Tasmanian Tiger Reading Answers
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Tasmanian Tiger Reading Answers has a total of 13 questions that need to be answered in 20 minutes. Tasmanian Tiger Reading Answers has been taken from the book The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS Student's Book. The IELTS reading topic has a passage that candidates need to read with utmost attention. There are several other topics like “Tasmanian Tiger Reading Answers” available online. Candidates can check IELTS Reading practice paper for more topics. This topic Tasmanian Tiger Reading Answers contains three types of questions. They are: no more than two words, match the topic, select the correct option.
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Section 1
Read the passage to answer the following questions
Tasmanian Tiger Reading Answers
Although it was called tiger, it looked like a dog with black stripes on its back and it was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. Yet, despite its fame for being one of the most fabled animals in the world, it is one of the least understood of Tasmania’s native animals. The scientific name for the Tasmanian tiger is Thylacine and it is believed that they have become extinct in the 20th century.
Fossils of thylacines dating from about almost 12 million years ago have been dug up at various places in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. They were widespread in Australia 7,000 years ago, but have probably been extinct on the continent for 2,000 years. This is believed to be because of the introduction of dingoes around 8,000 years ago. Because of disease, thylacine numbers may have been declining in Tasmania at the time of European settlement 200 years ago, but the decline was certainly accelerated by the new arrivals. The last known Tasmanian Tiger died in Hobart Zoo in 1936 and the animal is officially classified as extinct. Technically, this means that it has not been officially sighted in the wild or captivity for 50 years. However, there are still unsubstanti-ated sightings.
Hans Naarding, whose study of animals had taken him around the world, was conducting a survey of a species of endangered migratory bird. What he saw that night is now regarded as the most credible sighting recorded of thylacine that many believe has been extinct for more than 70 years.
“I had to work at night,” Naarding takes up the story. “I was in the habit of intermittently shining a spotlight around. The beam fell on an animal in front of the vehicle, less than 10m away. Instead of risking movement by grabbing for a camera, I decided to register very carefully what I was seeing. The animal was about the size of a small shepherd dog, a very healthy male in prime condition. What set it apart from a dog, though, was a slightly sloping hindquarter, with a fairly thick tail being a straight continuation of the backline of the animal. It had 12 distinct stripes on its back, continuing onto its butt. I knew perfectly well what I was seeing. As soon as I reached for the camera, it disap-peared into the tea-tree undergrowth and scrub.”
The director of Tasmania’s National Parks at the time, Peter Morrow, decided in his wisdom to keep Naarding’s sighting of the thylacine secret for two years. When the news finally broke, it was accompanied by pandemonium. “I was besieged by television crews, including four to live from Japan, and others from the United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand and South America,” said Naarding.
Government and private search parties combed the region, but no further sightings were made. The tiger, as always, had escaped to its lair, a place many insist exists only in our imagination. But since then, the thylacine has staged something of a comeback, becoming part of Australian mythology.
There have been more than 4,000 claimed sightings of the beast since it supposedly died out, and the average claims each year reported to authorities now number 150. Associate professor of zoology at the University of Tasmania, Randolph Rose, has said he dreams of seeing a thylacine. But Rose, who in his 35 years in Tasmanian academia has fielded countless reports of thylacine sightings, is now convinced that his dream will go unfulfilled.
“The consensus among conservationists is that, usually, any animal with a population base of less than 1,000 is headed for extinction within 60 years,” says Rose. “Sixty years ago, there was only one thylacine that we know of, and that was in Hobart Zoo,” he says.
Dr. David Pemberton, curator of zoology at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, whose PhD thesis was on the thylacine, says that despite scientific thinking that 500 animals are required to sustain a population, the Florida panther is down to a dozen or so animals and, while it does have some inbreeding problems, is still ticking along. “I’ll take a punt and say that, if we manage to find a thylacine in the scrub, it means that there are 50-plus animals out there.”
After all, animals can be notoriously elusive. The strange fish known as the coelacanth, with its “proto-legs”, was thought to have died out along with the dinosaurs 700 million years ago until a specimen was dragged to the surface in a shark net off the south-east coast of South Africa in 1938.
Wildlife biologist Nick Mooney has the unenviable task of investigating all “sightings” of the tiger totalling 4,000 since the mid-1980s, and averaging about 150 a year. It was Mooney who was first consulted late last month about the authenticity of digital photographic images purportedly taken by a German tourist while on a recent bushwalk in the state. On face value, Mooney says, the account of the sighting, and the two photographs submitted as proof, amount to one of the most convincing cases for the species’ survival he has seen.
And Mooney has seen it all—the mistakes, the hoaxes, the illusions and the plausible accounts of sightings. Hoaxers aside, most people who report sightings end up believing they have seen a thy-lacine, and are themselves believable to the point they could pass a lie detector test, according to Mooney. Others, having tabled a creditable report, then become utterly obsessed like the Tasmanian who has registered 99 thylacine sightings to date. Mooney has seen individuals bankrupted by the obsession, and families destroyed. “It is a blind optimism that something is, rather than a cynicism that something isn’t,” Mooney says. “If something crosses the road, it’s not a case of ‘I wonder what that was?’ Rather, it is a case of ‘that’s a thylacine!’ It is a bit like a gold prospector’s blind faith, ‘it has got to be there’.”
However, Mooney treats all reports on face value. “I never try to embarrass people, or make fools of them. But the fact that 1 doesn't pack the car immediately they ring can often be taken as ridicule. Obsessive characters get irate that someone in my position is not out there when they think the thy-lacine is there.”
But Hans Naarding, whose sighting of a striped animal two decades ago was the highlight of “a life of animal spotting”, remains bemused by the time and money people waste on tiger searches. He says resources would be better applied to saving the Tasmanian devil, and helping migratory bird popula-tions that are declining as a result of shrinking wetlands across Australia.
Gould the thylacine still be out there? “Sure,” Naarding says. But be also says any discovery of sur-viving thylacines would be “rather pointless”. “How do you save a species from extinction? What could you do with it? If there are thylacines out there, they are better off right where they are,”
Section 2
Solution and Explanation
Questions 14-17:
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDSfrom the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 14-17 on your answer sheet.
The Tasmanian tiger, also called thylacine, resembles the look of a dog and has14____ on its fur coat. Many fossils have been found, showing that thylacines had existed as early as 15 _____years ago. They lived throughout 16_____ before disappearing from the mainland. And soon after the17_____ settlers arrived the size of the thylacine population in Tasmania shrunk at a higher speed.
Question 14:
Answer: black strips
Supporting Sentence: Although it was called tiger, it looked like a dog with black stripes on its back and it was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times.
Keyword: dog, tiger
Keyword Location: 1st paragraph, 1st sentence
Explanation: The author states that though it was called a tiger, it looked like a dog. It had black stripes on its back. Hence, black stripes is the correct answer.
Question 15:
Answer: 12 million
Supporting Sentence: Fossils of thylacines dating from about almost 12 million years ago have been dug up at various places in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia
Keyword: dating, years
Keyword Location: 2nd paragraph, 1st sentence
Explanation: As per the 1st line of the 2nd paragraph, fossils dated 12 million years were dug up. This means that they existed as early as 12 million years.
Question 16:
Answer: Australia
Supporting Sentence: They were widespread in Australia 7,000 years ago, but have probably been extinct on the continent for 2,000 years.
Keyword: 7000, extinct
Keyword Location: 2nd paragraph, 2nd sentence
Explanation: Here mainland means continent and extinction means disappearing. As per the supporting sentence, they were widespread in Australia 7000 years ago but did not appear in the mainland.
Question 17:
Answer: European
Supporting Sentence: Because of disease, thylacine numbers may have been declining in Tasmania at the time of European settlement 200 years ago, but the decline was certainly accelerated by the new arrivals.
Keyword: decline, accelerated
Keyword Location: 2nd paragraph, 4th sentence
Explanation: The arrival of European settlement led to the acceleration of the declined population of Thylacine. Hence, European settlement is the correct answer.
Questions 18-23:
Look at the following statements (Questions 18-23) and the list of people below.
Match each statement with the correct person,A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter, A, B, C or D, in boxes 18-23 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
List of People
- Hans Naarding
- Randolph Rose
- David Pemberton
- Nick Mooney
- His report of seeing a live thylacine in the wild attracted international interest.
Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: When the news finally broke, it was accompanied by pandemonium.
Keyword: pandemonium, finally broke
Keyword Location: 5th paragraph, 2nd sentence
Explanation: Hans Naarding finally broke the news of seeing thylacine which has been extinct for 70 years. At that moment pandemonium happened. It means that people from all over the world gathered interests. Hence, A is the correct answer.
- Many eye-witnesses ’ reports are not trustworthy.
Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: Hoaxers aside, most people who report sightings end up believing they have seen a thy-lacine, and are themselves believable to the point they could pass a lie detector test, according to Mooney
Keyword: hoax, believable, lie detector
Keyword Location: 11th paragraph, 5th sentence
Explanation: The author in the whole paragraph talks about the sightings reported by people. He says that Mooney did not believe all sightings since he was given the task of verifying. The supporting sentence proves the fact.
- It doesn’t require a certain number of animals to ensure the survival of a species.
Answer: C
Supporting Sentence: Dr. David Pemberton, curator of zoology at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, whose PhD thesis was on the thylacine, says that despite scientific thinking that 500 animals are required to sustain a population, the Florida panther is down to a dozen or so animals and, while it does have some inbreeding problems, is still ticking along.
Keyword: Pemberton, sustain a population
Keyword Location: 9th paragraph, 1st sentence.
Explanation: As per the supporting sentence, the thinking stated that 500 animals are required for a species to sustain. However, the Florida panther survives with only 12 of them. This proves that it does not require a certain number to ensure survival of species.
- There is no hope of finding a surviving Tasmanian tiger.
Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: But Rose, who in his 35 years in Tasmanian academia has fielded countless reports of thylacine sightings, is now convinced that his dream will go unfulfilled
Keyword: dream
Keyword Location: Paragraph 7, lst sentence
Explanation: In the passage, Randolph Rose says that he dreams of seeing a surviving Tasmanian tiger. However, he thinks that his dream will be unfulfilled. So there is no hope.
- Do not disturb them if there are any Tasmanian tigers still living today.
Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: If there are thylacines out there, they are better off right where they are
Keyword: better off, out there
Keyword Location: last paragraph, last sentence
Explanation: The supporting sentence was said by Hans Naarding. It means that if there are any surviving thyacines, we should leave them where they are.
- The interpretation of evidence can be affected by people’s beliefs.
Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: Mooney has seen individuals bankrupted by the obsession, and families destroyed.
Keyword: individuals
Keyword Location: 12th paragraph, 4th sentence
Explanation: As per Mooney, people made wrong interpretations of the animal. He says that individuals were bankrupted by obsession. This makes Mooney the correct answer.
Questions 24-26:
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.
- Hans Naarding’s sighting has resulted in
- government and organizations’ cooperative efforts to protect thylacine.
- extensive interests to find a living thylacine.
- increase of the number of reports of thylacine worldwide.
- growth of popularity of thylacine in literature.
Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: What he saw that night is now regarded as the most credible sighting recorded of thylacine that many believe has been extinct for more than 70 years.
Keyword: sighting, credible
Keyword Location: 3rd paragraph, last sentence
Explanation: The author states that hans sightings were most credible and was most interesting to find a line one. Hence, B is the correct answer.
- The example of coelacanth is to illustrate
- It lived in the same period as dinosaurs.
- how dinosaurs evolved legs
- some animals are difficult to catch in the wild
- extinction of certain species can be mistaken
Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: The strange fish known as the coelacanth, with its “proto-legs”, was thought to have died out along with the dinosaurs 700 million years ago until a specimen was dragged to the surface in a shark net off the south-east coast of South Africa in 1938.
Keyword: coelacanth, thought to have died
Keyword Location: 10th paragraph, 2nd sentence
Explanation: The author mentions that coelacanth was thought to be extinct. However a specimen was found in a shark net in South Africa in 1938. This means that extinction of certain species can be mistaken.
- Mooney believes that all sighting reports should be
- given some credit as they claim even if they are untrue
- acted upon immediately
- viewed as equally untrustworthy
- questioned and carefully investigated
Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: I never try to embarrass people, or make fools of them
Keyword: embarrass, make fool
Keyword Location: 3rd last paragraph, 2nd sentence
Explanation: Money states that the claims that people make should be verified and given some credibility. So he never embarrasses people or makes fools of them. Hence, A is the correct answer.
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