28-Day Planner:
Day 25 – Choosing a time period from a list
Also: labelling a diagram.
It has a chronological structure (it moves in the order of time), which helps you find the information by using the dates and names.
This is not a test. I have adapted the exercises slightly to help you develop your IELTS Reading Skills.
Listen to the podcast here:
Choosing dates from a list: strategy
- Skim the text and circle ALL the dates
- For each date that you circled, quickly check what happened on those dates.
- Go to the list of options.
- Find the option which matches the event most closely (see the synonyms highlighted in the answers below)
- If you have time, look at the distractors (the dates that are added to distract/trick you)
- Double check that the distractors do not match any of the options.
Questions 5-8
Match each statement with the correct date, A-D.
5 A search for the Mary Rose was launched.
6 One person’s exploration of the Mary Rose site stopped.
7 It was agreed that the hull of the Mary Rose should be raised.
8 The site of the Mary Rose was found by chance.
List of Dates
A 1836
B 1840
C 1965
D 1982
Raising the Mary Rose
How a sixteenth-century warship was recovered from the seabed
On 16 June 1836, some fishermen in the Solent found that their equipment was caught on an underwater obstruction, which turned out to be the Mary Rose. Diver John Deane happened to be exploring another sunken ship nearby, and the fishermen approached him, asking him to free their gear. Deane dived down, and found the equipment caught on a timber protruding slightly from the seabed. Exploring further, he uncovered several other timbers and a bronze gun. Deane continued diving on the site intermittently until 1840, recovering several more guns, two bows, various timbers, part of a pump and various other small finds.
The Mary Rose then faded into obscurity for another hundred years. But in 1965, military historian and amateur diver Alexander McKee, in conjunction with the British Sub-Aqua Club, initiated a project called ‘Solent Ships’. While on paper this was a plan to examine a number of known wrecks in the Solent, what McKee really hoped for was to find the Mary Rose. Ordinary search techniques proved unsatisfactory, so McKee entered into collaboration with Harold E. Edgerton, professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1967, Edgerton’s side-scan sonar systems revealed a large, unusually shaped object, which McKee believed was the Mary Rose.
Further excavations revealed stray pieces of timber and an iron gun. But the climax to the operation came when, on 5 May 1971, part of the ship’s frame was uncovered. McKee and his team now knew for certain that they had found the wreck, but were as yet unaware that it also housed a treasure trove of beautifully preserved artifacts. Interest in the project grew, and in 1979, The Mary Rose Trust was formed, with Prince Charles as its President and Dr Margaret Rule its Archaeological Director. The decision whether or not to salvage the wreck was not an easy one, although an excavation in 1978 had shown that it might be possible to raise the hull. While the original aim was to raise the hull if at all feasible, the operation was not given the go-ahead until January 1982, when all the necessary information was available.
5 A search** for the Mary Rose was launched*. C 1965
The Mary Rose then faded into obscurity for another hundred years. But in 1965, military historian and amateur diver Alexander McKee, in conjunction with the British Sub-Aqua Club, initiated a project called ‘Solent Ships’. While on paper this was a plan to examine a number of known wrecks in the Solent, what McKee really hoped for was to find** the Mary Rose.
launched = intitiated
search = to find
6 One person’s exploration of the Mary Rose site stopped. B 1840
Deane continued diving on the site intermittently until 1840.
7 It was agreed* that the hull of the Mary Rose should be raised. D 1982
While the original aim was to raise the hull if at all feasible, the operation was not given the go-ahead*until January 1982, when all the necessary information was available.
‘it was agreed’ = ‘to be given the go-ahead’
8 The site of the Mary Rose was found by chance*. A 1836
Then, on 16 June 1836, some fishermen in the Solent found that their equipment was caught on an underwater obstruction, which turned out* to be the Mary Rose. Diver John Deane happened to be** exploring another sunken ship nearby, and the fishermen approached him, asking him to free their gear. Deane dived down, and found the equipment caught on a timber protruding slightly from the seabed.
*found ‘by chance’ = ‘turned out’ = ‘happen by accident’
**happened to be’ = by chance/coincidence
Labelling a diagram.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.
How to label a diagram in IELTS Reading
- Look at the title (‘stages’) and find the paragraphs (usually just one – I have broken it up here)
- Look at the first number (9) and decide what kind of word is in the gap (9. something is attached to the hull by wires)
- Find the sentence that corresponds to the label and underline the same words (‘the hull was attached to a ___________ via a network of bolts and lifting wires’)
- Find the key word(s) that is in the sentence but not in the diagram.
- Remember to check how many words you’re allowed.
[9] An important factor in trying to salvage the Mary Rose was that the remaining hull was an open shell. This led to an important decision being taken: namely to carry out the lifting operation in three very distinct stages. The hull was attached to a lifting frame via a network of bolts and lifting wires.
[10] The problem of the hull being sucked back downwards into the mud was overcome by using 12 hydraulic jacks. These raised it a few centimetres over a period of several days, as the lifting frame rose slowly up its four legs.
It was only when the hull was hanging freely from the lifting frame, clear of the seabed and the suction effect of the surrounding mud, that the salvage operation progressed to the second stage.
[12] In this stage, the lifting frame was fixed to a hook attached to a crane, and the hull was lifted completely clear of the seabed and transferred underwater into the lifting cradle.
[11] This required precise positioning to locate the legs into the ‘stabbing guides’ of the lifting cradle.
[13] The lifting cradle was designed to fit the hull using archaeological survey drawings, and was fitted with air bags to provide additional cushioning for the hull’s delicate timber framework.
9. Lifting frame
10. Hydraulic jacks
11. stabbing guides
12. lifting cradle
13. air bags
The hull was attached to a (9) lifting frame via a network of bolts and lifting wires.
The problem of the hull being sucked back downwards into the mud was overcome by using 12 (10) hydraulic jacks.
In this stage, the lifting frame was fixed to a hook attached to a crane, and the hull was lifted completely clear of the seabed and transferred underwater into the (12) lifting cradle.
This required precise positioning to locate the legs into the (11) ‘stabbing guides’ of the lifting cradle.
The lifting cradle was designed to fit the hull using archaeological survey drawings, and was fitted with (13) air bags to provide additional cushioning* for the hull’s delicate timber framework.
*synonyms for ‘extra protection’
Thanks for your answers and analysis, Fiona!
I’m still confused with Q2, I put ” FALSE” because I read the 3rd paragraph, “another sunken ship nearby”, so I got Mary Rose is NOT the only one. Could you please share more explanation on this question? Thank you, Fiona!
Hi Julia. That’s a very good question, and one that causes a lot of problems in Reading. Three things.
1. Look at where ‘another sunken ship nearby’ comes in the order of the text. You will see that it comes later, in Paragraph 3. But question question 2 comes before Question 3 (Question 3 is all about the left side/right side of the boat). So the order of the questions tells us that the answer will be early on and BEFORE the topic of Question 3. So we need to look there first, and we can see that there is no information about how many other boats sank that day.
2. The bit about ‘another sunken ship nearby’ does not tell us anything about the other ship. It does not tell us if it sank on the same day. Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t. We can’t find positive or negative evidence.
3. For an answer to be FALSE we need evidence. The text should say the opposite of the statement. It should say e.g. ‘Many other ships sank that day’. But it does not say this.
Always turn the statement into a question to see if you can answer it in the text. ‘Did any other ships sink that day?’ ‘How many other ships sank that day?’ If you can’t answer these questions, it’s Not Given.
Does that help at all? Many thanks for your question – it really helps me see what people are having problems with, so I update the post to make it more useful. Thank you!
Hi,
Thank you for such a quick tip for reading section. I found it very useful and I am able to get my answers correct because of that tip.
Hi Mateen – you’re very welcome. Thanks for posting!