Unit 2: Exercise 1

In this unit, you will answer IELTS Reading sentence completion questions and
read a text about mammoths.

What do you already know about mammoths? Choose the correct answers.

Before you read any IELTS Reading text, you should quickly think about the things you
already know about the topic. You won’t be able to guess any answers like this, but this will
help you understand the general idea of the text.

1. Mammoths had ... .

o no fur and long tusks

o orange-brown fur and long tusks

o orange-brown fur and short tusks

2. The last mammoths were alive about ... .

o 4,000 years ago

o 7,000 years ago

o 10,000 years ago

3. People have found many bodies of mammoths ... .

o at the bottom of lakes in Europe

o in the desert in Australia

o in the ice in Siberia

Unit 2: Exercise 2
The title of the text about mammoths is called ‘Bringing the mammoth back to
life’.

What do you think the text might be about? Choose the best option.

o a scientific study of the way mammoths used to behave

o methods for transporting mammoth skeletons to museums in different countries

 o the idea that mammoths might be created again in the future

Unit 2: Exercise 3
Read the information. Then read the first paragraph of the text. Try to focus
only on the main words.

Choose the correct answer.

In any IELTS Reading task, it is a good idea to read the text quickly to understand the main
idea of each paragraph. Try to read only the main nouns, verbs and adjectives (shown in bold
in the paragraph below).

Bringing the mammoth back to life

Mammoths once lived in large numbers across Asia, Africa, North America and Europe.
However, over time, their numbers fell until the mammoth became extinct. Scientists think
this happened for two reasons. Firstly, the mammoths’ natural habitat decreased in size
because of climate change. Secondly, many mammoths were killed by people who hunted
them. The last population of mammoths lived on Wrangel Island, off north-east Siberia
in the Chukchi Sea. These were woolly mammoths that could survive in very cold
conditions, but they also died out around 4,000 years ago.

What is the main idea of this paragraph?

o to explain where mammoths lived before they became extinct

o to explain when mammoths became extinct
o to explain why mammoths became extinct

Unit 2: Exercise 4
In the text about mammoths, there is a range of vocabulary about the natural
world and the conservation of animals.

Match the words with the definitions.

1. This happens when a type of bird, animal or plant doesn’t exist any to become
more: extinct
2. to become smaller in size or number: to decrease
3. to follow and kill an animal for food or for sport: to hunt
4. to put something (e.g. food) in ice, salt, sugar or chemicals, so it can to preserve
stay in good condition:
5. all the people or animals that live in one place or area: a population
6. all the living things in an area and the way they affect each other and an ecosystem
the environment:
7. the frame of bones supporting a human or animal body: a skeleton

Unit 2: Exercise 5
Complete the sentences about the natural world. Use the words in the box.

1. Pollution harms all the plants, fish and animals in the _ ecosystem _ .

2. The tutor showed the __ skeleton __ to the medical students and asked which small
bones were missing.

3. We expect the number of people living in the countryside will Decrease as families
move to the cities.

4. There are so few polar bears left that it is possible they will soon become extinct .

5. The ___ population _ of my city has risen to 8 million people.

6. Lions often ___ hunt _ other animals at night.

7. Nowadays, most people use fridges to preserve their food.

Unit 2: Exercise 6
Read the information. Then read the sentences and look at the gaps. What type
of information do you need to complete the gaps? Use the words in the box for
your predictions.

In the IELTS Reading sentence completion task, it can be useful to first predict the type of
information you should be looking for in the text. To do this, look carefully at the words
before and after the gap.

 If the gap is before a verb + -s (e.g. hunts, falls), then the word in the gap must be a
singular noun (e.g. This animal hunts at night) or an uncountable noun (Snow falls
all year round.).
 If the gap is before a verb without -s (e.g. hunt, fall), the word in the gap must be a
plural noun (e.g. The men hunt the lions at night.) or a countable noun (e.g.
Leaves  fall from the trees.).
 If the gap is after very but before a noun, the word in the gap must be an adjective
(e.g. This is a very dangerous animal for the men to hunt.).

1. The number of mammoths started to fall when their ________ got smaller.

This word is probably a plural countable noun or an uncountable noun, e.g. forests or
land.

2. Mammoths had smaller ________ than modern elephants.

This word is probably__ a plural countable noun _ , e.g. feet or eyes.

3. Mammoths were very ________  animals.

This word is probably an adjective __ , e.g. large or intelligent.

4. The ________  of a baby mammoth was found recently in the Arctic.

This word is probably __ a singular noun _______ , e.g. body or skeleton.

Unit 2: Exercise 7
In the IELTS Reading test, you will need to be able to recognise words and
phrases with a similar meaning (i.e. synonyms and paraphrases).

Match the words and phrases with the correct synonyms and paraphrases.

1. build or create make

2. inside of or within the contents of
 3. a pair of both
4. not as high as lower (than)
5. a little or an amount of some
6. decrease or fall get smaller
7. might or may a possibility

Unit 2: Exercise 8
Complete the sentences below.

Write ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Bringing the mammoth back to life

Mammoths once lived in large numbers across Asia, Africa, North America and Europe.
However, over time, their numbers fell until the mammoth became extinct. Scientists think
this happened for two reasons. Firstly, the mammoths’ natural habitat decreased in size
because of climate change. Secondly, many mammoths were killed by people who hunted
them. The last population of mammoths lived on Wrangel Island, off north-east Siberia in the
Chukchi Sea. These were woolly mammoths that could survive in very cold conditions, but
they also died out around 4,000 years ago.

Prehistoric cave paintings show us that people ate the woolly mammoths they killed, but also
used their bones and tusks. They used these to make simple animal and human figures, an
early kind of art, and also to create some basic tools. We also know a lot about the woolly
mammoth because the freezing conditions in Alaska and Siberia have preserved them.
Researchers have studied their skeletons, their teeth and even the grass and plants that were
still inside their stomachs. We know that their fur was an orange-brown colour, they had a
thick layer of fat, and they had long, curved tusks. Their ears were short compared to an
African or Asian elephant’s we might see today, so they would not lose so much heat or get
frostbite.

In recent years, some researchers have suggested that we could bring woolly mammoths back
to life. Interestingly, not all scientists believe that bringing the mammoth back to life would
be a good thing. They think it would be unfair to create a ‘new’ mammoth and then keep it in
a small space. They think the right thing to do would be to give it a certain amount of
freedom, perhaps in a wildlife park. But where would this be? And the mammoth would also
be alone, and like elephants, mammoths were probably social in the way they behaved. This
does seem to be a strong reason against bringing the mammoth back to life. Perhaps the
‘new’ mammoth might also develop an ‘old’ disease – and this might have an effect on the
ecosystem that scientists cannot predict. Although the idea of bringing the mammoth back
seems like an exciting one at first, there are many issues that we need to consider

1. The number of mammoths started to fall when their ____HABITAT___ got smaller.

2. Humans used mammoths for food, and to make art and _TOOLS________.
 3. Scientists have examined the contents of mammoths’ __STOMACHS____ .

4. Mammoths had smaller __EARS_______________ than modern elephants.

5. Some scientists think that a ‘new’ mammoth should have some

_FREEDOM___________________ .

6. Both elephants and mammoths are ____SOCIAL animals.

7. There is a possibility that a ‘new’ mammoth could get a DISEASE____________ .

Unit 2: Exercise 9
Read the information. Then complete the table. Use the nouns in the box.

In an IELTS Reading sentence completion task, there are often a variety of words used to
describe people and experts.

These kinds of words are very common and it is important to recognise them.
i

People Experts
ndividuals scholars

the public academics

Society researchers

Unit 2: Exercise 10
Think about what you’ve learnt in this unit.

Complete the advice. Use the words in the box.

1. Look at the title of the article to help you predict the topic __ of the whole article.
2. Quickly read the whole text first to get a general idea of the _ main point _____
of each paragraph.
3. Read the questions and use your general knowledge to predict the __ type of
information __ you need to look for.
4. Look for key information in the questions and think what _ Synonyms of words
__ you might see in the text.

5. Look out for __ kind of paraphrasing for people and different kinds of expert.

6. Only use words from the _ IELTS Reading text _ in your answers.

7. When you write your answers, make sure you copy the _ spelling correctly , and
don’t forget to use the correct form if the word is plural.