Common Themes in World Mythologies - IELTS Listening Answers & Explanations
From Road to IELTS Academic Listening Test 6 · Part 4 · Questions 31–40
Audio
Questions
Questions 31–32 Multiple Choice (Two Answers)
Choose TWO letters, A—E
Questions 33–34 Multiple Choice (One Answer)
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C
Questions 35–40 Matching
Match the creation mythologies to their features.
Write the correct letter, A, B, C or D next to each feature.
A. Greek
B. Norse
C. Chinese
D. Māori
E. Australian
Answers & Explanations Summary
| # | Answer | Evidence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q31 | — | — | |
| Q32 | A / C | Well firstly, these stories provide explanations for the questions we all ask: How was the universe created? Where does the sun come from? What are the stars? A mythology is not the same as a religious doctrine, but nevertheless, most mythologies describe the creation of the world, and how it was populated with people and animals. Mythological heroes are usually god-like characters with superhuman abilities and qualities | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that myths were created to answer difficult questions about the sun and stars (explaining things people didn't know yet). It also explains that the main characters in these stories are like gods and can do things that regular people cannot do. Answer Explanation: The answer means that in the past, mythologies were used to give reasons for things that people did not understand and to tell stories about heroes who had powers that normal humans do not have. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is correct because the lecturer describes mythologies as having two specific features. First, the lecturer says myths "provide explanations" for big questions like how the universe was made, which matches the idea of explaining the unknown. Second, the lecturer says the heroes in these myths have "superhuman abilities," which is another way to say they have special powers. These points directly support answer choices A and C. |
| Q33 | C | The Emperor’s chief minister noticed that some scholars were undermining the Emperor by travelling through the country telling the old legends to the common people. Their stories were exerting a powerful influence on the community | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript says that scholars used old stories (legends) to weaken the Emperor's authority. These stories had a very strong effect (influence) on the group of people (the community), showing that myths can change how a society thinks and acts. Answer Explanation: The answer explains that the Warring States period is used as a case to show how myths can influence or affect a whole community of people. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'C' because the transcript explains that myths have more than just a personal meaning; they also have a 'social' effect. The speaker uses the Warring States period to show how old stories were used to make people doubt the Emperor's power. The text says these stories had a 'powerful influence' on the people, which is a synonym for 'social power.' This also explains why the Emperor eventually felt he had to ban the stories and write new ones. |
| Q34 | B | Do not dismiss mythology as being old-fashioned and irrelevant to modern society. For example, George Lucas’s Star Wars saga is a powerful retelling of an ancient mythological theme. When Luke Skywalker’s story begins, he is an exiled and orphaned member of royalty, who is then called to an adventure where he meets the powerful wizard Ben Kenobi. During his quest he overcomes many dangers, slays the evil character Darth Vader, and rescues his beautiful sister princess Leia. So, you can see that we’re still busily creating new myths in the form of movies, comic books and science fiction stories | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that myths aren't just for people in the past; it points to the story of Luke Skywalker to prove that we still make and enjoy new versions of these old types of stories in movies and books today. Answer Explanation: The answer means that stories resembling ancient legends are still being created and shared in modern times. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is supported by the speaker using the 'Star Wars' movie as an example. The speaker argues that mythology is not 'old-fashioned' or 'irrelevant' to today's world. By describing Luke Skywalker's journey, the speaker shows that we are 'still busily creating' stories that are basically a 'retelling' of ancient patterns in the form of modern movies. |
| Q35 | E | In some of these stories, such as those from some American Indian tribes and Aboriginal Australians, there is a creature, for example, a crab or a giant tortoise. This creature dives into the ocean and retrieves a small piece of earth from which everything else is created | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript describes how in Australian stories, an animal (a creature) goes deep into the salt water (ocean) to get a bit of soil (earth) to build the world. Answer Explanation: The answer E points to Australian myths as the ones featuring an animal that fetches land from the water to start life. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is E because the lecturer specifically mentions creation myths from Aboriginal Australians as examples where a creature, such as a crab or tortoise, goes into the ocean to find a piece of earth. This earth is then used to create everything else, which matches the idea of an animal bringing up life from the sea. |
| Q36 | B | In Norse mythology, for example, a supernatural human being emerges from this void and mountains, rivers and earth are formed from his flesh and blood | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that in Norse stories, a magical person came from nothingness, and then parts of the earth were made from that person's physical body. Answer Explanation: The answer B refers to Norse mythology, which is the set of traditional stories from people in ancient Northern Europe. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is B because the transcript specifically mentions that in Norse mythology, the physical world—including mountains, rivers, and the earth—was created using parts of a supernatural or god-like creature named Ymir. It describes how these natural features were made from his flesh and blood, which means the world was formed from a god's body. |
| Q37 | A | The Greek culture is a good example of a creation myth that features a family of quarrelsome and aggressive gods, all battling for power and a role in the creation of the earth | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that in Greek stories about how the world began, the family of gods fights and struggles against one another because they all want to be in control. Answer Explanation: The answer is Greek mythology. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is Greek mythology because the text describes its gods as being 'quarrelsome' (meaning they argue) and 'aggressive.' It specifically mentions that they are 'battling' for power, which is another way to say they are fighting with each other. |
| Q38 | C | One of the Chinese myths represents chaos as a hen’s egg, from which a creature called Pangu hatches. The parts of the egg separated; the heavy parts formed the earth, while the light parts formed the sky. For eighteen thousand years, the distance between earth and sky increased by 3 metres a day, while Pangu grew at the same rate, his body filling the space between the two | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that in a Chinese story, the earth and sky were made from an egg. A creature named Pangu lived between them. For 18,000 years, the earth and sky moved further apart every day, and Pangu grew bigger at the same time to fill that space. Answer Explanation: The answer is Chinese mythology. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is C because the lecturer describes a Chinese myth about a character named Pangu. In this story, Pangu hatches from an egg, and as he grows taller, the space between the earth and the sky also gets larger. This matches the idea of the earth forming or taking shape as a god grows bigger. |
| Q39 | D | Another mythology which features the earth and the sky separating comes from the Maori culture in New Zealand. In this story, the sky father Rangi, and the earth mother Papa, lie touching each other. They have many children, all boys, and these children plot together to separate their parents, so that they can live in the light. After many failed attempts at separation, Tane, the god of the forest, lies on his back and pushes his parents apart with his legs | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about a story from the Māori people. In this story, the father (the sky) and mother (the earth) are together. Their sons want to separate them. Finally, one son named Tane pushes his parents apart using his legs. Answer Explanation: The answer belongs to the Māori culture, where a child moves his mother and father away from each other in their story about how the world began. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is D because the transcript specifically describes a story from the Māori culture in New Zealand. In this story, the sky (the father) and the earth (the mother) are touching until their children decide to push them apart. One of their sons, Tane, successfully separates them by using his legs to push them away so the children can live in the light. Important words to notice are 'Maori culture', 'parents', and 'separate'. |
| Q40 | A | In Greek mythology, the humans tried to secretly take the knowledge of how to make fire | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript states that in the stories from Greece, people tried to get the secret of making fire by taking it from the gods. Answer Explanation: The answer is Greek mythology, which includes a story where humans try to take something from the gods without permission. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is Greek because the transcript explicitly mentions that in Greek mythology, humans attempted to "secretly take" the knowledge of fire. To "secretly take" something that belongs to someone else is a synonym for "stealing." This fits the description of people stealing from the gods. |
Transcript
Today’s lecture is about some of the common themes in world mythologies. Why do all cultures invent mythologies, and what do they have in common? Well firstly, these stories provide explanations for the questions we all ask: How was the universe created? Where does the sun come from? What are the stars? A mythology is not the same as a religious doctrine, but nevertheless, most mythologies describe the creation of the world, and how it was populated with people and animals. Mythological heroes are usually god-like characters with superhuman abilities and qualities, though they are not always benevolent. Some of them are jealous, proud and deceitful, just like the humans who invent them. Although they are fantastical, the stories are accepted as a psychological reality by the cultures that create them.
However, mythology has more than psychological meaning. Here’s one example. In the period of ancient Chinese history known as the Warring States, China was changing, but the traditional mythologies reinforced the old political order. The Emperor’s chief minister noticed that some scholars were undermining the Emperor by travelling through the country telling the old legends to the common people. Their stories were exerting a powerful influence on the community. The Emperor forbade the telling of myths and commissioned the writing of new stories that supported his political ideas.
Do not dismiss mythology as being old-fashioned and irrelevant to modern society. For example, George Lucas’s Star Wars saga is a powerful retelling of an ancient mythological theme. When Luke Skywalker’s story begins, he is an exiled and orphaned member of royalty, who is then called to an adventure where he meets the powerful wizard Ben Kenobi. During his quest he overcomes many dangers, slays the evil character Darth Vader, and rescues his beautiful sister princess Leia. So, you can see that we’re still busily creating new myths in the form of movies, comic books and science fiction stories. This retelling of ancient legends speaks to us all at any age, as do the old stories that we have inherited from our own cultures.
Stories from widely different cultures bear a strong resemblance to each other, and one of the best examples of this is the striking similarity of creation myths from around the world. In some of these stories, such as those from some American Indian tribes and Aboriginal Australians, there is a creature, for example, a crab or a giant tortoise. This creature dives into the ocean and retrieves a small piece of earth from which everything else is created. Water and earth are the two most common elements in all the creation myths.
However, in many creation myths, the world starts in a state of chaos, or a void, where there is no delineation of earth and sky. In Norse mythology, for example, a supernatural human being emerges from this void and mountains, rivers and earth are formed from his flesh and blood. This god-like creature is called Ymir. This creation of natural features from the bodies of the gods is a common thread in other creation mythologies, such as those of Mesopotamia. It frequently takes place after a god has died or been killed, and this introduces another common mythological theme: family rivalry.
The Greek culture is a good example of a creation myth that features a family of quarrelsome and aggressive gods, all battling for power and a role in the creation of the earth. Gaia the earth gives birth to Uranus, the sky, and these two create a family of children, including monsters, who imprison, torture and sometimes even kill and eat their own offspring. Creation myths do not provide examples of the cardinal virtues, but they do address universal themes of jealousy, war and lust for power.
Another common element is the image of a cosmic egg. One of the Chinese myths represents chaos as a hen’s egg, from which a creature called Pangu hatches. The parts of the egg separated; the heavy parts formed the earth, while the light parts formed the sky. For eighteen thousand years, the distance between earth and sky increased by 3 metres a day, while Pangu grew at the same rate, his body filling the space between the two. Another mythology which features the earth and the sky separating comes from the Maori culture in New Zealand. In this story, the sky father Rangi, and the earth mother Papa, lie touching each other. They have many children, all boys, and these children plot together to separate their parents, so that they can live in the light. After many failed attempts at separation, Tane, the god of the forest, lies on his back and pushes his parents apart with his legs.
And where do humans feature in these stories? Most often, they are formed after the creation of other natural features. For example, in the Chinese myth, humans were created from the fleas on Pangu’s body. Once they had arrived on the scene, the humans often tried to elevate themselves to god-like status by taking knowledge from the gods. In Greek mythology, the humans tried to secretly take the knowledge of how to make fire.