The writer argues that exploring is a human instinct we all share, not just a quality of a special breed. There is still a vast amount to discover. Famous explorers define exploration in ways that reflect their own fields, but all share a clear goal and a wish to record findings. For the writer, a writer, exploration today means new ideas: a fresh way of seeing even well-travelled places.
The multiple choice (27-32) goes through the passage paragraph by paragraph. The explorer matching (33-37) is in the third and fifth paragraphs. The summary (38-40) is the final paragraph.
Multiple choice
Questions 27-32
How to attack this block: Each question points to a paragraph. The New York visitor shows exploring is part of being human, and the second paragraph says we all have the enquiring instinct. Hardy explored his characters' desires and fears. The 'golden age' idea is wrong because so much is undiscovered. People define exploration by their own profession, and the writer is interested in casting new light on familiar places.
Question 27
Answer: AParagraph 1
Why does the writer mention a visitor finding their way round New York?
Our desire to discover, and then share that new-found knowledge, is part of what makes us human
Question says → Passage says
an intrinsic element of being humanpart of what makes us human
visitors to New Yorka visitor negotiate the subways of New York
Why: The paragraph's claim is that exploring is built into us: 'We are all explorers'. The cavemen, the Penan and the New York visitor are all examples of the same 'questing nature'. Intrinsic = part of what you are.
The trap: B sounds close, but the writer says everyone has the urge, not that most people are enthusiastic about it. Nothing in the paragraph is surprising (C) or frightening (D): finding your way on the subway is an everyday example.
Question 28
Answer: CParagraph 2, second sentence
In the second paragraph, how does the writer see explorers?
That, however, doesn't take away from the fact that we all have this enquiring instinct, even today
Question says → Passage says
an urgethis enquiring instinct
common to everyonewe all have
Why: The writer admits some people may be more suited to exploring, then says 'however': we all have the enquiring instinct. An instinct is an urge, and 'we all' is 'everyone'.
The trap: D picks up the word 'professions', but the writer's point is the opposite: the unknown is being tested in 'all sorts of professions', not in a few favoured ones. A and B are never discussed.
Question 29
Answer: CParagraph 3, first two sentences
What point does the Egdon Heath example make about Hardy?
used the landscape to suggest the desires and fears of his characters. He is delving into matters we all recognise
Question says → Passage says
investigatedelving into
people's emotional statesthe desires and fears of his characters
Why: Hardy used the landscape as a way into his characters' minds. Desires and fears are emotional states, and 'delving into' means investigating. The writer calls this 'an act of exploration' even though no one travels.
The trap: D is tempting because Egdon Heath is wild, uncultivated land and the paragraph mentions a 'remote' world. But the landscape is a tool for showing feelings, not a picture of the appeal of isolation. A is wrong because the heath is fictional, not Hardy's own travels.
Question 30
Answer: DParagraph 4, second half
Why does the writer bring up the idea of 'a golden age' of exploration?
as if the process of discovery is now on the decline, though the truth is that we have named only one and a half million of this planet's species
Question says → Passage says
we are wrong to thinkas if… though the truth is
exploration is no longer necessarythe process of discovery is now on the decline
Why: 'As if' shows the writer thinks the golden-age view is mistaken, and 'the truth is' starts his evidence: unnamed species, unmapped ocean floors, a brain we barely understand. There's still a huge amount to explore, so it's still needed.
The trap: A and B describe the golden-age belief itself, the idea that exploration has declined. The writer mentions that belief only to reject it, so neither is his point. C, exploration being less exciting, isn't discussed.
Question 31
Answer: AParagraph 6, first sentence
What does the writer say about how people define exploration?
Each definition is slightly different - and tends to reflect the field of endeavour of each pioneer.
Question says → Passage says
relate exploration totends to reflect
their own professional intereststhe field of endeavour of each pioneer
Why: A 'field of endeavour' is someone's area of work. The historian says exploration is in the past, the scientist says it's in the present: each one sees it through their own job.
The trap: D mentions historians and scientists, which are the writer's own examples, but he never says their definitions are better than anyone else's. He only shows that they differ. Nobody is said to misunderstand (B).
Question 32
Answer: BParagraph 7, last sentence
What is the writer interested in, according to the last paragraph?
this is what interests me: how a fresh interpretation, even of a well-travelled route, can give its readers new insights
Question says → Passage says
cast new light ona fresh interpretation… new insights
places that may be familiara well-travelled route
Why: 'This is what interests me' signals the answer. A well-travelled route is a familiar place, and giving readers a fresh interpretation and new insights is casting new light on it. Earlier he also says he wants 'a new slant'.
The trap: D is close in topic, but the writer is interested in what readers gain from a new interpretation, not in writers' feelings about places. C: 'the world has moved on' is about exploration, not about how travel writing has changed.
Matching statements to explorers
Questions 33-37
How to attack this block: Thesiger answers twice: going by camel instead of car, and exploration meaning information brought back rather than self-discovery. Fleming describes returning home, Hanbury-Tenison campaigned for tribal peoples, and Fiennes wants something new that is also scientifically useful. Bonington isn't used.
Question 33
Answer: EParagraph 5, second half
Which explorer said the type of transport matters?
'If I'd gone across by camel when I could have gone by car, it would have been a stunt.'
Question says → Passage says
the form of transport usedby camel… by car
the relevance ofit would have been a stunt
Why: Thesiger says using a camel when a car was available would make the trip a stunt. That's a comment on how much the choice of transport matters. The passage also says he belongs to an era of 'unmechanised travel'.
The trap: Bonington talks about 'physically touching the unknown', which sounds like a way of travelling, but he says nothing about the means of transport.
Question 34
Answer: AParagraph 3, second half
Which explorer described what it feels like to return home?
Explorer and travel writer Peter Fleming talks of the moment when the explorer returns to the existence he has left behind with his loved ones.
Question says → Passage says
coming back homereturns to the existence he has left behind with his loved ones
described feelingsseen himself only as a puny and irrelevant alien… suddenly encounters his other self
Why: Fleming describes the switch the traveller feels on return: from a 'puny and irrelevant alien' abroad to a 'relatively solid figure' with a place in people's minds. That's feelings on coming home.
The trap: Fleming is easy to miss because he's in paragraph 3, not with the other explorers in paragraph 5. Thesiger talks about 'bringing back information', but that's what you bring home, not how you feel.
Question 35
Answer: DParagraph 5, middle
Which explorer worked to help particular groups of people?
Then Robin Hanbury-Tenison, a campaigner on behalf of remote so-called 'tribal' peoples
Question says → Passage says
worked for the benefit ofa campaigner on behalf of
specific groups of peopleremote so-called 'tribal' peoples
Why: The answer is in the description of who he is, not in his quote. 'On behalf of' means for the benefit of, and tribal peoples are specific groups.
The trap: The writer himself lived with isolated groups and 'uncontacted tribes', but he isn't one of the options, and living with people isn't campaigning for them.
Question 36
Answer: EParagraph 5, last sentence
Which explorer didn't see self-discovery as a necessary part of exploring?
To him, exploration meant bringing back information from a remote place regardless of any great self-discovery.
Question says → Passage says
learning about oneselfself-discovery
did not consider… an essential partregardless of any great
Why: 'Regardless of' means it doesn't matter whether it happens. For Thesiger, what counted was the information brought back, so self-discovery wasn't essential. He's also the answer to 33: letters can repeat.
The trap: Hanbury-Tenison also talks about recording information, but he's describing a mere 'traveller' and says nothing about self-discovery. The writer's 'more than personal discovery' in paragraph 4 is his own view, not a listed explorer's.
Question 37
Answer: BParagraph 5, second sentence
Which explorer said exploring means doing something new that is also useful?
'An explorer is someone who has done something that no human has done before - and also done something scientifically useful.'
Question says → Passage says
uniquesomething that no human has done before
of value to otherssomething scientifically useful
Why: The statement has two parts and Fiennes gives both: something no human has done before (unique) and something scientifically useful (of value to others). 'Both… and' mirrors his 'and also'.
The trap: Bonington says 'You have to have gone somewhere new', which covers 'unique', but he says nothing about being useful to anyone. You need both halves.
Summary completion (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS)
Questions 38-40
How to attack this block: The final paragraph gives all three answers: what the writer has done a great many of, the kind of tribes he lived with, and the part of the planet that is already known. Shorter and longer versions are accepted for each.
Question 38
Answer: expeditionsParagraph 7, third sentence
Also accepted: unique expeditions
What has the writer done a great many of?
I've done a great many expeditions and each one was unique.
Question says → Passage says
experience of a large number ofdone a great many
Why: 'A large number of' paraphrases 'a great many', and the noun that follows is 'expeditions'. It must be plural after 'a large number of'. 'Unique expeditions' is also accepted, but the shorter answer is safer.
The trap: 'Isolated groups' and 'tribes' come in the next sentence, but those are people he lived with, not something he did.
Question 39
Answer: uncontactedParagraph 7, fourth sentence
Also accepted: isolated
What kind of people had never met a stranger before the writer?
I've lived for months alone with isolated groups of people all around the world, even two 'uncontacted tribes'.
Question says → Passage says
the first stranger that… had encountereduncontacted
previously ___ peopleisolated groups of people / two 'uncontacted tribes'
Why: If a tribe was 'uncontacted', the writer must have been the first outsider they met, which is what 'the first stranger' means. The gap sits between 'previously' and 'people', so it needs an adjective. 'Isolated' is also accepted.
The trap: Don't write 'tribes'. It's a noun, and 'previously tribes people' doesn't work. Spelling counts too: 'uncontacted' is one word.
Question 40
Answer: surfaceParagraph 7, middle
Also accepted: land surface
Which part of the Earth does the writer think needs no more exploration?
We know how the land surface of our planet lies; exploration of it is now down to the details - the habits of microbes, say, or the grazing behaviour of buffalo.
Question says → Passage says
Earth'sour planet
specific questions such as how buffalo eatthe details… the grazing behaviour of buffalo
Why: 'We know how the land surface… lies' means it's already mapped, so only the details are left. 'Earth's ___' takes 'surface', or 'land surface' (both accepted).
The trap: 'Deep sea' and 'deep underground' come next, but they're the exceptions, the places that still need exploring. They're the opposite of the answer.
D. The writer calls the golden-age view mistaken, pointing to millions of unnamed species, unmapped ocean floors and our barely understood brains.
Words from this passage worth keeping
questing(Paragraph 1)
always searching or seeking
depleted(Paragraph 1)
greatly reduced in size or amount
peculiar breed(Paragraph 2)
an unusual type of person
delving into(Paragraph 3)
investigating something in depth
laboriously(Paragraph 3)
slowly and with great effort
field of endeavour(Paragraph 6)
the area someone works in
slant(Paragraph 7)
a particular way of seeing or presenting something
disregard(Paragraph 7)
ignore; pay no attention to
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Cambridge IELTS 15, Test 1, Reading Passage 3. 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.
