BEST IELTS General Reading Test 503

BEST IELTS General Reading Test 503

IELTS General Reading Test

CHIMPANZEES

A. Chimpanzees are a species of apes that are most closely related to humans. Chimpanzees inhabit tropical forests and savannahs of equatorial Africa. Individuals vary considerably in size and appearance, but chimpanzees stand approximately 1-1.7 meters tall when erect and weigh about 32-60 kg. Males tend to be larger and more robust than females. Chimpanzees are covered by a coat of brown or black hair, but their faces are bare except for a short white beard. Skin colour is generally white except for the face, hands, and feet, which are black. The faces of younger animals may be pinkish or whitish. Among older males and females, the forehead often becomes bald and the back becomes grey.

B. Chimpanzees awaken at dawn, and their day is spent both on trees and on the ground. After a lengthy midday rest, late afternoon is usually the most intensive feeding period. In the trees, where most feeding takes place, chimps use their hands and feet to move about. They also leap and swing by their arms skilfully from branch to branch. Movement over any significant distance usually takes place on the ground. Though able to walk upright, chimpanzees more often move about on all fours, leaning forward on the knuckles of their hands.

IELTS General Reading Test

Chimpanzees are unable to swim, but they will wade in water. The chimpanzee diet is primarily vegetarian and consists of mostly fruits, berries, leaves, blossoms and seeds, but also bird eggs and chicks. They also appear to use certain plants medicinally to cure diseases and expel intestinal parasites. At night they usually sleep in the trees in nests they build of branches and leaves.

C. The female chimpanzee bears a single young at any time of year after a gestation period of about eight months. The new-born weighs about 1.8 kg, is almost helpless, and clings to the fur of the mother’s belly as she moves. From about 6 months to 2 years, the youngster rides on the mother’s back. Weaning takes place at about 5 years. Males are considered adults at 16 years of age, and females usually begin to reproduce at about 13 years, but often only two offspring survive during her lifetime.

IELTS General Reading Test

The longevity of chimps is about 45 years in the wild and 58 in captivity; however, older individuals have been documented. For example, Cheetah the chimpanzee, an animal actor from the Tarzan movies of the 1930s and ’40s, was reported to have lived approximately 80 years.

D. Chimpanzees are highly social and live in loose and flexible groups known as communities or unit groups that are based on associations between adult males within a home range, or territory. A community can number from 20 or fewer to well over 100 members. Social dominance exists, with adult males being dominant over adult females and adolescent males. Within a community, there are twice or three times as many adult females as adult males; the number of adults is about equal to the number of immature individuals. The dominance hierarchy among male chimpanzees is very fluid; individuals associate with each other and join and leave different subgroups with complete freedom.

IELTS General Reading Test

The alpha male of a group can monopolize ovulating females through possessive behaviour. On the other hand, gang attack by subordinate males can expel an alpha male. Males spend all of their lives in the community they are born in, but occasionally a juvenile male may transfer to another community with his mother. In contrast to males, most females leave their group of birth to join a neighbouring group when they mature at around age 11. Female chimpanzees spend most of their time with their young or with other females. Females have been known to form coalitions against a bullying adult male or newly immigrated female.

E. Chimpanzees are highly intelligent and are able to solve many kinds of problems posed to them by human trainers and experimenters. A number of researchers have taught chimpanzees to use sign language or languages based on the display of tokens or pictorial symbols. Communication between chimps in the wild takes the form of facial expressions, gestures, and a large array of vocalizations, including screams, hoots, grunts, and roars. Males display excitement by standing erect, stamping or swaying, and letting out a chorus of screams.

IELTS General Reading Test

Chimps use louder calls and gestures for long-distance communication (such as drumming on tree buttresses) and quieter calls and facial expressions for short-distance communication. Chimpanzees “fish” for termites and ants with probes made of grass stalks, vines, branches, peeled bark, and midribs of leaves. They crack hard nuts open by using stones, roots, and wood as hammers or anvils, and they use “leafy sponges” (a handful of folded leaves or moss) to drink water.

Branches and leaves are detached and displayed during courtship. Chimpanzees’ intelligence, responsiveness, and exuberance have made them ideal nonhuman subjects for psychological, medical, and biological experiments. Young chimpanzees can become very attached to their human trainers, and their expressions of feeling resemble those of humans more closely than any other animal.

IELTS General Reading Test

The text below has 5 SECTIONS, marked A to E. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

i. Growing their lineage

ii. Matters related to gender

iii. A normal work-day

iv. Of grey matters

v. The basics

vi. Height, weight and color

vii. Dietary habits

28. Paragraph A

29. Paragraph B

30. Paragraph C

31. Paragraph D

32. Paragraph E

IELTS General Reading Test

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text? In boxes on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

33. Chimpanzees are adept at swinging skilfully from branch to branch, and can also walk on the ground. When they have to move over long distances, they prefer the former approach.

34. Chimpanzees are pure vegetarians.

35. A baby chimpanzee starts eating food other than its mother’s milk only after about 5 year

36. Chimpanzees found in the savannahs of Equatorial Africa do not live as long as those captured or reared by humans.

37. The dominating male in a group can be ousted by other males joining forces against him.

IELTS General Reading Test

Write NOT MORE THAN TWO WORDS.

38. Chimpanzees can walk on their two legs, but you are likely to find them moving around on ……………… when on the ground.

39. If a female chimpanzee transfers herself from one chimpanzee group to another, her ………………  son may also move with her.

40. Transmission and receipt of messages between chimpanzees take various forms including ………………

IELTS General Reading Test

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BEST IELTS General Reading Test 503

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IELTS General Reading Test

28. V

29. III

30. I

31. II

32. IV

33. FALSE

34. FALSE

35. TRUE

36. TRUE

37. TRUE

38. ALL FOURS

39. JUVENILE

40. FACIAL EXPRESSIONS/ GESTURES/ VOCALIZATIONS

IELTS General Reading Test

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