Table of Contents
BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 494
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 494 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 494
READING PASSAGE – 2
Camels
The source of a new medical danger
A. The English word ‘camel’ comes from the Latin word camelus, via the Greek word kamēlos, and back to the Hebrew word gemel, which means ‘to go without, which is a reference to the ability of the camel to spend days without food and water. This is mainly due to their humps, which contain around 35 kilos of fat that can be broken down into energy and water. This fat reserve means they can travel up to 160 kilometres through the desert without drinking water.
Other particular adaptations that help camels thrive in dry, desert environments, are broad flat feet to help them walk easily on sand, very long eyelashes and nostrils they can close to protect them from sandstorms, and an ability to withstand large variations in body temperature that would kill most other animals. Their life expectancy is 30 to 40 years.
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B. The one-humped Arabian camels Camelus dromedaries (also known as dromedaries) have been domesticated by the people of North Africa and Asia for at least 6000 years. They are used to transport people, and goods for trade. Dromedaries are one of the largest domesticated animals and can grow to a shoulder height of more than 2 metres, and the males typically weigh more than 500 kilos. Apart from being used as transport, they have also supported humans that live in inhospitable environments by supplying them with milk, meat, fibres and leather.
C. There is a very special rapport between humans and camels. Without the camel, traditional desert lifestyles would never have emerged, and it is difficult to even imagine a typical Arabian scene that does not contain a camel, it is virtually synonymous with that part of the world. For the Bedouin in the Arabian Peninsula, the camel has been the basis of their economy for thousands of years, and the historic path of trade from east to west along the Silk Road could never have functioned without the camel caravan.
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Camels supplied transport and mobility to desert peoples that was irreplaceable until the advent of four- wheel-drive vehicles and heavy road transport. They allowed desert populations to become independent traders that controlled the movement of much of the world’s economy in the Orient and Africa, much like their Arab descendants control the oil industry today.
D. The camel is still a part of many subsistence economies, particularly in Africa, but modern roads and transport systems have made it redundant as a form of transport in harsh environments. Nomadic lifestyles are disappearing with much of their populations moving into towns to find work as the camel trade routes are no longer being used over long distances.
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Much like the horse, the camel has now been assigned to the area of sporting activity, with camel rides being tourist attractions and the revival of camel racing as a sport. Serious camel breeding has now returned, but more for their speed and agility than for their ability to carry heavy loads and cover long distances without sustenance. People are still coming in close contact with camels, and this might be a problem.
E. Zoonotic diseases, caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites, that spread from non-human animals to humans, may be lurking in the shadows. Illnesses such as brucellosis and Rift Valley fever or a prion disease recently found in camels at a slaughterhouse in Algeria can all be spread from dromedaries to humans. There are other camel-borne diseases, but there is one zoonotic disease of great concern that has emerged in the past decade: Middle East respiratory syndrome or MERS.
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This often deadly viral respiratory illness was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012 with 2,500 cases so far in 27 countries. Dromedary camels are the direct host for transmission to humans, though it is unclear exactly how, researchers believe that the original source may have been bats. Most subsequent cases have been through human-to-human contact. The startling information about this virus is that it has a 35 per cent mortality rate in laboratory-confirmed cases, making it the most lethal of the corona viruses. There is no vaccine and no known cure.
F. What would make a bat a likely source of a virus? It is because compared to other animals, bats have a high viral tolerance as they have immune systems with low inflammatory responses and limited antibody production. Therefore, they can continue to harbour multiple viruses because they survive them. Then they are perfect for hosting and spreading viruses as they have a long lifespan, can hibernate to overcome illness and can travel long distances.
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G. MERS is a coronavirus, which is a large family of viruses, many of which can cause diseases in humans, ranging from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome (or SARS) and COVID-19, both of which started in China and are also thought to have originated in bats. Researchers have also identified dromedary viruses related to another human coronavirus, HCOV 229E, that causes some respiratory tract infections in humans but is not lethal. COVID-19, the second coronavirus pandemic after SARS, which struck the world in 2020, could be seen as the result of the warning calls that came from the outbreaks of SARS and MERS in previous years being ignored.
Questions 14-18
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-G.
You may use any letter more than once.
14. The change in the use of camels.
15. The reason these illnesses come from one source.
16. Unique evolutionary traits of camels.
17. The year that a coronavirus relating to camels arose.
18. A symbol of a culture.
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Questions 19-22
Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.
The changing role of camels
The camel has been used along 19………….. routes for thousands of years, in the Arabian peninsula and between the Orient and Europe.
Without the camel 20…………., none of this could have occurred. This use of the camel has now come to an end as it has become 21…………. in the face modern roads and transport.
Camels are still in use where nomadic desert lifestyles continue, but they are no longer part of long distance economies. They are now bred for camel 22…………. and for tourist experiences.
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Questions 23-26
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.
23. Zoonotic diseases
A. are found exclusively in viral from.
B. are diseases that spread from humans to animals.
C. have their origin in animals.
D. rarely passed to humans via camels.
24. MERS is particularly worrying because
A. it comes from dromedaries.
B. the way it was passed from camels is unknown.
C. it is a respiratory illness.
D. it has such a high level of deaths to case numbers.
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25. Why do bats harbour so many viruses?
A. Because their systems tend not to react to them.
B. Because they have a natural immunity to them.
C. Because they are able to spread them easily.
D. Because they can produce so many antibodies.
26. What do MERS, SARS, HCOV 229E and COVID-19 have in common?
A. They originated in China.
B. They are all deadly.
C. They are viruses found in bats.
D. They are all pandemics.
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ANSWERS
14. D
15. F
16. A
17. E
18. C
19. TRADE
20. CARAVAN
21. REDUNDANT
22. RACING
23. C
24. D
25. A
26. C
IELTS Academic Reading Test