisted our ancestors in uprooting wet plants while hunting for food or in being steady and sure-footed in a slick, wet environment.

Q2. Wrinkles on fingers may have helped our ancestors to handle _________ and weapons in the rain.

Answer: tools
Supporting Sentence: 'It might have helped handling tools in wet conditions,' Smulders added, such as fixing hunting weapons in the rain, or fishing with harpoons.
Keywords: might have helped, handling tools, wet conditions
Keyword Location: Para B, line 2
Explanation: The second line of paragraph B explains that according to Smulders, our forefathers used their wrinkly fingers to replace broken weapons in the rain or use harpoons for fishing.

Q3. For a long time it was assumed that wrinkles were the result of the skin _________in water.

Answer: rippling
Supporting Sentence: It is popularly believed that fingertips absorb water and swell up, making the skin ripple with tiny folds.
Keywords: making the skin ripple, tiny folds
Keyword Location: Para C, first 2 lines
Explanation: This makes the skin ripple with tiny folds. As per the lines 1-2 of paragraph C, fingertips are thought to take in water and swell. The skin trembles and forms small creases as a result.

Q4. Changizi showed that the pattern of the skin works in a similar way to __________ or runoff channels on the sides of hills.

Answer: car treads
Supporting Sentence: His report in the journal Brain, Behavior and Evolution suggested that wrinkles on fingers resemble car treads and the network drainage systems seen on mountains.
Keywords: wrinkles on fingers, resemble car treads
Keyword Location: Para D, line 3
Explanation: Changizi claimed as per the 3rd line of paragraph D that the finger wrinkles mirror car treads and the network drainage systems found on mountains in his paper published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Evolution.

Q5. The researchers found that there was __________ time it took for wrinkled fingers to move dry objects.

Answer: No difference
Supporting Sentence: Wrinkles made no difference to the time it took to do the task with dry objects, according to the study reported in Biology Letters. 'It could be working like treads on your car tyres which give you a better grip,' said Smulders.
Keywords: wrinkles, no difference, time it took, do the task, dry objects
Keyword Location: Para F, line 3
Explanation: The line 3 of paragraph F suggests that the researchers observed no changes in relativity with respect to the amount of time it required to complete the task using dry objects, therefore it can be said that no such differences exist.

Q6. Scientists want to find out how many other _______ display the same trait of wrinkles as humans.

Answer: primates
Supporting Sentence: The findings raise the question of how, and from which species, humans inherited their wrinkling skin. 'My guess is that all primates have pruney fingers, but our only evidence at the moment beyond humans is from macaques,' said Changizi.
Keywords: findings, question, which species, inherited, wrinkling skin, primates, pruney fingers
Keyword Location: Para G, first 3 lines
Explanation: The beginning three lines of paragraph G implies that the research calls into question how and from which species humans acquired their wrinkly skin. Although we now only have data on macaques, Changizi speculated that all primates might have pruney fingers.

Questions 7-13:
Complete the summary using words from the reading passage. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet.

Q7. Wrinkled fingers help us to grip objects better underwater and they work in much the same way as............... help cars stay on the road.

Answer: treads
Supporting Sentence: His report in the journal Brain, Behavior and Evolution suggested that wrinkles on fingers resemble car treads and the network drainage systems seen on mountains.
Keywords: wrinkles on fingers, resemble car tread
Keyword Location: Para D, line 3
Explanation: Line 3 of paragraph D in the passage suggests that the fingers with wrinkles function better for grasping objects because they resemble car treads.

Q8. New research shows that wrinkles are caused by the .......... constricting below the skin in reaction to the water.

Answer: blood vessels
Supporting Sentence: Rather than swelling up, fingertips shrink when they wrinkle because the blood vessels New Courses inside them contract.
Keywords: fingertips shrink, wrinkle, blood vessels, contract
Keyword Location: Para C, lines 3-4
Explanation: Lines 3-4 of paragraph C enhances that fingertips that wrinkle experience a decrease in size because the blood vessels within them constrict, as opposed to an increase in size.

Q9. The wrinkles help divert water away from the …….

Answer: fingers
Supporting Sentence: And we'd ideally like to have the treads flatten so that the entire shoe grips the ground once the water is squirted out through the channels.
Keywords: water, squirted out through channels
Keyword Location: Para G, last line
Explanation: The concluding line of paragraph G suggests that to assist keep water away from the fingers, flat treads are used.

Q10. Scientists had previously discovered that .............. fingers did not wrinkle underwater.

Answer: damaged
Supporting Sentence: But this was proved to be incorrect by studies that showed the effect disappeared when the nerves in the fingers were damaged.
Keywords: effect disappeared, nerves, fingers, damaged
Keyword Location: Para C, line 2
Explanation: As per the second line of paragraph C, fingers with impaired nerves did not sink in the water.

Q11. This suggests that the wrinkling mechanism is controlled by the .............. and

Answer: Nervous system
Supporting Sentence: The effect is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, which also governs breathing and heart rate.
Keywords: Effect is controlled, autonomic, nervous system.
Keyword Location: Para C, line 5
Explanation: The line 5 of parahgraph C explains that the autonomic nervous system, which also controls breathing and heart rate, is responsible for the wrinkling mechanism. .

Q12. must be some kind of ............... response. It is not clear why our fingers are not permanently

Answer: autonomous
Supporting Sentence: The effect is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, which also governs breathing and heart rate.
Keywords: Effect is controlled, autonomic, nervous system
Keyword Location: Para C, line 5
Explanation: Line 5 of paragraph C suggests that the the autonomic nervous system, which also regulates heart rate and respiration, is in charge of the wrinkling effect.

Q13. wrinkled but scientists believe it may be due to the need to maintain the ............... of the fingertips.

Answer: sensitivity
Supporting Sentence: The answer may be that wrinkling comes at a cost: the loss of sensitivity.
Keywords: wrinkling comes at a cost, loss of sensitivity
Keyword Location: Para H, line 2
Explanation: The second line of paragraph H implies that the loss of responsiveness in the human skins are caused due to the wrinkling effect.

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