Climate Change and the Inuit: reading answers and analysis
Climate change is already disrupting life in the Arctic, and the Inuit of Canada's Nunavut territory want a say in how it's studied. The passage covers their harsh land, their history from the Thule people, the cost and health problems of modern life, and how scientists have come to value Inuit knowledge.
How to attack this block: Several paragraphs mention Inuit knowledge, so separate the Inuit wanting a role (B) from scientists starting to respect it (F) and the knowledge gaps it could fill (G). D's heading is about how supplies arrive, not about the landscape. E is entirely negative, so ignore the 'healthier' heading.
Question 27
Answer: iParagraph B
Which heading sums up paragraph B?
they believe their best hope of survival in this changing environment lies in combining their ancestral knowledge with the best of modern science
Question says → Passage says
The reaction of the Inuit communitythey are not content simply to stand back
to climate changeClimate change, whatever its causes, is a direct threat to their way of life
Why: B moves from the world's view of the Arctic to the Inuit's own: the change threatens them, they refuse to just listen to outsiders, and they plan to combine their knowledge with science. That's their response, heading i.
The trap: Heading iv (respect for Inuit opinion grows) tempts because B says nobody knows the Arctic like the locals. But B is about what the Inuit want to do. Outsiders actually starting to listen is in F.
Question 28
Answer: viParagraph C, first three sentences
Which heading sums up paragraph C?
The Canadian Arctic is a vast, treeless polar desert that's covered with snow for most of the year.
Question says → Passage says
A difficult landscapevast, treeless polar desert / this terrain / the hardships
Why: C opens by describing the land: treeless, snowy, no farming, little food. The settlement history that follows is about people being tested by that land, so the landscape is the main idea, heading vi.
The trap: The second half of C is history (settlers arriving, the Thule people), and there's no history heading, so people stall. Read the history as support: it shows how hard the land tested everyone who came, which is still the landscape idea.
Question 29
Answer: iiiParagraph D, second half
Which heading sums up paragraph D?
Provisions available in local shops have to be flown into Nunavut on one of the most costly air networks in the world, or brought by supply ship
Question says → Passage says
Alternative sourcesflown into Nunavut… or brought by supply ship / imported meat
essential suppliesfood and clothing / Provisions
Why: D sets two ways of getting food side by side: hunting and nature, or shop goods flown or shipped in at great cost. The shop route is the alternative source, which is heading iii.
The trap: Heading ix (the benefits of an easier existence) tempts because people gave up nomadic life and settled. But D's first line says life is 'still harsh', so nothing is easier. Heading vi fits the rock and ice too, but it's already used for C.
Question 30
Answer: viiParagraph E
Which heading sums up paragraph E?
Obesity, heart disease and diabetes are beginning to appear in a people for whom these have never before been problems.
Question says → Passage says
Negative effectsthere has certainly been an impact on people's health
well-beingObesity, heart disease and diabetes / a crisis of identity / a high incidence of depression
Why: E lists physical illness, a crisis of identity and depression. 'Well-being' covers both body and mind, so heading vii takes in the whole paragraph.
The trap: Heading v (a healthier choice of food) is the opposite of what E says. Diet changes are making people less healthy.
Question 31
Answer: ivParagraph F
Which heading sums up paragraph F?
But in recent years IQ has had much more credibility and weight.
Question says → Passage says
Respect for Inuit opinioncredibility and weight / Western scientists are starting to draw on this wisdom
growsin recent years… much more
Why: F contrasts the past ('scientists ignored us') with now, when Inuit knowledge carries weight and researchers must consult the communities. Something that used to be ignored now being taken seriously is respect growing, heading iv.
The trap: Heading i fits the first sentence (the Inuit are determined to play a key role). But the rest of F is about scientists' changed attitude, so i covers only the opening.
Question 32
Answer: iiParagraph G, third and fourth sentences
Which heading sums up paragraph G?
There are still huge gaps in our environmental knowledge, and despite the scientific onslaught, many predictions are no more than best guesses.
Question says → Passage says
Understanding… remains limitedstill huge gaps in our environmental knowledge / no more than best guesses
of climate changehow much of what we're seeing is natural capriciousness and how much is the consequence of human activity
Why: G is about what science still doesn't know: weather records are only 50 years old, predictions are guesses, and nobody knows how much change is natural. 'Remains limited' is 'still huge gaps', heading ii.
The trap: Heading iv tempts again, since G ends with IQ helping to bridge the gap. But G also opens with scientists who doubt traditional knowledge, so it isn't about growing respect. The gap is the main idea.
Summary completion (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS)
Questions 33-40
How to attack this block: The summary paraphrases C and D sentence by sentence, so each gap has a clear partner. Check plural forms after 'a few', and that you take the group name only, not the word 'people' after it. The last gap needs an adjective for produce from the costly-supplies sentence.
Question 33
Answer: farmingParagraph C, fourth sentence
What way of supporting themselves is impossible for people in the Canadian Arctic?
Farming is out of the question and nature offers meagre pickings.
Question says → Passage says
clearly be impossibleout of the question
Why: 'Out of the question' means impossible, and the activity in that phrase is farming. The gap follows 'engage in', so you need a noun or -ing form: 'farming' fits.
The trap: 'Hunting' is how the Inuit do survive, so it's the opposite of what the gap needs.
Question 34
Answer: sea mammalsParagraph C, fifth sentence
Also accepted: fish
What is one of the two things people have caught to survive?
Humans first settled in the Arctic a mere 4,500 years ago, surviving by exploiting sea mammals and fish.
Question says → Passage says
For thousands of yearsa mere 4,500 years ago
rely on catchingsurviving by exploiting
sustenancesurviving
Why: 'Exploiting' becomes 'catching' and 'surviving' becomes 'sustenance'. The two things are sea mammals and fish, and either can go in either gap. 'Sea mammals' is two words, which is the limit.
The trap: Writing just 'mammals' loses the meaning; seals and whales are the point. Don't write 'seals' either: it's from paragraph A, not C or D, which the instructions limit you to.
Question 35
Answer: fishParagraph C, fifth sentence
Also accepted: sea mammals
What is the other thing people have caught to survive?
surviving by exploiting sea mammals and fish
Question says → Passage says
catching ___ and ___exploiting sea mammals and fish
Why: This is the second half of the same pair. Whichever you put in 34, put the other here. Both orders are accepted.
The trap: Writing the same answer twice, or splitting 'sea mammals and fish' oddly across the gaps, is the common slip.
Question 36
Answer: ThuleParagraph C, last three sentences
Which people managed to cope with the Arctic environment?
one group emerged that was uniquely well adapted to cope with the Arctic environment. These Thule people moved in from Alaska
Question says → Passage says
did not prove unmanageableuniquely well adapted to cope
an example of the lattersometimes the colonists were successful
Why: 'The latter' points back to those who succeeded. The group that coped was the Thule people, and the gap sits before 'people', so you write only 'Thule'.
The trap: 'Inuit' is the famous name, but the Inuit are the Thule people's descendants. The group that arrived and coped a thousand years ago is the Thule.
Question 37
Answer: islandsParagraph D, second sentence
Besides ice and rock, what does Nunavut consist of?
Nunavut is 1.9 million square kilometres of rock and ice, and a handful of islands around the North Pole.
Question says → Passage says
little more than ice, rockrock and ice
a fewa handful of
Why: 'A handful of' becomes 'a few', so the noun after it is the answer. 'A few' needs a plural: 'islands'.
The trap: Writing 'island' without the s loses the mark.
Question 38
Answer: nomadicParagraph D, fourth sentence
What kind of lifestyle have many people had to give up?
Over the past 40 years, most have abandoned their nomadic ways and settled in the territory's 28 isolated communities
Question says → Passage says
In recent yearsOver the past 40 years
give up their ___ lifestyleabandoned their nomadic ways
Why: 'Abandoned' is 'give up' and 'ways' is 'lifestyle'. The gap needs an adjective before 'lifestyle', and the passage's adjective is 'nomadic'.
The trap: 'Isolated' is also an adjective in that sentence, but it describes the communities they moved into, not the life they left.
Question 39
Answer: natureParagraph D, fourth sentence
What do they still mainly depend on for food and clothes?
but they still rely heavily on nature to provide food and clothing
Question says → Passage says
continue to depend mainly onstill rely heavily on
food and clothesfood and clothing
Why: 'Rely heavily on' becomes 'depend mainly on'. One word fills it: 'nature'.
The trap: 'Hunting' is what the reader expects, and it appears later in D. But the sentence the summary follows says 'nature'.
Question 40
Answer: ImportedParagraph D, second half
Which kind of produce is especially expensive?
It would cost a family around £7,000 a year to replace meat they obtained themselves through hunting with imported meat.
Question says → Passage says
particularly expensiveone of the most costly air networks / cost a family around £7,000 a year
___ produceimported meat
Why: Shop food has to be flown or shipped in, and replacing hunted meat with imported meat costs £7,000 a year. The gap needs an adjective for 'produce': 'imported'. It starts the sentence, so a capital letter is natural, but it isn't marked.
The trap: 'Local' (from 'local shops') is tempting, but it's the opposite idea: the goods in local shops come from outside.
Write 'Thule', the group that coped. The Inuit are their descendants, and 'people' is already in the summary.
Words from this passage worth keeping
precarious(B)
unstable and likely to go wrong
autonomy(B)
the right to govern yourselves
meagre pickings(C)
very little to gather or eat
curtailed(E)
cut back or limited
incidence(E)
how often something happens
impinge(F)
have an unwanted effect on, intrude into
onslaught(G)
a huge amount of effort or activity
capriciousness(G)
sudden unpredictable change
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The full Cambridge 6 Test 1 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 6, 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.
