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British Council Academic Reading Practice TestTwo Passage Three Answer Explained
Mountaineering
You can find the passage in here.
I would recommend you open both the passage and my website together after you have tried to solve the passage. This approach can help you become familiarized with the pattern of answers and paraphrasing that Cambridge utilizes to create the IELTS reading tests.
Questions 27–32
Reading Passage 3 has eight paragraphs, A–H.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
27. examples of the impact of climbers on ecosystems
The answer is F.
In paragraph F, It is ironic that most rock climbers and mountaineers love the outdoors and have great respect for the majesty of nature and the impressive challenges she poses, but that in the pursuit of their goals they inevitably trample sensitive vegetation, damaging and disturbing delicate flora and lichens which grow on ledges and cliff faces.
28. an account of how politics affected rock climbing
The answer is D.
In paragraph D, the USA, and much of the western world, was waking up to the damage it had been causing to the planet, and environmentalist campaigns and new government policies were becoming widespread.
29. a less dangerous alternative to climbing rock faces
The answer is E.
In paragraph E, rappel bolting makes almost any rock face climbable with relative ease, and as a result of this new technique, the sport has lost much of its risk factor and sense of pioneering spirit; indeed, it has become more about muscle power and technical mastery than a psychological trial of fearlessness under pressure.
30. a recommendation for better regulation
The answer is H.
In paragraph H, this may have spoiled the magic, but it has also made the sport safer and more sustainable, and governing bodies would do well to consider heightening such efforts in the future.
31. a reference to a climber who did not use any tools or ropes for assistance
The answer is B.
In paragraph B, Austrian Paul Preuss went so far as to eschew all artificial aids, scaling astonishing heights using only his shoes and his bare hands.
32. examples of different types of people who use the outdoors for recreation
The answer is G.
In paragraph G, climbers are not the only user group that wishes to enjoy the wilderness – hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders visit the same areas, and more importantly, they are much better organised, with long-established lobby groups protecting their interests.
Questions 33–39
Complete the flow chart below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
A rock climbing time line
33. The answer is a safety net.
In paragraph B, others felt that they were only of value as a safety net if all else failed.
34. The answer is Albert Mummery.
In paragraph B, Albert Mummery, a well known British mountaineer and author who climbed the European Alps, and, more famously, the Himalayas, where he died at the age of 39 attempting a notoriously difficult ascent, developed the notion of ‘fair means’ as a kind of informal protocol by which the use of ‘walk-through’ guidebooks and equipment such as ladders and grappling hooks were discouraged.
35. The answer is unclimbed.
In paragraph C, in 1948, when two American climbers scaled Mount Brussels in the Canadian Rockies using a small number of pitons and bolts, climber Frank Smythe wrote of their efforts: ‘I still regard Mount Brussels as unclimbed, and my feelings are no different from those I should have were I to hear that a helicopter had deposited its passenger on the summit of that mountain just so that he could boast that he had trodden an untrodden mountain top.’
36. The answer is clean climbing.
In paragraph D, as a result, a stripped-down style of rock climbing known as ‘clean climbing’ became widely adopted.
37. The answer is nuts.
In paragraph D, this was partly due to the hallmark of clean climbing – the use of nuts – which were favored over bolts because they could be placed into the rock wall with one hand while climbers maintained their grip on the rock with the other.
38. The answer is rappel bolting.
In paragraph E, rappel bolting makes almost any rock face climbable with relative ease, and as a result of this new technique, the sport has lost much of its risk factor and sense of pioneering spirit
39. The answer is technical mastery.
In paragraph E, indeed, it has become more about muscle power and technical mastery than a psychological trial of fearlessness under pressure.
Question 40
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Choose the most appropriate title for the reading passage.
The answer is B. > Ethics and issues in rock climbing
It is obvious that this question may be the most confusing as all the choices could work. However, the one choice that matches the general tone of the passage is B, ethics and issues in rock climbing, because the environmental and political issues with climbing have been mentioned thoroughly as if the whole passage leads towards offering a solution and an alternative to this high-risk activity.