The history of the tortoise: reading answers and analysis
How tortoises' ancestors moved from sea to land, back to the sea as turtles, and back to land again. The writer explains how scientists used forelimb bone measurements of living species to show that two ancient fossils were land animals, and why the family tree proves today's tortoises made a 'double return'.
Everything follows the passage. The short answers (27-30) cover paragraphs 1-3. The TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN statements (31-33) sit in paragraphs 2-3. The flow-chart (34-39) is all in the long third paragraph, and the final multiple choice (40) sums up the last paragraph.
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.
Q
Your answer
Answer
Questions 27-30 · Short answers (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS)
How to attack this block: Short, factual and in order. Question 28 needs two words and both must be there for the mark. Make sure your answer is the thing asked about, not a word nearby (what whales lack, not what they have).
Question 27
Answer: plantsParagraph 1, last sentence
What had to move onto land before any animal migration was possible?
And we mustn't forget the plants, without whose prior invasion of the land none of the other migrations could have happened.
Question says → Passage says
transfer from sea to landinvasion of the land
before any animals could migrateprior… none of the other migrations could have happened
Why: 'Prior invasion' means they got there first, and without them 'none of the other migrations' were possible. The answer is 'plants'.
The trap: The long list of land groups just before (scorpions, snails, worms) are animals that migrated, not what had to go first.
Question 28
Answer: breathing and reproductionParagraph 2, first sentence
Also accepted: reproduction and breathing / breathing reproduction
Which two parts of life needed a big redesign when animals left the water?
Moving from water to land involved a major redesign of every aspect of life, including breathing and reproduction.
Question says → Passage says
make big changesa major redesign
as they moved onto landMoving from water to land
Why: 'Big changes' is 'a major redesign', and 'including' introduces the two named processes. You need both, 'breathing' and 'reproduction', in either order, for the mark.
The trap: 'Every aspect of life' is too vague, and 'gills' belongs to the next question. Don't stop at one word: this answer needs two.
Question 29
Answer: gillsParagraph 2, middle
What body part did whales' ancestors have that whales don't?
They do, however, still breathe air, having never developed anything equivalent to the gills of their earlier marine incarnation.
Question says → Passage says
physical feature, possessed by their ancestorsthe gills of their earlier marine incarnation
whales lackhaving never developed anything equivalent to
Why: Their 'earlier marine incarnation' (the fish-like ancestors) had gills, and whales never developed anything like them. So whales still breathe air. The answer is 'gills'.
The trap: 'Lungs' or 'air' come up because whales breathe air, but those are what whales have, not what they lack.
Question 30
Answer: dolphinsParagraph 3, middle
What animals did ichthyosaurs probably look like?
Ichthyosaurs were reptilian contemporaries of the dinosaurs, with fins and streamlined bodies. The fossils look like dolphins
Question says → Passage says
might… have resembledlook like
Why: 'Resembled' is 'look like', and the fossils look like dolphins. Keep the plural: the question asks 'which animals'.
The trap: 'Dinosaurs' is in the same sentence, but ichthyosaurs lived at the same time as dinosaurs; they didn't look like them.
TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN
Questions 31-33
How to attack this block: One of each. Watch for absolute words: 'always' is contradicted by 'sometimes'. A statement about being 'among the first' needs a comparison, and the passage doesn't make one.
Question 31
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 2, near the end
Were turtles one of the earliest groups to go back to the sea?
Turtles went back to the sea a very long time ago
Question says → Passage says
migrate back to the seawent back to the sea
Why: The passage says when, roughly ('a very long time ago'), but never compares turtles with whales, dugongs or seals. Without a comparison you can't tell whether they were among the first.
The trap: 'A very long time ago' feels like 'among the first', so TRUE gets chosen. Long ago is not the same as earliest.
Question 32
Answer: FALSEParagraph 3, middle
Is it always hard to tell where an animal lived from incomplete fossils?
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.
Question says → Passage says
fossilised remains are incompleteonly fragments are found
always difficultSometimes it's obvious
Why: Right after raising the problem of fragments, the writer says 'Sometimes it's obvious', and gives ichthyosaurs as an example. If it's sometimes obvious, it isn't always difficult.
The trap: 'With turtles it is a little less obvious' can make people think the statement is right. That's one case; 'always' is what makes it FALSE.
Question 33
Answer: TRUEParagraph 3, middle
Can you tell where ichthyosaurs lived just from how their fossils look?
The fossils look like dolphins and they surely lived like dolphins, in the water.
Question says → Passage says
the appearance of their fossilised remainsThe fossils look like dolphins
The habitat… can be determinedthey surely lived like dolphins, in the water
Why: Fins and streamlined bodies make the fossils look like dolphins, so the writer is sure they lived in water. The look of the fossil settles the habitat.
The trap: Q32 is FALSE, which makes some students expect this one to be negative too. The ichthyosaur is the 'obvious' example.
Flow-chart completion (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER)
Questions 34-39
How to attack this block: The flow-chart retells the Yale study step by step, so read the experiment slowly. Many gaps sit next to a word the chart already gives you ('dense', 'between', 'species'), so don't repeat it. 'Triangular graph paper' is too long; cut it to two words.
Question 34
Answer: 3 measurementsParagraph 3, middle
Also accepted: three measurements
How many measurements were taken from each forelimb?
obtained three measurements in these particular bones of 71 species of living turtles and tortoises
Question says → Passage says
were examinedobtained
were taken from the bones of their forelimbsmeasurements in these particular bones
Why: The gap follows 'a total of', so it wants a number and a noun: 'three measurements' (or '3 measurements'). That's within two words.
The trap: '71' is already in the flow-chart as the number of species. Don't write the species count twice.
Question 35
Answer: triangular graphParagraph 3, middle
Also accepted: graph
What was the data plotted on?
They used a kind of triangular graph paper to plot the three measurements against one another.
Question says → Passage says
The data was recordedto plot the three measurements
necessary for comparing the informationagainst one another
Why: The measurements were plotted 'against one another' on triangular graph paper. 'Triangular graph' fits the two-word limit, and the passage uses that phrase itself a few lines later.
The trap: 'Triangular graph paper' is three words, so it breaks the limit. Drop 'paper'.
Question 36
Answer: clusterParagraph 3, middle
How were the land tortoise points grouped on the graph?
All the land tortoise species formed a tight cluster of points in the upper part of the triangle
Question says → Passage says
a dense ___ of pointsa tight cluster of points
towards the topin the upper part of the triangle
Why: 'Dense' is 'tight', 'towards the top' is 'upper part', and the noun between them is 'cluster'. The flow-chart already has 'dense', so one word is enough.
The trap: Writing 'tight cluster' repeats the adjective the chart already gives you. Just 'cluster'.
Question 37
Answer: amphibiousParagraph 3, middle
What kind of living species were added to the graph next?
There was no overlap, except when they added some species that spend time both in water and on land. Sure enough, these amphibious species
Question says → Passage says
added to the other resultsthey added some species
some living ___ speciesthese amphibious species
Why: The added species live both in water and on land, and the writer names them in the next sentence: 'amphibious'. The gap sits before 'species', so it needs an adjective.
The trap: 'Sea' or 'water' turtles are the ones already plotted at the bottom. The new group is the in-between one.
Question 38
Answer: half wayParagraph 3, middle
Also accepted: halfway
Where did the amphibious species land on the graph?
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
Question says → Passage says
positioned aboutshow up… approximately
between the land tortoises and the sea turtlesbetween the 'wet cluster' of sea turtles and the 'dry cluster' of land tortoises
Why: 'About' matches 'approximately', so the answer is what follows it: 'half way' (or 'halfway').
The trap: Some write 'between', but the chart already gives 'between'. The gap wants the distance.
Question 39
Answer: dry-land tortoisesParagraph 3, last lines
What did the fossil results show the two ancient species were?
Their points on the graph are right in the thick of the dry cluster. Both these fossils were dry-land tortoises.
Question says → Passage says
The position of the pointsTheir points on the graph
both these ancient creatures wereBoth these fossils were
Why: The fossils sit inside the dry cluster, and the writer concludes they were 'dry-land tortoises'. The hyphenated word counts as one, so this is two words.
The trap: 'Dry cluster' fits two words too, but it describes where the points fell, not what the animals were. The gap comes after 'were', so it needs a kind of animal.
Multiple choice
Question 40
How to attack this block: This asks for the writer's big point, which is in the first sentence of the last paragraph. The other options all pick up true details that aren't the main idea.
Question 40
Answer: DParagraph 5, first sentence
What does the writer find most remarkable about tortoises?
Tortoises therefore represent a remarkable double return.
Question says → Passage says
the most significant thingremarkable
made the transition from sea to land more than oncea remarkable double return / they returned yet again to the land
Why: The last paragraph sums up the story: sea, then land, then back to sea as turtles, then land again as tortoises. That 'double return' is D.
The trap: A is tempting because the passage ends with tortoises in 'the driest of deserts', but that's a detail. B (bacteria) is shared with all animals, and C misses the point: they share sea-turtle ancestry, but the writer stresses the two moves.
The chart already has 'between', so the gap needs 'half way', the word after 'approximately'.
Words from this passage worth keeping
enterprising(Paragraph 1)
willing to try new and bold things
parched(Paragraph 1)
extremely dry
thoroughgoing(Paragraph 2)
complete, in every way
reverted to(Paragraph 2)
went back to an earlier state
contemporaries(Paragraph 3)
living at the same time as
in the thick of(Paragraph 3)
right in the middle of
nested(Paragraph 4)
placed inside a larger group
primeval(Paragraph 5)
from the earliest times of the world
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The full Cambridge 9 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 9, 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.
