With flow charts, the information you need to fill the gaps is usually limited to one section of the reading (often just one paragraph).
- Locate the information quickly by using numbers (71) and capital letters e.g. names (Walter Joyce and Jacques Gauthier, at Yale University)
- The gaps go in the same order as the text.
- Use the words that come before the gaps in the flow chart to help guess what kind of information they want e.g. ‘a total of’ in Q34 indicates a number.
- Use the grammar of the sentence to help you guess the space e.g. they often change active sentences into passive ones e.g. ‘They took 20 samples.’ = ‘___________ were taken’.
- Always check the number of words you are allowed in the gaps of the flow chart.
- Don’t worry if there are words that you don’t understand (e.g. Q36). Use the grammar/logic of the sentence, same words (of points) synonyms (in the upper part/towards the top).
Warning: This is a very difficult Academic Passage 3.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Method of determining where the ancestors of turtles and tortoises come from
Step 1:
71 species of living turtles and tortoises were examined and a total of (34) ____________________were taken from the bones of their forelimbs.
[Text] Walter Joyce and Jacques Gauthier, at Yale University, obtained three measurements in these particular bones of 71 species of living turtles and tortoises.
Step 2:
The data was recorded on a (35) _________________ (necessary for comparing the information).
[Text] They used a kind of triangular graph paper to plot the three measurements against one another.
Outcome: Land tortoises were represented by a dense (36) _____________ of points towards the top. Sea turtles were grouped together in the bottom part.
All the land tortoise species formed a tight cluster of points in the upper part of the triangle; all the water turtles cluster in the lower part of the triangular graph.
Step 3:
The same data was collected from some living (37) ________________ species and added to the other results.
Outcome: The points for these species turned out to be positioned about (38) ________________ up the triangle between the land tortoises and the sea turtles.
[Text] There was no overlap, except when they added some species that spend time both in water and on land. Sure enough, these amphibious species show up on the triangular graph approximately halfway between the ‘wet cluster’ of sea turtles and the ‘dry cluster’ of land tortoises.
Step 4:
Bones of P quenstedti and P talampayensis were examined in a similar way and the results added.
Outcome: The position of the points indicated that both these ancient creatures were (39) _______________.
[Text] The next step was to determine where the fossil fell. The bones of P quenstedti and P. talampayensis leave us in no doubt. Their points on the graph are right in the thick of the dry cluster. Both these fossils were dry-land tortoises. They come from the era before our turtles returned to the water.
34. 3 measurements (‘a total of’ shows that you need to find a number)
35. (triangular) graph
36. cluster
37. amphibious
38. half way
39. dry-land tortoises (words with hyphens ‘-‘ are ONE word)
Question 40
According to the writer, the most significant thing about tortoises is that
a) they are able to adapt to life in extremely dry environments.
b) their original life form was a kind of primeval bacteria,
c) they have so much in common with sea turtles.
d) they have made the transition from sea to land more than once.
Para 6: Tortoises therefore represent a remarkable double return. In common with all mammals, reptiles and birds, their remote ancestors were marine fish and before that various more or less worm-like creatures stretching back, still in the sea, to the primeval bacteria. Later ancestors lived on land and stayed there for a very large number of generations. Later ancestors still evolved back into the water and became sea turtles. And finally, they returned yet again to the land as tortoises, some of which now live in the driest of deserts.
40. D
d) they have made the transition from sea to land more than once.
Para 6: Tortoises therefore represent a remarkable double return. In common with all mammals, reptiles and birds, their remote ancestors were marine fish and before that various more or less worm-like creatures stretching back, still in the sea, to the primeval bacteria. Later ancestors lived on land and stayed there for a very large number of generations. Later ancestors still evolved back into the water and became sea turtles. And finally, they returned yet again to the land as tortoises, some of which now live in the driest of deserts.
Listen to the full flow chart questions and text here:
Extra tip
Knowing the fundamental theories of evolution and animal types will help you understand many difficult IELTS Reading texts like this one.
Familiarise yourself with basic biological terms before the test, and this will give you a head start.
So many biological concepts are referred to in IELTS Reading and Listening Tests, so spend some time building up your background knowledge of these topics.
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Hello, Fiona! Thanks for such really useful material! But I guess in the question 40 there are some confusion with double letters ‘C’ in the option place?!
Thank you Riza! Well-spotted! Please let me know if you spot anything else! All the best, Fiona x