Skill tested by flow chart completion questions type

The flow chart completion question type focuses on your ability to understand details and/or
the main theme of a paragraph that can rightly fit into the gap.

Skills Required for IELTS academic reading flow chart completion

question type

 Skimming and scanning to identify the main ideas

 Attention to keywords
 Ability to predict the right answer
 Time management

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Tips for answering flow chart completion questions

1. Plan before you write.

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2. Look for linking words that ensure logic.
3. Count the number of stages given in the flow-chart.
4. Try to use complex sentences if necessary to describe the flowchart.
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Example for flow chart completion
Answer questions 1-6 which are based on the reading passage below.

Cryogenic Sleep For Space Travel And Future Cure

Our bodies aren't designed for space travel. This piece of information comes as a jolt to
fans of the science fiction genre, but we need to embrace the fact that our bodies require
too much maintenance. Out there beyond the stars, it is impossible and even untenable to
think about maintaining our needs for water, food and oxygen. The warmth we need to
sustain ourselves will not be available in space. The temperature in outer space is
somewhere around -455 degrees Fahrenheit. Even if we somehow manage to find
resources to ensure our survival, we simply wouldn't have anything to do there! But, the air

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is rife with a possibility: Put yourself to sleep.

Back in the 1970s in a show called Time Slip, the characters were shown to be frozen in
ice. Back then, it was just fantasy, and today we are close to achieving perfection in the
field of Cryogenics- the science of producing very cold temperatures and studying its
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effects. Alcor, one the largest cryogenic companies in the world, believes that futurism is a
valid school of thought .This company has chosen to opt for neuropreservation, which is
freezing the brain instead of preserving the entire body. Cryopreservation is considered to
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be the apple of the eye of the futurism community. The premise is indeed simple- the field
of medicine is constantly growing. With this, the possibility of space travel for longer periods
and futuristic cure is growing larger. Cryonics bridges the gap between today and the days
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to come in future. Before 50 years, if someone were to suffer from a heart attack and fall,
the doctor would check for the pulse, and upon no response would declare the person
dead. With the advent of cryonics, this has changed. Some of the premises of cryonics are
what one could call ‘untestable' because no one has ever tried bringing a person back to life
after cryogenic preservation. In spite of this, people with chronic diseases are being frozen
in liquid nitrogen, with the hope of seeing a distant future.

Efforts to make the revival of the medically pronounced dead a possibility are being
undertaken by companies such as Alcor. Once a person has been declared as dead, Alcor
comes in and begins the process of preserving the body. This is very complex, with the first
step being the transfer of the 'patient' from the hospital bed to a bed of ice and covering the
cadaver with a slurry of ice. Then, they use what is known as a heart-lung resuscitator to
get the blood pumping again. After this, the preservation of the cells begins. Alcor uses
about 16 different medications to protect the cells from dying after body functions cease.
Since the patients are deceased, Alcor has the permission to use methods which may not
pertain with the conventions of medical use. Soon, these patients are moved for surgery.

This entire process is high-risk, with the reward being determined by meticulous work.
There is no room to slip up. They are freezing a lot of bodies in liquid nitrogen without
knowing the actual outcome. But, gradual changes are occurring in the field of tissue
regeneration, though the changes are small, they are occurring at a steady pace. Taking
into consideration the efforts of another company, SpaceWorks, based in Atlanta has been
studying the possibility of sending humans into deeper space.

They received grants from NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) to pursue research
in what is known as Phase 1 of their "Torpor Inducing Transfer Habitat for Human Stasis to

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SpaceWorks”. SpaceWorks believes that there is a medical procedure which is key to
enabling deep space travel. "The nearest equivalent to hibernation currently experienced by
humans is a medical condition called therapeutic hypothermia," says SpaceWorks
researcher Doug Talk. This process is often used to treat patients who have gone into
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cardiac arrest or infants who are born with defects. The body temperature of the individual
is reduced by 10 degrees centigrade using either ice packs or an intravascular catheter.
SpaceWorks believes that they can use the same technique to put human beings into a
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torpor, which a bear enters into to endure long winters. This torpor is what will enable
humans to be transported across vast stretches of space. A centrally positioned robotic arm
will move over the travellers, ensuring that all the needs of the body are met.
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Why freeze the bodies? Cold reduces the rate of metabolism, as a result of which the heart
rate of an individual is reduced. This is beneficial as an unconscious person takes up less
space as compared to a conscious one. With a team of dedicated scientists at SpaceWorks
and Alcor working on the application of cryogenics in the fields of medical science and
space travel, both the areas seem to be on the brink of metamorphosis.

Once the field of cryonics develops completely, humans will be able to conquer dimensions
which were unheard of before. With research aimed at expanding knowledge and
increasing longevity of the human species, there is very little that would be left to the
imagination. These changes are beneficial and are a testimony to the evolution our minds
are undergoing at a rapid rate.
Questions 1 - 6
Complete the flow chart below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.,

METHOD USED BY ALCOR TO PRESERVE A CADAVER

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Answers
(Note: The text in italics is from the reading passage and shows the location from
where the answer is taken or inferred. The text in the regular font explains the answer
in detail.)

1. Dead
Explanation: Paragraph 3 - Efforts to make the revival of the medically pronounced dead
a possibility are being undertaken by companies such as Alcor. Once a person has been
declared as dead, Alcor comes in and begins the process of preserving the body.

2. a slurry

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Explanation: Paragraph 3 - …the first step being the transfer of the 'patient' from the
hospital bed to a bed of ice and covering the cadaver with a slurry of ice.

3.heart-lung resuscitator
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Explanation: Paragraph 3 - …they use what is known as a heart-lung resuscitator to get
the blood pumping again.
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4, different medications
Explanation: Paragraph 3 - Alcor uses about 16 different medications to protect the cells
from dying after body functions cease.
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5. Surgery
Explanation: Paragraph 3 - Soon, these patients are moved for surgery.