Cambridge IELTS 18 reading test 2 answers with explanation
Reading Passage 1
Stonehenge
Construction
Stage 1:
1. The ditch and henge were dug, possibly using tools made from……………..
(deer) antlers – Paragraph two, second and third line. First, Neolithic Britons used primitive tools, which may have been fashioned out of deer antlers, to dig a massive circular ditch and bank or henge.
2. …………………… may have been arranged in deep pits inside the circle
(timber) posts – Paragraph two, last two lines. Deep pits dating back to that era and located within the circle may have once held a ring of timber posts, according to some scholars.
Stage 2:
3. Builders used……….…………to make sledges and rollers
Tree trunks – Paragraph 4, first to third line. Stonehenge’s builders fashioned sledges and rollers out of tree trunks to lug the bluestones from the Preseli Hills.
4. ………………..pulled them on giant baskets
Oxen – Paragraph 4, last three line. More recent archaeological hypotheses have them transporting the bluestones with supersized wicker baskets on a combination of ball bearings, and long grooved planks, hauled by oxen.
5. they were brought from Wales by……………..………..
glaciers – paragraph 5, second to fifth line. Challenging the classic image industrious builders pushing, carting, rolling or hauling giant stones from faraway Wales, some scientists have suggested that it was glaciers, not humans, that carried the bluestones to Salisbury Plain.
Stage 3:
Builders
6. A theory arose in the 17th century that its builders were Celtic ………………..….
druids – paragraph 7, first three lines. But who were the builders of Stonehenge? In the 17th century, archaeologist John Aubrey made the claim that Stonehenge was the work of druids, who had important religious, judicial and political roles in Celtic society.
Purpose
7. Many experts agree it has been used as a …………………… site
Burial – paragraph 9, second to last line. While there is consensus among the majority of modern scholars that Stonehenge once served the function of burial ground,
8. In the 1960s, it was suggested that it worked as a kind of……………….……….
Calendar – paragraph 10, first & second line. In the 1960s, the astronomer Gerald Hawkins suggested that the cluster of megalithic stones operated as a form of calendar
True False Not Given
9. During the third phase of construction, sandstone slabs were placed in both the outer areas and the middle of the Stonehenge site.
True – paragraph 6, first to fourth line. At this point Sandstone slabs – known as ‘sarsens’ – were arranged into an outer crescent or ring; some assembled into the iconic three-pieced structures called trilithons that stand tall in the centre of Stonehenge.
Explanation:- Outer crescent or ring = Outer area, Arranged = placed, Centre of Stonehenge = middle of Stonehenge
10. There is scientific proof that the bluestones stood in the same spot until approximately 1600 BCE.
False – paragraph 6, fourth to last line. Radiocarbon dating has revealed that work continued at Stonehenge until roughly 1600 BCE, with the bluestones in particular being repositioned multiple times.
Explanation:- The work on Stonehenge continued until 1600 BCE, and bluestones were repositioned multiple times. It means bluestones were placed in different positions (repositioned), they were not stood at the same spot. Hence, false.
11. John Aubrey’s claim about Stonehenge was supported by 20th-century findings.
False – paragraph 7, first three lines and last two lines. In the 17th century, archaeologist John Aubrey made the claim that Stonehenge was the work of druids, who had important religious, judicial and political roles in Celtic society… However, in the mid-20th century, radiocarbon dating demonstrated that Stonehenge stood more than 1000 years before the Celts inhabited the region.
Explanation:- John Aubrey (17th century) claimed that Stonehenge was the work of druids(people of Celtic society), but radiocarbon dating in 20th century evident that Stonehenge were 1000 years older than Celtic society.
12. Objects discovered at Stonehenge seem to indicate that it was constructed by a number of different groups of people.
True – paragraph 8, first to last line. Many modern historians and archaeologists now agree that several distinct tribes of people contributed to Stonehenge, each undertaking a different phase of its construction…………………. Some people believe that they were immigrants from the European continent , while other maintain that they were probably native Britons , descended from the original builders.
Explanation:- the whole paragraph describes people from different origins used different type of tools to built the site.
13. Criticism of Gerald Hawkins’ theory about Stonehenge has come mainly from other astronomers.
Not Given – paragraph – 10, fourth to last line. While his theory has received a considerable amount of attention over the decades, critics maintain that Stonehenge’s builders probably lacked the knowledge necessary to predict such events or that England’s dense cloud cover would have obscured their view of the skies.
Explanation:- Gerald Hawkins’ theory was criticized, but nowhere in the paragraph it is written that critics were astronomers. Hence, Not Given.
Reading Passage 2
Living with artificial intelligence
Choose the correct letter A, B, C, D.
14. What point does the writer makes about AI in the first paragraph?
C (The future is unlikely to see limitations on the capabilities of AI.)
Paragraph – 1, fourth to last line. True, these prodigious accomplishments are all in so-called narrow AI, where machines perform highly specialized tasks. But many experts believe this restriction is very temporary. By mid-century, we may have artificial general intelligence (AGI) – machines that can achieve human-level performance on the full range of tasks that we ourselves can tackle.
Explanation:– Experts believe this restriction is very temporary. It means there will be no limitations on the capabilities of AI in the future.
15. What is the writer doing in the second paragraph?
A (explaining why machines will be able to outperform humans)
Paragraph – 2, first to last line. Machines will be free of many of the physical constraints on human intelligence……………….. It is remarkable what they accomplish, given these handicaps. But they may be as far from the physical limits of thought as our eyes are from the incredibly powerful Webb Space Telescope.
Explanation:– Human intelligence is limited in many ways. But machines are free from these limits, and they will outperform humans.
16. Why does the writer mention the story of King Midas?
B (to illustrate that poorly defined objectives can go wrong)
Paragraph – 3, fifth to last line. But the more powerful AI becomes, the more important it will be to specify its goals with great care. Folklore is full of tales of people who ask for the wrong thing, with disastrous consequences-King Midas , for example, might have wished that everything he touched turned to gold, but didn’t really intend this to apply to his breakfast.
Explanation:- King Midas wished that everything he touched turned to gold, but he did not want to apply it to his food. So when he touched edibles, it turned to gold, and he could not eat. Similarly, if any goal is not set for AI (not defined objective), it can be disastrous.
17. What challenge does the writer refer to in the fourth paragraph?
D (ensuring AI is more human-friendly than we are ourselves)
Paragraph – 4, first two lines. So we need to create powerful AI machines that are ‘human-friendly’ – that have goals reliably aligned with our own values.
18. What does the writer suggest about the future of AI in the fifth paragraph?
C (Machines will be superior to humans in certain respects)
Paragraph – 5, third to last line. Luckily they’ll be smart enough for the job. If there are routes to the moral high ground, they’ll be better than us at finding them and steering us in the right direction.
Explanation:– Moral high ground = Remain moral (right) than others. It means if there are ways to go on a high level by being morally right (without cheat), they (machines) will be better than humans in finding them and taking us too in this direction. So machines will be better than humans in this respect.
19. Which of the following best summarises the writer’s argument in the sixth paragraph?
D (Human shortcomings will make creating the machines we need more difficult)
Paragraph – 6, fifth to last line. This won’t be easy, given that we are tribal creatures and conflicted about the ideals ourselves. We often ignore the suffering of strangers and even contributed to it, at least indirectly. How then, do we point machines in the direction of something better?
Explanation:– The meaning of these lines is that the human tends to work against its own principles. We ignore other unknown people’s problems and even cause problems to them directly or indirectly. Because of this human nature (shortcoming), we cannot direct machines to do good for everyone, which will make it difficult to create the machines we need.
Yes No Not Given
20. Machines with the ability to make moral decisions may prevent us from promoting the interests of our communities.
Yes – Paragraph 7, third to last line. Machines who are better than us at sticking to the moral high ground may be expected to discourage some of the lapses we presently take for the granted. We might lose our freedom to discriminate in favour of our own communities, for example.
Explanation:– Humans tend to favour friends, relatives and acquaintances. But machines will treat the known and unknown equally. In this case, human cannot favour their communities.
21. Silicon police would need to exist in large numbers in order to be effective.
Not Given – Paragraph 8, first to third line. Denying ourselves the freedom to put children to work in factories, or to smoke in restaurants are signs of progress. But are we ready for ethical silicon police limiting our options?
Explanation:– If we read these lines superficially, we can easily judge that nothing is given about silicon police need to exist in large numbers to be effective. But here, one must not misunderstand the meaning of silicon police that it might be like an ordinary police. In actuality, they are talking about inventors of AI in Silicon Valley in the United States who develop ethical AI machines.
22. Many people are comfortable with the prospect of their independence being restricted by machines.
No – Paragraph 8, first to last line. Loss of freedom to behave badly isn’t always a bad thing of course: denying ourselves the freedom to put children to work in factories…………………… They might be so good at doing it that we won’t notice them; but few of us are likely to welcome such a future.
Explanation:– “Few (not many) of us are likely to welcome such a future” means that many of us will not welcome the prospect of our independence being restricted by machines. So, lines in the paragraph are opposite to the question.
23. If we want to ensure that machines act in our best interests, we all need to work together.
Yes – Paragraph 10, second to last line. For our own safety, we need to point these new thinkers in the right direction, and get them to act well for us. It is not yet clear whether this is possible, but if it is, it will require a cooperative spirit, and a willingness to set aside self-interest.
Explanation:– Cooperative Spirit = Desire to work together. By setting our self-interests aside, we will need to work together to ensure machines work in our best interests.
USING AI IN THE UK HEALTH SYSTEM
24. AI currently has a limited role in the way ………..……… are allocated in the health service.
C (available resources) – Paragraph 9, first to third line. AI already has some input into how resources are used in our National Health Service (NHS) here in UK, for example.
25. However, such a change would result, for example, in certain ………………not having their current level,
A (medical practitioners) – Paragraph 9, fifth-sixth line. However, we’d be depriving some humans (e.g. senior doctors)
Senior doctors = Medical Practitioners
26. Not having their current level of ……………………
E (professional authority) – Paragraph 9, fifth-sixth line. However, we’d be depriving some humans (e.g. senior doctors) of the control they presently enjoy. Control = Authority
Reading Passage 3
An Ideal City
True False Not Given
27. People first referred to Leonardo da Vinci as a genius 500 years ago.
Not Given – Paragraph 1, first to fourth line. The word ‘genius’ is universally associated with the name of Leonardo da Vinci. A true Renaissance man, he embodied scientific spirit, artistic talent and humanist sensibilities. Five hundred years have passed since Leonardo died in his home at Chateau du Clos Luce, outside Tours, France.
Explanation:- It is not given that Leonardo da Vinci was first called a genius 500 years ago. But he died 500 years ago. There is no correlation between him being called a genius and 500 years.
28. The current climate crisis is predicted to cause more deaths than the plague.
Not Given – Paragraph 2, first to fourth line. The Renaissance marked the transition from the 15th century to the modernity and took place after the spread of the plague in the 14th century, which cause a global crisis resulting in some 200 million deaths across Europe and Asia. Today, the world is on the cusp of climate crisis, which is predicted to cause widespread displacement, extinctions and death, if left unaddressed.
Explanation:– The plague caused 200 million deaths in the 14th century. The climate crisis will also cause death, but it is not given/predicted that these deaths will be more than deaths caused by plague.
29. Some of the challenges we face today can be compared to those of earlier times.
True – Paragraph 2, first to fourth line. The Renaissance marked the transition from the 15th century to the modernity and took place after the spread of the plague in the 14th century, which cause a global crisis resulting in some 200 million deaths across Europe and Asia. Today, the world is on the cusp of climate crisis, which is predicted to cause widespread displacement, extinctions and death, if left unaddressed.
Explanation:– Similar to challenges caused by the plague, the climate crisis will also cause such problems (widespread displacement, extinctions and death). Hence, true.
30. Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Ideal city’ was constructed in the 15th
False – Paragraph 3, First to third line. Around 1486 – after a pestilence that killed half the population in Milan, Italy – Leonardo turned his thoughts to urban planning problems. Following a typical Renaissance trend, he began to work on an ‘Ideal City’ project, which – due to its excessive costs – would remain unfulfilled.
Explanation:– Leonardo da Vinci started the work to construct the Ideal City, but due to the high cost, it could not be completed. So, false.
31. Poor town planning is a major contributor to climate change.
True – Paragraph 3, third & fourth line. Yet given that unsustainable urban models are a key cause of global climate change today,
Explanation:– Unsustainable urban planning = poor urban planning. Key cause = major contributor. I think the rest is clear😊.
32. In Renaissance times, local people fought against the changes to Pienza and Ferrara.
Not Given – Paragraph 4, third to sixth line. The rigour and method behind the conscious conception of a city had been largely missing in Western thought until the moment when prominent Renaissance men pushed forward large-scale urban projects in Italy , such as the reconfiguration of the town of Pienza and the expansion of the city of Ferrara.
Explanation:– There is not information about whether or not people were against the reconfiguration of the town of Pienza and the expansion
33. Leonardo da Vinci kept a neat, organized record of his designs.
False – Paragraph 5, first & second line. It is not easy to identify a coordinated vision of Leonardo’s Ideal city because of his disordered way of working with notes and sketches.
Explanation:– Leonardo’s work for ideal city was disordered (not organized). So the answer is false.
LEONARDO DA VINCI’S IDEAL CITY
34. This was to provide better……………….for trade and a less polluted environment.
Transport – Paragraph 5, fifth & sixth line. He designed the city for the easy transport of goods and clean urban spaces, and he wanted a comfortable and spacious city, with well-ordered streets and architecture.
35. They included features that can be seen in some tower blocks today, such as ……………………..on the exterior of a building.
Staircases – Paragraph 6, third line. Leonardo wanted the city to be built on several levels, linked with vertical outdoor staircases.
36. His expertise in….……….………was evident in his plans for artificial canals within his ideal city.
Engineering – Paragraph 7, second & third line. But the true originality of Leonardo’s vision was its fusion of architecture and engineering.
37. The design of many cities in Italy today follows this …………………..
Rule – Paragraph 7, last two lines. A rule still followed in many contemporary cities across Italy, to allow access to sun and reduce the risk of damage from earthquakes.
38. While some cities from..………………….times have aspects that can also be found in Leonardo’s designs,
Roman – Paragraph 8, first and second line. Although some of these features existed in roman cities, before Leonardo’s drawings there had never been a multi-level,
39. ………..………….is one example of a city that was redesigned in the 19th century in the way that Leonardo had envisaged.
Paris – Paragraph 8, third-last line. The subdivision of the city by function – with services and infrastructures located in the lower levels and wide and well-ventilated boulevards and walkways above for residents… Georges-Eugene Haussmann’s renovation Paris under emperor Napoleon III between 1853 and 1870.
40. His ideas are also relevant to today’s world, where building…………………… no longer seems to be the best approach.
Outwards – Paragraph 9, second & third line. Many scholars think that the compact city, built upwards instead of outwards, integrated with nature (especially water systems),
