The History Of The Tortoise - IELTS Reading Answers & Explanations
From Cambridge IELTS 09 Academic Reading Test 1 · Part 3 · Questions 27–40
Reading Passage
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.
The history of the tortoise
If you go back far enough, everything lived in the sea. At various points in evolutionary history, enterprising individuals within many different animal groups moved out onto the land, sometimes even to the most parched deserts, taking their own private seawater with them in blood and cellular fluids. In addition to the reptiles, birds, mammals and insects which we see all around us, other groups that have succeeded out of water include scorpions, snails, crustaceans such as woodlice and land crabs, millipedes and centipedes, spiders and various worms. And we mustn't forget the plants, without whose prior invasion of the land none of the other migrations could have happened.
Moving from water to land involved a major redesign of every aspect of life, including breathing and reproduction. Nevertheless, a good number of thoroughgoing land animals later turned around, abandoned their hard-earned terrestrial re-tooling, and returned to the water again. Seals have only gone part way back. They show us what the intermediates might have been like, on the way to extreme cases such as whales and dugongs. Whales (including the small whales we call dolphins) and dugongs, with their close cousins the manatees, ceased to be land creatures altogether and reverted to the full marine habits of their remote ancestors. They don't even come ashore to breed. They do, however, still breathe air, having never developed anything equivalent to the gills of their earlier marine incarnation. Turtles went back to the sea a very long time ago and, like all vertebrate returnees to the water, they breathe air. However, they are, in one respect, less fully given back to the water than whales or dugongs, for turtles still lay their eggs on beaches.
There is evidence that all modern turtles are descended from a terrestrial ancestor which lived before most of the dinosaurs. There are two key fossils called Proganochelys quenstedti and Palaeochersis talampayensis dating from early dinosaur times, which appear to be close to the ancestry of all modern turtles and tortoises. You might wonder how we can tell whether fossil animals lived on land or in water, especially if only fragments are found. Sometimes it's obvious. Ichthyosaurs were reptilian contemporaries of the dinosaurs, with fins and streamlined bodies. The fossils look like dolphins and they surely lived like dolphins, in the water. With turtles it is a little less obvious. One way to tell is by measuring the bones of their forelimbs.
Walter Joyce and Jacques Gauthier, at Yale University, obtained three measurements in these particular bones of 71 species of living turtles and tortoises. They used a kind of triangular graph paper to plot the three measurements against one another. All the land tortoise species formed a tight cluster of points in the upper part of the triangle; all the water turtles cluster in the lower part of the triangular graph. There was no overlap, except when they added some species that spend time both in water and on land. Sure enough, these amphibious species show up on the triangular graph approximately half way between the 'wet cluster' of sea turtles and the 'dry cluster' of land tortoises. The next step was to determine where the fossils fell. The bones of P. quenstedti and P. talampayensis leave us in no doubt. Their points on the graph are right in the thick of the dry cluster. Both these fossils were dry-land tortoises. They come from the era before our turtles returned to the water.
You might think, therefore, that modern land tortoises have probably stayed on land ever since those early terrestrial times, as most mammals did after a few of them went back to the sea. But apparently not. If you draw out the family tree of all modern turtles and tortoises, nearly all the branches are aquatic. Today's land tortoises constitute a single branch, deeply nested among branches consisting of aquatic turtles. This suggests that modern land tortoises have not stayed on land continuously since the time of P. quenstedti and P. talampayensis. Rather, their ancestors were among those who went back to the water, and they then re-emerged back onto the land in (relatively) more recent times.
Tortoises therefore represent a remarkable double return. In common with all mammals, reptiles and birds, their remote ancestors were marine fish and before that various more or less worm-like creatures stretching back, still in the sea, to the primeval bacteria. Later ancestors lived on land and stayed there for a very large number of generations. Later ancestors still evolved back into the water and became sea turtles. And finally they returned yet again to the land as tortoises, some of which now live in the driest of deserts.
Questions
Questions 27–30 Short Answers
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Questions 31–33 True / False / Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
Write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
Questions 34–39 Flow Chart Completion
Complete the flow-chart below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Method of determining where the ancestors of turtles and tortoises come from
Step 1
71 species of living turtles and tortoises were examined and a total of 34 were taken from the bones of their forelimbs.
Step 2
The data was recorded on a 35 (necessary for comparing the information).
Outcome: Land tortoises were represented by a dense 36 of points towards the top.
Sea turtles were grouped together in the bottom part.
Step 3
The same data was collected from some living 37 species and added to the other results.
Outcome: The points for these species turned out to be positioned about 38 up the triangle between the land tortoises and the sea turtles.
Step 4
Bones of P. quenstedti and P. talampayensis were examined in a similar way and the results added.
Outcome: The position of the points indicated that both these ancient creatures were 39.
Questions 40–40 Multiple Choice (One Answer)
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Answers & Explanations Summary
| # | Answer | Evidence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q27 | plants | And we mustn't forget the plants, without whose prior invasion of the land none of the other migrations could have happened | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage says that plants moved onto the land first. If they had not done this, no other living creatures could have moved from the water to the land later on. Answer Explanation: The answer refers to living things like trees, flowers, and grass that grow in soil and make their own food. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is "plants" because the text clearly states that for any animal movements (migrations) to occur, the plants had to move onto land first. The author uses the word "prior" to show that plants came before the animals. |
| Q28 | breathing / reproduction | Moving from water to land involved a major redesign of every aspect of life, including breathing and reproduction | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that when animals changed from living in the water to living on the land, they had to change many things about how their bodies worked, such as how they take in air and how they produce babies. Answer Explanation: The answer identifies two bodily functions that animals had to completely change when they moved from living in the sea to living on the land. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is derived from the second paragraph of the passage. It states that moving from water to land required a "major redesign" of how animals lived. The text specifically names "breathing" and "reproduction" as two key areas that underwent this transformation. The phrase "major redesign" is a synonym for making "big changes," which matches the phrasing in the question. |
| Q29 | gills | They do, however, still breathe air, having never developed anything equivalent to the gills of their earlier marine incarnation | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage says that whales must come to the surface for air because they never grew organs like gills, which their very old sea-living ancestors used to breathe. Answer Explanation: The answer is the organ that fish and ancient sea creatures use to breathe underwater. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'gills' because the passage states that whales live in the ocean but still breathe air. Even though they returned to the sea like their very old ancestors (their 'earlier marine incarnation'), they did not develop the same body parts for breathing in water that those ancestors had. Therefore, whales lack gills. |
| Q30 | dolphins | The fossils look like dolphins and they surely lived like dolphins, in the water | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage says that when people look at the old bones (fossils) of ichthyosaurs, they appear very similar to dolphins. Answer Explanation: The answer refers to dolphins, which are the modern sea animals that ichthyosaurs looked very similar to. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is dolphins because the passage directly compares the appearance of ichthyosaur fossils to these animals. It mentions that because ichthyosaurs had fins and streamlined bodies, they looked like dolphins. In the text, the word "look like" acts as a synonym for "resembled." |
| Q31 | NOT GIVEN | Turtles went back to the sea a very long time ago and, like all vertebrate returnees to the water, they breathe air | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage confirms that turtles returned to the sea in the distant past, but it does not compare their timing to other animals to say if they were among the first. Answer Explanation: The answer means that the text does not provide enough information to know if turtles were one of the first groups of animals to move back into the ocean. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is NOT GIVEN because while the text mentions that turtles returned to the sea 'a very long time ago,' it never says whether they were the 'first' or among the first groups to do this. The passage mentions other animals that returned to the water, such as whales and dolphins, but it does not provide a timeline or a list that ranks which animals went back first. Therefore, we cannot confirm or deny the statement based only on the provided information. |
| Q32 | FALSE | You might wonder how we can tell whether fossil animals lived on land or in water, especially if only fragments are found. Sometimes it's obvious | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that even when we only have small parts of a fossil instead of the whole thing, it can be very easy to tell if the animal lived in the water or on the land. Answer Explanation: The answer means that the statement is wrong; it is not always hard to figure out where an animal lived when we only have small pieces of its fossil. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is FALSE because the text says that sometimes it is very easy to know where a fossilized animal lived, even if we only find small pieces (fragments) of it. The question says it is 'always difficult,' which goes against the passage saying it is 'sometimes... obvious.' Keywords like 'sometimes' and 'obvious' show that determining their home isn't always a hard task, even when the remains are in 'fragments' (incomplete). |
| Q33 | TRUE | Ichthyosaurs were reptilian contemporaries of the dinosaurs, with fins and streamlined bodies. The fossils look like dolphins and they surely lived like dolphins, in the water | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage says that these ancient animals had body parts designed for swimming. Because their fossils look so much like modern dolphins, it is easy to tell that they lived in the ocean. Answer Explanation: The answer is TRUE because scientists can look at the shape and features of ichthyosaur fossils to understand where they lived. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is TRUE because the passage explains that for some animals, like ichthyosaurs, it is 'obvious' (very clear) how they lived just by looking at their physical remains. Since ichthyosaur fossils have fins and streamlined (smooth and shaped for speed) bodies that look like dolphins, scientists are certain they lived in the water (their habitat). |
| Q34 | 3 measurements / three measurements | Walter Joyce and Jacques Gauthier, at Yale University, obtained three measurements in these particular bones of 71 species of living turtles and tortoises | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage states that two researchers at a university got three different sizes from the bones of 71 different kinds of turtles that are alive today. Answer Explanation: The answer identifies that scientists took three specific sizes or records of length from the front leg bones of 71 different types of turtles. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is found in the fourth paragraph, which describes the research methods. The text states that two scientists from Yale University looked at the bones of 71 species and recorded 'three measurements' from each one. These measurements were then used to group the animals on a graph to see if they lived on land or in water. The word 'obtained' in the text acts as a synonym for 'taken' in the chart. |
| Q35 | triangular graph / graph | They used a kind of triangular graph paper to plot the three measurements against one another | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that the researchers used a piece of paper with a triangle-shaped chart to organize and compare the physical measurements they found. Answer Explanation: The answer refers to a special type of chart shaped like a triangle that is used to record and compare information. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is found in the paragraph describing the research at Yale University. The text states that after taking measurements of turtle bones, the scientists used 'triangular graph paper' to 'plot' (which means to record or mark) the data points. This allowed them to see where different species appeared in relation to each other, which is the process described in Step 2 of the flow-chart. |
| Q36 | cluster | All the land tortoise species formed a tight cluster of points in the upper part of the triangle; all the water turtles cluster in the lower part of the triangular graph | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that when looking at a graph, the data for land tortoises stayed together in a group at the top, while the data for water turtles stayed together in a group at the bottom. Answer Explanation: The answer "cluster" refers to a group of similar things (in this case, data points on a graph) that are located very close to each other. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is supported by the passage's description of a research graph. When scientists plotted measurements of tortoise bones, the results for land tortoises all appeared in one specific area at the top of the graph. The passage uses the word "tight" to describe this group, which matches the meaning of the word "dense" used in the flow-chart task. |
| Q37 | amphibious | There was no overlap, except when they added some species that spend time both in water and on land. Sure enough, these amphibious species show up on the triangular graph approximately half way between the 'wet cluster' of sea turtles and the 'dry cluster' of land tortoises | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that when researchers added animals that live both in water and on land to their study, they named them "amphibious species" and found that these animals were positioned in the middle of their graph. Answer Explanation: The answer refers to animals that are able to live on both land and in water. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is found in the section of the text describing the research by Walter Joyce and Jacques Gauthier. The text explains that they looked at animals that live on land and animals that live in water. Then, they added animals that live in both places. The passage explicitly uses the term 'amphibious species' to describe these animals and mentions that their data points appeared in the middle of the graph, which matches Step 3 of the flow-chart. |
| Q38 | half way | Sure enough, these amphibious species show up on the triangular graph approximately half way between the 'wet cluster' of sea turtles and the 'dry cluster' of land tortoises | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that for animals that spend time in both the water and on land, their data points on the chart were located in the middle, between the groups for sea turtles and land tortoises. Answer Explanation: The answer 'half way' means in the middle position between two other points or groups on a graph. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'half way' because the text describes a study where scientists graphed different species of turtles and tortoises. When they added 'amphibious species' (animals that live both on land and in water) to the chart, these species did not match the 'wet cluster' at the bottom or the 'dry cluster' at the top. Instead, they appeared in the middle, or approximately half way between those two groups. |
| Q39 | dry-land tortoises | Both these fossils were dry-land tortoises | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage clearly states that both of these ancient remains belonged to tortoises that lived on dry land. Answer Explanation: The answer means that the two very old animals researchers studied lived on the ground, not in the sea. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is "dry-land tortoises" because the passage explains a study comparing the bone sizes of different animals. When researchers looked at the bones of the two ancient creatures mentioned (P. quenstedti and P. talampayensis), they found that the data points sat in the same area of a graph as modern land animals. This area is called the "dry cluster," and the text confirms these fossils were specifically dry-land tortoises. |
| Q40 | D | Tortoises therefore represent a remarkable double return. In common with all mammals, reptiles and birds, their remote ancestors were marine fish and before that various more or less worm-like creatures stretching back, still in the sea, to the primeval bacteria. Later ancestors lived on land and stayed there for a very large number of generations. Later ancestors still evolved back into the water and became sea turtles. And finally they returned yet again to the land as tortoises, some of which now live in the driest of deserts | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that tortoises have a surprising history of moving between environments. Their very old relatives lived in the sea as fish. Later relatives moved to live on land. After that, they went back into the water to become sea turtles. Finally, they came back out of the water a second time to live on land as the tortoises we know today. Answer Explanation: The answer means that tortoises are unique because their species has moved from living in the sea to living on land, then back to the sea, and finally back to land again. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is D because the author describes the evolutionary history of tortoises as a 'double return.' This means they did not just move out of the water once; instead, they successfully changed environments multiple times throughout history. The passage tracks their journey from being fish in the sea, to living on land, then moving back to water to become sea turtles, and finally returning to land as tortoises. The phrase 'returned yet again' confirms that they made the move to land more than one time. |