'De-extinction' aims to revive species like the passenger pigeon, the thylacine and the woolly mammoth using cloning and gene editing. Supporters point to ecological gains: thylacines could have stopped the devils' facial cancer, pigeon-like birds could renew stagnant forests, and cold-adapted elephants could cool the tundra. Beth Shapiro doubts exact revival is possible and prefers 'genetic rescue' of living species.
Paragraph matching (14-17) uses A twice. The mammoth summary (18-22) is all in E. The people matching (23-26) needs B, D and F, and Shapiro is the answer twice.
Matching information (paragraphs A-F)
Questions 14-17
How to attack this block: A answers two items: the exact date the last passenger pigeon died, and cloning an extinct animal's own DNA into an embryo. D describes the eastern US forests left stagnant. F is about using the technology to prevent future mass extinctions.
Question 14
Answer: FParagraph F, middle
Which paragraph mentions a way to stop many more species dying out?
how we could use it to make genetic modifications which could prevent mass extinctions in the future
Question says → Passage says
how… could be avoidedhow we could use it to… prevent
further disappearance of multiple speciesmass extinctions in the future
Why: 'Mass extinctions' means many species disappearing, and 'in the future' is 'further'. Shapiro wants the technology used to understand past extinctions so future ones can be prevented.
The trap: Paragraph B says thylacines could make sure Tasmanian devils are 'never again' put at risk. That's one species, not multiple species.
Question 15
Answer: AParagraph A, fifth sentence
Which paragraph explains reviving an extinct animal from its own DNA alone?
using cloning technology to turn the DNA of extinct animals into a fertilised embryo, which is carried by the nearest relative still in existence
Question says → Passage says
a way of reproducing an extinct animalusing cloning technology
using the DNA of only that speciesturn the DNA of extinct animals into a fertilised embryo
Why: In A, the extinct animal's own DNA becomes the embryo. The living relative, the band-tailed pigeon, only carries it, like a surrogate mother, so the DNA is from the extinct species alone.
The trap: Paragraph C also describes a method, but it inserts extinct DNA into a living species' DNA to make a hybrid. That mixes two species, so it fails 'only that species'.
Question 16
Answer: DParagraph D, middle
Which paragraph describes a habitat that got worse after a species died out?
Since the disappearance of this key species, ecosystems in the eastern US have suffered… This has left forests stagnant
Question says → Passage says
a habitat which has sufferedecosystems in the eastern US have suffered / forests stagnant
following the extinction of a speciesSince the disappearance of this key species
Why: Without passenger pigeons breaking branches, the eastern US forests had little need to regrow and became stagnant, unwelcoming to the plants and animals that depend on regeneration. Forests and ecosystems are habitats.
The trap: Paragraph B describes harm after the thylacine's extinction too, but what suffered there is a species, the Tasmanian devil, through disease, not a habitat.
Question 17
Answer: AParagraph A, third sentence
Which paragraph gives the exact moment a species became extinct?
the passenger pigeon's existence came to an end on 1 September 1914, when the last living specimen died at Cincinnati Zoo
Question says → Passage says
the exact pointon 1 September 1914
became extinctexistence came to an end / the last living specimen died
Why: A gives a full date and even the place where the last bird died. That's as exact as it gets. A is also the answer to 15, which the 'NB' allows.
The trap: Paragraph B refers to 'the decades since the thylacine went extinct', which tells you it happened, but not when.
Summary completion (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS)
Questions 18-22
How to attack this block: E gives the details in order: what Church is pinpointing (two words), what the adaptations are meant to reduce (two words), and the features to add besides thicker hair. The last gap is what grass growth would reduce, and the shorter answers are accepted for two of these.
Question 18
Answer: genetic traitsParagraph E, third sentence
What is Church's team trying to identify?
By pinpointing which genetic traits made it possible for mammoths to survive the icy climate of the tundra
Question says → Passage says
trying to identifypinpointing
which enabled mammoths to live in the tundramade it possible for mammoths to survive the icy climate of the tundra
Why: 'Pinpointing' means identifying precisely, and the thing being pinpointed is 'genetic traits'. 'Enabled… to live' is 'made it possible… to survive'. Two words, exactly the limit.
The trap: 'Cold resistance' is in the previous sentence and sounds right, but it's the difference between mammoths and elephants that Church is focusing on. The summary's 'which enabled' structure matches the 'genetic traits' sentence.
Question 19
Answer: heat lossParagraph E, Church's quote
What would the elephants' physical adaptations be meant to reduce?
all for the purpose of reducing heat loss in the tundra
Question says → Passage says
certain physical adaptationsNecessary adaptations
to minimisefor the purpose of reducing
Why: 'To minimise' paraphrases 'for the purpose of reducing'. What's reduced is 'heat loss'. You need both words: 'heat' alone gives the opposite meaning.
The trap: 'Carbon emissions' is also something reduced in E, but by repopulating the tundra, not by the animals' bodies. The summary uses that idea later, in question 22.
Question 20
Answer: earsParagraph E, Church's quote
Which body part would need to be smaller?
Necessary adaptations would include smaller ears, thicker hair, and extra insulating fat
Question says → Passage says
of a reduced sizesmaller
Why: The summary has moved 'smaller' after the gap as 'of a reduced size'. So only the noun is needed: 'ears'.
The trap: 'Smaller ears' is within the word limit but gives 'smaller ears of a reduced size', which says the same thing twice. Read past the gap before you write.
Question 21
Answer: fatParagraph E, Church's quote
Also accepted: insulating fat
What would the animals need more of?
Necessary adaptations would include smaller ears, thicker hair, and extra insulating fat
Question says → Passage says
moreextra
Why: 'More' replaces 'extra', so the gap takes what comes after it: 'fat' or 'insulating fat'. Both are accepted, and both fit the two-word limit.
The trap: 'Extra insulating fat' is three words, and 'more extra' repeats itself. 'Hair' is already used in the summary.
Question 22
Answer: emissionsParagraph E, last two sentences
Also accepted: carbon emissions
Besides temperatures, what else could repopulating the tundra help decrease?
This grass growth would reduce temperatures, and mitigate emissions from melting permafrost.
Question says → Passage says
help to reduce temperaturesreduce temperatures
decreasemitigate
Why: The summary follows the last sentence: 'reduce temperatures' is copied, then 'decrease' stands in for 'mitigate'. The object is 'emissions'. The previous sentence's 'carbon emissions' is also accepted.
The trap: Don't write 'permafrost'. Permafrost melting is the source; the emissions are what get reduced.
Matching statements to people
Questions 23-26
How to attack this block: Archer says thylacines would protect the Tasmanian devils' health. Novak's hybrid pigeon would disturb and renew forests, which is the vegetation benefit. Shapiro makes two points: study why species went extinct, and admit that what we do now is not enough.
Question 23
Answer: BParagraph B, last sentence
Who says bringing a species back could make another species there healthier?
The return of thylacines to Tasmania could help to ensure that devils are never again subjected to risks of this kind.
Question says → Passage says
Reintroducing an extinct species to its original habitatThe return of thylacines to Tasmania
improve the health of a particular speciesdevils are never again subjected to risks of this kind
Why: Archer argues that thylacines would have killed enough devils to stop the contagious facial cancer spreading. Their return would protect the devils from that disease, so the devil population would be healthier.
The trap: Novak's pigeons would also help their old habitat, but he talks about forests and many species in general, not one species' health.
Question 24
Answer: CParagraph F, middle
Who says we should focus on why animals went extinct?
She prefers to focus the debate on how this emerging technology could be used to fully understand why various species went extinct in the first place
Question says → Passage says
important to concentrate onprefers to focus the debate on
the causes of an animal's extinctionwhy various species went extinct in the first place
Why: 'Concentrate on' = 'focus on', and 'the causes' = 'why… went extinct'. 'She' is Shapiro, named in the sentence before.
The trap: Archer explains why the devils' cancer spread (no predator), which is a cause, but it's the cause of a disease, not of an extinction.
Question 25
Answer: AParagraph D, last sentence
Who says a revived species could do a lot of good for the plant life of its habitat?
a hybridised band-tailed pigeon, with the added nesting habits of a passenger pigeon, could, in theory, re-establish that forest disturbance
Question says → Passage says
A species brought back from extinctiona hybridised band-tailed pigeon, with the added nesting habits of a passenger pigeon
beneficial impact on the vegetationre-establish that forest disturbance / help regenerate the forest
Why: Novak's hybrid would break trees and branches the way passenger pigeons did. That disturbance makes the forest regrow, so it's a benefit to the vegetation, which in turn creates habitat for many other species.
The trap: Church's elephants knock down trees and encourage grass growth (E), which fits the statement well. But Church isn't on the list of people, so that can't be the answer.
Question 26
Answer: CParagraph F, last sentence
Who says what we currently do to protect species isn't enough?
We know that what we are doing today is not enough, and we have to be willing to take some calculated and measured risks.
Question says → Passage says
Our current effortswhat we are doing today
are insufficientis not enough
Why: 'Current' = 'today', and 'insufficient' = 'not enough'. Shapiro is talking about the moral hazard of doing nothing to save species, so the efforts are conservation efforts. Shapiro is used twice, which the 'NB' allows.
The trap: Shapiro's other quote in C, 'I don't think that we can do this', is also negative, but it's about de-extinction being impossible, not current efforts being too small.
A, not C. A describes cloning the extinct animal's DNA itself into an embryo, while C describes inserting extinct DNA into a living species to make a hybrid.
B (Archer). Thylacines would kill enough Tasmanian devils to stop the contagious cancer spreading, which improves the health of the devils as a species.
Write 'ears'. The summary already says 'of a reduced size', so 'smaller ears' would repeat the idea and break the grammar.
Words from this passage worth keeping
spectacles(A)
impressive sights
premise(A)
the basic idea something is based on
niche(B)
the role a species plays in its environment
debilitating(B)
making someone or something very weak
stagnant(D)
not changing or developing
pinpointing(E)
finding or identifying exactly
mitigate(E)
make something less harmful or serious
moral hazard(F)
a risk of doing wrong; here, the danger of doing nothing
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 15 Test 2 reading paper: all three passages, 60 minutes, marked the second you finish with a review of every answer. Already done it? Take it again and see if the same traps still get you.
Cambridge IELTS 15, Test 2, Reading Passage 2. The passage and questions belong to Cambridge University Press and are not reproduced here. We quote short extracts only as evidence for our own commentary, and the answers are published for self-marking. Get the book for the full text, or sit the test on Langujet.
