The writer argues that ants show signs of intelligence. They farm fungi and herd aphids sustainably, build huge underground cities and have done so for tens of millions of years. Experiments show ants can navigate by calculating distances and bearings and can pass complex directions to other ants.
The TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN statements (1-6) run in passage order, from communication near the start to the essay in the last paragraph. The summary (7-13) draws on the farming paragraphs near the middle, but its last three gaps go back to the paragraph on sustainability.
Answer key and self-check
Type what you wrote and hit mark. Hide the key first if you haven't done the passage yet. Every question number jumps to its explanation.
How to attack this block: The first one is FALSE because ants use chemicals while humans use sight and sound, which is a different channel. The foraging experiment explicitly ruled out smell. Two are NOT GIVEN: no speed comparison for city building, and the essay is only quoted for its advice, not its topic.
Question 1
Answer: FALSEParagraph 2, first two sentences
Do ants communicate through the same channels humans use?
Such chemical communication can be compared to the human use of visual and auditory channels
Question says → Passage says
Ants use… channels of communicationuse chemical signals to contact one another
the same… as humans docan be compared to the human use of visual and auditory channels
Why: Ants use chemicals; humans use sight and sound. The passage compares what the two do, but the channels themselves are different, so the statement is FALSE.
The trap: 'Can be compared to' sounds like 'the same as', so people say TRUE. A comparison of purpose doesn't make the channels identical.
Question 2
Answer: TRUEParagraph 7
Is city life one thing that helps intelligence develop?
Whereas prehistoric man had no exposure to urban lifestyles - the forcing house of intelligence
Question says → Passage says
City lifeurban lifestyles
encourages the development of intelligencethe forcing house of intelligence
Why: A forcing house is a place that makes things grow fast. Calling urban life 'the forcing house of intelligence' means it pushes intelligence to develop. TRUE.
The trap: The phrase sits between dashes as an aside, so it's easy to skip. If you miss it you'll think the passage only talks about ant cities and choose NOT GIVEN.
Question 3
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraphs 8 and 9
Do ants build big cities faster than humans?
This 'megalopolis' was reported to be composed of 360 million workers and a million queens living in 4,500 interconnected nests
Question says → Passage says
large cities'megalopolis' / Mexico City, Tokyo, Los Angeles
Why: The passage compares the size of ant cities with human ones, and how long ants have built them, but never how fast either is built. Speed is missing, so NOT GIVEN.
The trap: Paragraph 9 says ant achievements 'outstrip' our ancestors', which sounds like a comparison you can use. It's about scale and age, not building speed.
Question 4
Answer: TRUEParagraph 10, first sentence
Can some ants navigate by calculating distance and direction?
when desert ants return from a foraging trip, they navigate by integrating bearings and distances, which they continuously update in their heads
Question says → Passage says
Some antsdesert ants
find their waynavigate
making calculations based on distance and positionintegrating bearings and distances
Why: 'Integrating bearings and distances' and updating them 'in their heads' is calculation. Bearings tell you position or direction. TRUE.
Question 5
Answer: FALSEParagraph 11, fifth sentence
Did the foraging teams find the food by smell in one experiment?
Elaborate precautions were taken to prevent the foraging team using odour clues.
Question says → Passage says
their sense of smellodour clues
were able to useto prevent the foraging team using
Why: The researchers deliberately stopped the ants from using smell, so the teams found the food without it. The statement contradicts this, so FALSE.
The trap: Ants are famous for chemical signals (Paragraph 2), so smell seems likely. In this experiment it was ruled out.
Question 6
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 12, last sentence
Is Wilson's essay about how ants communicate?
Edward Wilson, in his essay, 'In the company of ants', advises readers who ask what to do with the ants in their kitchen to: 'Watch where you step.
Question says → Passage says
The essayin his essay, 'In the company of ants'
Why: We only learn that the essay gives advice about ants in the kitchen. Its topic isn't described, so we can't say whether it explores communication. NOT GIVEN.
The trap: The paragraph before is about ants communicating, so it feels as if the essay continues that theme. The passage never says so.
Summary completion (word list A-O)
Questions 7-13
How to attack this block: Fifteen options for seven gaps, so decide the word class first. The first four gaps come from the farming paragraph and the fungi paragraph. The last three come from the earlier paragraph that defends ant farming as sustainable and harmless. Watch the box for traps like 'fungi' and 'interbreeding'.
Question 7
Answer: CParagraph 5, second sentence
What do the fungi turn into something the ants can digest?
Ants can't digest the cellulose in leaves - but some fungi can.
Question says → Passage says
convert… into a form which they can digestAnts can't digest… but some fungi can
Why: Ants can't digest cellulose, fungi can, so the fungi process it for them. The gap needs the material being converted: cellulose, C.
The trap: 'Food' (G) is tempting, but the fungi become the food. What gets converted is the cellulose in the leaves.
Question 8
Answer: MParagraph 5, last sentence
What natural product do ants use as weed-killer?
Farmer ants secrete antibiotics to control other fungi that might act as 'weeds'
Question says → Passage says
their own naturalsecrete
as weed-killersto control other fungi that might act as 'weeds'
Why: 'Secrete' means produce from the body, so the antibiotics are the ants' own secretions. M fits the plural noun gap.
The trap: 'Fertilizers' (F) is in the same sentence, but it goes in the next gap. The weed control comes from what the ants secrete.
Question 9
Answer: FParagraph 5, last sentence
What do ants use unwanted material as?
and spread waste to fertilise the crop
Question says → Passage says
unwanted materialswaste
use… asspread… to fertilise
Why: Waste is the 'unwanted material', and it's spread to fertilise the crop. So it's used as fertilizer, F. Note the word list spells it with a z.
The trap: 'Secretions' (M) might seem to fit 'unwanted materials', but secretions are used against weeds in the gap before.
Question 10
Answer: DParagraph 6, last sentence
How else do ants improve their fungi, besides finding new species?
the ants improve or modify the fungi by regularly swapping and sharing strains with neighbouring ant colonies
Question says → Passage says
constantly upgradeimprove or modify… regularly
species with neighbouring ant coloniesstrains with neighbouring ant colonies
Why: 'Swapping and sharing' is exchanging. The gap follows 'by', so you need an -ing form: exchanging, D.
The trap: 'Interbreeding' (J) is also an -ing word and sounds scientific, but the passage never says the fungi are bred together. 'Growing' (I) misses the neighbour link.
Question 11
Answer: NParagraph 4, second sentence
What kind of farming methods do ants use, compared with modern agribusiness?
The farming methods of ants are at least sustainable.
Question says → Passage says
the farming methods of antsThe farming methods of ants
Why: Paragraph 4 answers the claim that human agribusiness is ahead: at least the ants' methods are sustainable. The gap is an adjective before 'methods', N.
The trap: 'Natural' (K) and 'agricultural' (B) also fit the grammar, but the passage's point is that ant farming can be kept up without harm, which is 'sustainable'.
Question 12
Answer: OParagraph 4, third sentence
What don't ants' farming methods damage?
They do not ruin environments or use enormous amounts of energy.
Question says → Passage says
do not affect thedo not ruin
Why: 'Do not affect the ___' matches 'do not ruin environments'. The summary uses the singular after 'the', so environment, O.
The trap: 'Other species' (L) sounds environmental, but the passage says 'environments'.
Question 13
Answer: EParagraph 4, third sentence
What don't ants waste?
or use enormous amounts of energy
Question says → Passage says
do not wastedo not… use enormous amounts of
Why: Not using huge amounts of energy is not wasting it. E.
The trap: 'Food' (G) is something you can waste, but the passage talks about energy here.
NOT GIVEN. Wilson's essay is only quoted for its kitchen advice, so we don't know whether it covers communication.
Words from this passage worth keeping
scrutiny(Paragraph 1)
careful examination
cognition(Paragraph 1)
the mental process of knowing and thinking
propagate(Paragraph 2)
spread widely
sustainable(Paragraph 4)
able to continue without damaging resources
domesticating(Paragraph 6)
bringing a wild species under human or animal control
forcing house(Paragraph 7)
a place that makes something develop fast
outstrip(Paragraph 9)
be much greater than
albeit(Paragraph 9)
although
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The full Cambridge 7 Test 3 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 7, Test 3, Reading Passage 1. 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.
