Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 526
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 526 – PASSAGE – 3

IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 526
READING PASSAGE – 3
Uncontacted Tribe Filmed in Brazil
A: It’s like a scene from an Indiana Jones blockbuster – but this time it’s for real. Two men with bows and arrows crouch, ready to fire at the overhead flight. They are ritually painted bright orange with pigment from an Amazonian tree, while just feet behind a figure painted black – a woman in a white loincloth – also stares up into the sky. Other tribesmen emerge from traditional thatched longhouses armed and prepared to fight.
B: They live in six huts in the depths of the Brazilian rainforest, without any known contact with the “civilized” world, and the body language of the tribe suggests they have a way of life worth defending. From the images collected and posted on the Internet last week, all – adults and children alike – look fit and healthy.
IELTS General Reading Test
C: The Brazilian government body said, “We did the overflight to show their houses, to show they are there, to show they exist. This is very important because there are some who doubt their existence.”
D: However, the release of the images has sparked a debate over whether their way of life is now more at risk because more people are aware of the village’s existence. Their discovery now poses a range of moral dilemmas for the authorities. Should the tribe be left alone to continue their contented sustainable lifestyle for as long as they can? Or should contact be forced, by scientists of good intent, to prepare uncontacted peoples for their inevitable first encounter with the 21st century?
IELTS General Reading Test
E: It is impossible to calculate with any accuracy how many tribes of uncontacted people survive in the world’s jungles. The best guess of experts in the field is that around 100 small groups remain, mostly in the Amazonian rainforest – an area the size of Western Europe. Other isolated remnants are also believed to exist in remote areas of densely forested islands, such as Papua New Guinea.
F: A decade ago, fabled “first contact” was made with the Murunahua group, living in an area to the west of the tribe in last week’s pictures, in the Peruvian jungle. About 100-strong, they were surviving well until illegal loggers came in search of mahogany. David Hill, a researcher for Survival International, has witnessed the aftermath.
IELTS General Reading Test
G: “They were forcibly contacted by illegal loggers, who shoot to kill, and since then 50% of them have died. Some were shot, but most died from diseases that were introduced to them,” said Hill. Last year, Hill travelled to Peru to interview the remnants of the tribe. One survivor, Jorge, who was shot in the eye by loggers, told him: “When the loggers made contact with us, we came out of the rainforest. That was when the disease began. From then half of us died.” The group now lives in a more conventional village adopting Western-style clothing and a money-based economy. However, other Murunahua groups still exist, still living the traditional way, in communities deep in the forest.
H: Hill is delighted that last week’s image of the Acre tribe made global headlines. “It puts pressure on governments to stop the logging,” he said. Then he added, “If you don’t know where they are, then you can’t protect them as well. We would warn sternly against further contact.”
IELTS General Reading Test
I: A practical way of protecting the tribes is to come down heavily on the loggers, and the Brazilian government has closed down 28 illegal sawmills in Acre state. Another is deterring the curious. The difficulties of reaching these areas means they are beyond the reach of most Western tourists, which explains the vicarious popularity of programs such as the BBC’s Tribe, in which former army officer Bruce Parry lived with various remote tribes around the world.
J: Dr. Nicole Bourque believes that contact with friendly outsiders is preferable to conflict with potentially hostile commercial interests, and that the time may be close when uncontacted groups have to be gently eased into the modern age. “It would be better if first contact came from the appropriate people with the right motives and the right medical support, who could prepare them for the future and what might happen.”
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 28 – 33
The text has twelve sections, A–L.
Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-x.
List of Headings
i. The moral dilemma faced by the authorities
ii. The cost of the first contact experience paid by travellers
iii. The Brazilian government’s purpose in photographing the Acre tribe
iv. A few suggestions to protect the untouched tribes
v. The first moment the tribe was discovered
vi. David Hill’s stance toward the Acre tribe
vii. How many uncontacted tribes exist?
viii. Dr. Nicole Bourque’s opinion about uncontacted tribes
ix. The environment in which the Acre tribe live
x. What happened to the Murunahua tribe after they were forcibly contacted?
IELTS General Reading Test
28. Section C
29. Section D
30. Section G
31. Section H
32. Section I
33. Section J
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 34 – 40
Write the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.
34. The tribesmen were prepared to fight when they saw the plane because
A. they were naturally hostile.
B. they thought they were being attacked.
C. they were tired of being disturbed.
D. they were likely to attack outsiders.
35. What can be inferred about the tribe from the photographs on the Internet?
A. They want material possessions.
B. They suffer from many diseases.
C. Their fitness level seemed to be high.
D. They are fiercely aggressive.
IELTS General Reading Test
36. What do the remaining uncontacted tribes have in common?
A. They live in forests.
B. They live on islands.
C. They live in the Amazon.
D. They live in South America.
37. The Murunahua people’s troubles began because they
A. left the rainforest.
B. lived near valuable trees.
C. made the loggers angry.
D. were very sensitive to the virus.
IELTS General Reading Test
38. To the tribe, loggers were kind of people who
A. threatened the tribe’s existence.
B. can help the tribe.
C. should contact the tribe.
D. are supposed to be the first contactors.
39. The popularity of programmes has caused
A. the tribe to have modern lifestyle.
B. the tribe to be attacked by loggers
C. many tourists to visit the area due to their curiosity.
D. live in Western style houses.
IELTS General Reading Test
40. Dr. Nicole Bourque assumes that
A. the tribe will prosper if they accept the way of living from western visitors.
B. the tribe will be taken care of by Brazilian government.
C. the tribe would be able to be helped if the first contact was made with appropriate people.
D. Brazilian government will ban loggers entering the tribe’s territory.

IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
28. III
29. I
30. X
31. VI
32. IV
33. VIII
34. B
35. C
36. A
37. B
38. A
39. C
40. C
IELTS General Reading Test