IELTS Secrets - EXPLANATION

READING PASSAGE 1: MAKING TIME FOR SCIENCE

Q1: Chronobiology is the study of how living things have evolved over time.
Answer: false
Key word(s): chronobiology, how living things have evolved
Cited Sentence: "Chronobiology might sound a little futuristic...but it’s actually a field of study that concerns one of the oldest processes life on this planet has ever known: short-term rhythms of time and their effect on flora and fauna."
Explanation: The passage indicates that chronobiology is the study of time rhythms affecting living beings, not their evolution over time.

Q2: The rise and fall of sea levels affects how sea creatures behave.
Answer: true
Key word(s): sea creatures, rise and fall of sea levels, affect
Cited Sentence: "Marine life, for example, is influenced by tidal patterns."
Explanation: Tidal patterns, which result from the rise and fall of sea levels, influence marine life behavior, which confirms the statement.

Q3: Most animals are active during the daytime.
Answer: not given
Key word(s): most animals, active during the daytime
Cited Sentence: "Numerous creatures, humans included, are largely diurnal – that is, they like to come out during the hours of sunlight."
Explanation: While some creatures are diurnal, the passage does not explicitly mention that most animals are active during the day, so this information is not provided.

Q4: Circadian rhythms identify how we do different things on different days.
Answer: false
Key word(s): circadian rhythms, different things, different days
Cited Sentence: "This is the complete cycle our bodies are naturally geared to undergo within the passage of a twenty-four hour day."
Explanation: Circadian rhythms are about daily cycles, not about doing different things on different days. The passage describes them as governing a 24-hour cycle, not variations across days.

Q5: A ‘night person’ can still have a healthy circadian rhythm.
Answer: true
Key word(s): night person, healthy circadian rhythm
Cited Sentence: "'Night people’, for example, often describe how they find it very hard to operate during the morning, but become alert and focused by evening. This is a benign variation within circadian rhythms known as a chronotype."
Explanation: The passage explains that "night people" can still have a normal, healthy circadian rhythm, even though their cycle may be different from others.

Q6: New therapies can permanently change circadian rhythms without causing harm.
Answer: false
Key word(s): therapies, permanently change, circadian rhythms, without causing harm
Cited Sentence: "Scientists have limited abilities to create durable modifications of chronobiological demands...our bodies can tell the difference and health suffers when we breach these natural rhythms for extended periods of time."
Explanation: The passage explains that while therapies like artificial light and melatonin can influence circadian rhythms, they do not permanently alter them without potential health consequences.

Q7: Naturally-produced vegetables have more nutritional value.
Answer: true
Key word(s): naturally-produced vegetables, more nutritional value
Cited Sentence: "Studies demonstrate that vegetables grown in season and ripened on the tree are far higher in essential nutrients than those grown in greenhouses and ripened by laser."
Explanation: The passage clearly states that naturally-produced vegetables (grown in season and ripened on the tree) have higher nutritional value than those grown with artificial methods.

Q8: What did researchers identify as the ideal time to wake up in the morning?
Answer: C
Key word(s): ideal time, wake up, researchers
Cited Sentence: "The optimum moment has been whittled down to 7.22 a.m.; muscle aches, headaches and moodiness were reported to be lowest by participants in the study who awoke then."
Explanation: The passage specifies that 7.22 a.m. is identified as the ideal time to wake up.

Q9: In order to lose weight, we should
Answer: C
Key word(s): lose weight, exercise, breakfast
Cited Sentence: "The recommended course of action is to follow an intense workout with a carbohydrate-rich breakfast; the other way round and weight loss results are not as pronounced."
Explanation: The passage recommends exercising before breakfast for better weight loss results.

Q10: Which is NOT mentioned as a way to improve supplement absorption?
Answer: B
Key word(s): improve, supplement absorption
Cited Sentence: "Naturopath Pam Stone notes that the extra boost at breakfast helps us get energised for the day ahead."
Explanation: The passage suggests taking supplements at breakfast and with foods that dissolve them, and avoiding caffeine, but it does not suggest that taking supplements at breakfast improves absorption.

Q11: The best time to stop drinking coffee is
Answer: A
Key word(s): best time, stop drinking coffee
Cited Sentence: "After-dinner espressos are becoming more of a tradition...but to prepare for a good night’s sleep we are better off putting the brakes on caffeine consumption as early as 3 p.m."
Explanation: The passage advises stopping caffeine consumption by 3 p.m. to ensure it does not disrupt sleep.

Q12: In the evening, we should
Answer: D
Key word(s): evening, should
Cited Sentence: "Our digestive tracts do not shut down for the night entirely, but their work slows to a crawl as our bodies prepare for sleep. Consuming a modest snack should be entirely sufficient."
Explanation: The passage suggests eating a light snack in the evening, not avoiding carbohydrates or overeating.

Q13: Which of the following phrases best describes the main aim of Reading Passage 1?
Answer: C
Key word(s): main aim, passage
Cited Sentence: "Knowledge of chronobiological patterns can have many pragmatic implications for our day-to-day lives."
Explanation: The passage introduces chronobiology and discusses its practical applications in daily life.

READING PASSAGE 2: THE TRIUNE BRAIN

Q14: Giving up short-term happiness for future gains
Answer: C
Key word(s): Giving up, short-term happiness, future gains
Cited Sentence: "The ability to sacrifice our drive for immediate satisfaction in order to benefit later is a product of the neocortex."
Explanation: The neocortex is responsible for the ability to plan for future rewards and suppress immediate impulses, as seen in this sentence, which directly refers to sacrificing short-term satisfaction for future gains.

Q15: Maintaining the bodily functions necessary for life
Answer: A
Key word(s): bodily functions, necessary for life
Cited Sentence: "This brain sustains the elementary activities of animal survival such as respiration, adequate rest and a beating heart."
Explanation: The reptilian cortex controls basic survival functions like respiration and heart rate, making it responsible for maintaining essential bodily functions.

Q16: Experiencing the pain of losing another
Answer: B
Key word(s): experiencing, pain, losing another
Cited Sentence: "Listen to the anguished squeal of a dolphin separated from its pod or witness the sight of elephants mourning their dead."
Explanation: This sentence refers to the emotional pain of animals, which is associated with the limbic cortex, a region linked to feelings like grief and nurturing.

Q17: Forming communities and social groups
Answer: B
Key word(s): forming, communities, social groups
Cited Sentence: "These same sensations also cause mammals to develop various types of social relations and kinship networks."
Explanation: The limbic cortex drives social behavior and the formation of connections between individuals, including kinship bonds and community-based interactions.

Q18: Making a decision and carrying it out
Answer: C
Key word(s): making a decision, carrying it out
Cited Sentence: "The neocortex is also responsible for the process by which we decide on and commit to particular courses of action."
Explanation: The neocortex handles decision-making and the follow-through on decisions, such as committing to a particular course of action.

Q19: Guarding areas of land
Answer: A
Key word(s): guarding, areas of land
Cited Sentence: "When it comes to our interaction with others, the reptilian brain offers up only the most basic impulses: aggression, mating, and territorial defence."
Explanation: The reptilian cortex is responsible for basic instincts like aggression and territorial defense, including guarding land or space.

Q20: Developing explanations for things
Answer: C
Key word(s): developing, explanations
Cited Sentence: "We can string together simple lessons [...] to develop complex theories of physical or social phenomena."
Explanation: The neocortex allows humans to build complex theories and explanations for various phenomena, going beyond basic impulse-driven actions.

Q21: Looking after one’s young
Answer: B
Key word(s): looking after, young
Cited Sentence: "The limbic cortex impels creatures to nurture their offspring by delivering feelings of tenderness and warmth to the parent when children are nearby."
Explanation: The limbic cortex encourages nurturing behavior, including looking after and providing care for offspring, as seen in the cited example.

Q22: Responding quickly to sudden movement and noise
Answer: A
Key word(s): responding quickly, sudden movement, noise
Cited Sentence: "The reptilian cortex also houses the 'startle centre', a mechanism that facilitates swift reactions to unexpected occurrences in our surroundings."
Explanation: The reptilian cortex controls rapid responses to sudden stimuli, such as loud noises or unexpected movements, as described in this sentence.

Q23: A person with only a functioning reptilian cortex is known as ………………….
Answer: brain dead
Key word(s): functioning reptilian cortex, brain dead
Cited Sentence: "The most devastating form of brain damage, for example, is a condition in which someone is understood to be brain dead."
Explanation: The term "brain dead" refers to a person who has only a functioning reptilian cortex, as described in this part of the passage.

Q24: ………………… in humans is associated with limbic disruption.
Answer: sociopathic behaviour
Key word(s): humans, limbic disruption
Cited Sentence: "In our own species, limbic damage is closely related to sociopathic behaviour."
Explanation: Limbic cortex damage in humans can lead to sociopathic behavior, which is the inability to empathize or form proper social connections.

Q25: An industrial accident caused Phineas Gage to lose part of his …………………
Answer: neocortex
Key word(s): industrial accident, Phineas Gage, lose
Cited Sentence: "An industrial accident caused Phineas Gage to lose part of his neocortex."
Explanation: The passage directly states that Gage lost part of his neocortex in the accident, which had significant effects on his behavior.

Q26: After his accident, co-workers noticed an imbalance between Gage’s ………………… and higher-order thinking.
Answer: animal propensities
Key word(s): imbalance, Gage, animal propensities
Cited Sentence: "After his accident, his animal propensities were now sharply pronounced while his intellectual abilities suffered."
Explanation: The imbalance referred to in the passage is between Gage's basic, animal-like behaviors (animal propensities) and his ability for higher-order thinking, which was diminished after the accident.

READING PASSAGE 3: HELIUM’S FUTURE UP IN THE AIR

Q27: A use for helium which makes an activity safer
Answer: C
Key word(s): helium, safer, activity
Cited Sentence: "But helium is also instrumental in deep-sea diving, where it is blended with nitrogen to mitigate the dangers of inhaling ordinary air under high pressure."
Explanation: The passage describes how helium is used in deep-sea diving to make the activity safer by blending it with nitrogen, which helps avoid the dangers of regular air under high pressure.

Q28: The possibility of creating an alternative to helium
Answer: D
Key word(s): possibility, alternative, helium
Cited Sentence: "Helium is the 'most noble of gases... it has a closed electronic configuration, a very tightly bound atom. It is this coveting of its own electrons that prevents combination with other elements’."
Explanation: The passage highlights the uniqueness of helium's properties, suggesting that an alternative to helium is unlikely or "impossible" to create due to these distinct characteristics.

Q29: A term which describes the process of how helium is taken out of the ground
Answer: B
Key word(s): helium, process, taken out
Cited Sentence: "Helium is mostly trapped in subterranean natural gas bunkers and commercially extracted through a method known as fractional distillation."
Explanation: The method used for extracting helium from natural gas is called "fractional distillation," as described in the cited sentence.

Q30: A reason why users of helium do not make efforts to conserve it
Answer: E
Key word(s): reason, users, conserve
Cited Sentence: "Although intended to settle the original cost of the reserve by a U.S. Congress ignorant of its ramifications, the result of this fire sale is that global helium prices are so artificially deflated that few can be bothered recycling the substance or using it."
Explanation: The deflated prices due to the Helium Privatisation Act discourage efforts to conserve or recycle helium, as it is economically unmotivating for users to do so.

Q31: A contrast between helium’s chemical properties and how non-scientists think about it
Answer: A
Key word(s): helium, chemical properties, non-scientists
Cited Sentence: "Helium – an inert, odourless, monatomic element known to lay people as the substance that makes balloons float and voices squeak when inhaled."
Explanation: The contrast is drawn between helium’s true chemical properties as an inert element and its common, lighthearted associations with floating balloons and squeaky voices among non-scientists.

Q32: Helium chooses to be on its own.
Answer: YES
Key word(s): helium, on its own
Cited Sentence: "helium is even cheerfully derided as a 'loner' element since it does not adhere to other molecules like its cousin, hydrogen."
Explanation: The passage directly mentions that helium is called a "loner" element because it does not combine easily with other elements, matching the idea that it "chooses to be on its own."

Q33: Helium is a very cold substance.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Key word(s): helium, cold
Cited Sentence: No direct mention of helium being "very cold" is made in the passage.
Explanation: The passage does discuss helium’s low boiling point but does not describe it as "very cold," making this statement impossible to confirm from the given information.

Q34: High-tech industries in Asia use more helium than laboratories and manufacturers in other parts of the world.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Key word(s): high-tech industries, Asia, more helium
Cited Sentence: "There is an enormous supply and demand imbalance partly brought about by the expansion of high-tech manufacturing in Asia."
Explanation: While the passage mentions a supply and demand imbalance due to high-tech industries in Asia, it does not compare their usage of helium to that of other regions, so this is impossible to verify.

Q35: The US Congress understood the possible consequences of the HPA.
Answer: NO
Key word(s): US Congress, understood, consequences
Cited Sentence: "Although intended to settle the original cost of the reserve by a U.S. Congress ignorant of its ramifications..."
Explanation: The passage clearly states that the U.S. Congress was "ignorant" of the ramifications of the Helium Privatisation Act, meaning they did not understand the potential consequences.

Q36: Sobotka argues that big business and users of helium need to help look after helium stocks because…
Answer: prudent practice
Key word(s): Sobotka, big business, helium stocks, help, practice
Cited Sentence: "Sobotka notes: 'the government had the good vision to store helium, and the question now is: Will the corporations have the vision to capture it when extracting natural gas, and consumers the wisdom to recycle? This takes long-term vision because present market forces are not sufficient to compel prudent practice.'"
Explanation: Sobotka argues that businesses and consumers need to practice "prudent practice" to manage helium stocks wisely, as mentioned in the sentence.

Q37: Richardson believes that the… needs to be withdrawn, as the U.S. provides most of the world’s helium.
Answer: privatisation policy
Key word(s): Richardson, withdrawn, U.S., helium
Cited Sentence: "For Nobel-prize laureate Robert Richardson, the U.S. government must be prevailed upon to repeal its privatisation policy as the country supplies over 80 per cent of global helium."
Explanation: Richardson calls for the withdrawal of the "privatisation policy" as it affects the global helium supply.

Q38: He argues that higher costs would mean people have… to use the resource many times over.
Answer: incentives
Key word(s): higher costs, people, use, resource
Cited Sentence: "For Richardson, a twenty- to fifty-fold increase in prices would provide incentives to recycle."
Explanation: Richardson suggests that higher helium prices would provide the "incentives" necessary for people to recycle and conserve helium.

Q39: People should need a… to access helium that we still have.
Answer: permit
Key word(s): people, access, helium, need
Cited Sentence: "Firstly, all existing supplies of helium ought to be conserved and released only by permit, with medical uses receiving precedence over other commercial or recreational demands."
Explanation: The passage proposes that access to helium should be regulated through the issuance of a "permit."

Q40: Furthermore, a… should ensure that helium is used carefully.
Answer: regulatory agency
Key word(s): ensure, helium, used, carefully
Cited Sentence: "Lastly, research into alternatives to helium must begin in earnest."
Explanation: The passage suggests the need for a "regulatory agency" to enforce careful use of helium, ensuring it is managed responsibly.