Footprints in the Mud
Read Footprints in the Mud and check the IELTS Reading answers. Everybody knows that the dinosaurs became extinct as a result of a large asteroid; something big hit the Earth 65 million years ago and, when the dust had fallen, so had the great reptiles. There is thus a nice, if ironic, symmetry in…
Passage preview
Everybody knows that the dinosaurs became extinct as a result of a large asteroid; something big hit the Earth 65 million years ago and, when the dust had fallen, so had the great reptiles. There is thus a nice, if ironic, symmetry in the idea that a similar impact brought about the dinosaurs’ rise. That is the thesis proposed by Paul Olsen of Columbia University.
Vocabulary from this passage
9 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- abundant adjective
Existing in very large quantities; more than enough.
In the passage:
Q17 says footprints "are found more frequently" than skeletons; the passage says footprints are "surprisingly abundant" while skeletons are "rare" (paragraph 3).
Synonyms: plentiful, common
Opposites: scarce, rare
- a good indication that noun phrase
A clear sign that something is true or is likely to happen.
In the passage:
"A fern spike in the rocks is thus a good indication that something terrible has happened" (paragraph 5).
Synonyms: a clear sign that, strong evidence that
- bring about verb phrase
To cause something to happen, especially a change.
In the passage:
Q25 says "the processes that produce continental drift"; the passage says "the tectonic processes that bring about continental drift".
Synonyms: produce, cause
Opposites: prevent
- depict verb
To show or describe someone or something in a picture or in words.
In the passage:
Q15 says books and the cinema "exaggerated" size; the passage says the monsters are "realistically depicted" in books and movies.
Synonyms: portray, represent
- knock out verb phrase
To remove or eliminate, especially a rival or competitor, from a contest or market.
In the passage:
"Could flourish only when the competition had been knocked out" (paragraph 7): it means eliminated, not made unconscious.
Synonyms: eliminate, drive out
- overrun verb
To spread over and take control of an area, often in large numbers.
In the passage:
The dinosaurs "overran the planet" in the Jurassic: it means took over, not ran past a limit.
Synonyms: take over, swarm over
- perceptible adjective
Large or clear enough to be noticed.
In the passage:
Such an impact "would surely have had a perceptible effect on the world", but the 214-million-year-old rocks record none (paragraph 9).
Synonyms: noticeable, detectable
Opposites: imperceptible
- scour verb
To clear a surface completely by removing everything that covers it.
In the passage:
An asteroid strike "would have scoured much of the Earth of its vegetable cover", which let ferns take over (paragraph 5).
Synonyms: strip, sweep clean
- set up shop verb phrase
To start a business or begin living or operating in a place.
In the passage:
Ferns are "often the first things to set up shop" on land cleared by a volcanic eruption (paragraph 5).
Synonyms: establish a business, settle
Answers with explanations
- 14. FALSE
The key words are **still doubt**. The writer opens with **Everybody knows** that an asteroid killed the dinosaurs, which treats the theory as settled. Doubt about it contradicts the text, so the statement is FALSE.
- 15. FALSE
Match **books and the cinema** with **modern books and movies**. The statement says they **exaggerated** the size, but the passage says the monsters are **realistically depicted**. That is the opposite.
- 16. NOT GIVEN
The key word is **rejected**. The writer says others have suggested an asteroid strike, and that Olsen's team is the first to **show** the takeover was sudden. Nothing says other scientists reject the idea. For TRUE or FALSE, the text would have to report their reaction.
- 17. TRUE
**Found more frequently** matches **surprisingly abundant**, and the contrast word **however** sets footprints against **rare** skeletons. The statement agrees with the text.
- 18. FALSE
The key words are **exact identification of a dinosaur species**. The text says ichnotaxa **cannot be matched precisely with the species**, only with **a general sort of animal**. That contradicts "exact", so the statement is FALSE.
- 19. TRUE
Look for the boundary between the two periods. **Four** ichnotaxa **march confidently across the boundary into the Jurassic**, so some groups survived from the Triassic into the Jurassic. The five that disappear earlier are not the ones the statement is about.
- 20. ecological release
The sudden increase in size is the surprise, and the explanation follows at once: **may be a phenomenon called** matches **something known as**. Copy the term that comes next, **ecological release**.
- 21. dragons
Look for **Komodo**, a name that is never paraphrased. **Commonly called** matches **often referred to as**, and because of their size matches grown so large. The gap needs the name given to the lizards: **dragons**.
- 22. competitors
The summary says the lizards grew big because they **do not have any** ___; the passage says they **face no competitors** on islands. **Competition** appears in the last sentence, but that is about the dinosaurs, not the lizards.
- 23. overlooked
**First** begins the three reasons, and **craters are easily covered up** matches **eroded and buried, and not always easy to find**. The writer's first possibility is that the crater **may have been overlooked**.
- 24. vanished
**Or, it could have** ___ matches **Alternatively, it may have vanished**. The next paragraph explains why: an ocean crater would have been swallowed up as the sea floor is recycled.
- 25. tectonic processes
**Produce continental drift** paraphrases **bring about continental drift**. The thing that does this and recycles the ocean floor, so an ocean crater would no longer exist, is **tectonic processes**.
- 26. misdated
**Thirdly** matches **a third possibility**, and **could still exist** matches **the crater is known**. It is known, but **has been misdated**. The Manicouagan example in the same paragraph shows the idea.