The Burgess Shale fossils
Read The Burgess Shale fossils and check the IELTS Reading answers. Some discoveries are so unusual it takes decades and sometimes even centuries to understand their full significance. One such discovery is the fossil bed known as the Burgess Shale, which contains a record of bizarre creatures that…
Passage preview
Some discoveries are so unusual it takes decades and sometimes even centuries to understand their full significance. One such discovery is the fossil bed known as the Burgess Shale, which contains a record of bizarre creatures that lived 505 million years ago. It was discovered in the Canadian Rockies over a century ago, and was popularized in 1989 in a book, *Wonderful Life*, by Stephen Jay Gould, an American paleontologist.
Vocabulary from this passage
9 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- a multiplicity of noun phrase
A large number of different things.
In the passage:
"With its multiplicity of spines and tentacles": a formal way to say there are many different parts.
Synonyms: a wide range of, a great variety of
- be mistaken for verb phrase
To be wrongly thought to be a different person or thing.
In the passage:
Q12 says "looked like"; the passage says Nectocaris "could be mistaken for a leech".
Synonyms: looked like, be confused with
- grasping adjective
Able to hold something tightly in a hand or claw.
In the passage:
Q11 says "claws used to hold"; the passage says the claws were "grasping" and "grabbed food".
Synonyms: hold, gripping
- hostile to adjective phrase
Unfriendly or harmful to something, so that it cannot easily live or work there.
In the passage:
"conditions that were hostile to the bacteria": a useful, more precise way to say that conditions prevent something.
Synonyms: harmful to, unfavourable to
Opposites: favourable to
- orientation noun
The direction or position in which something faces.
In the passage:
"its orientation is a mystery": which way up the animal went, not orientation as a course or personal leaning.
Synonyms: position, direction
- popularize verb
To make something widely known and liked by ordinary people.
In the passage:
Q1 says "became widely known to the public"; the passage says the book "was popularized in 1989".
Synonyms: widely known, make popular
Opposites: obscure
- quash verb
To officially end or reject something, such as an idea or decision.
In the passage:
"Now another misconception has been quashed": an old belief is ended by new evidence.
Synonyms: put an end to, overturn
Opposites: uphold
- the exception that proves the rule noun phrase
A case that seems to disagree with a rule but actually supports it.
In the passage:
"Hallucigenia, ironically, turned out to be the exception that proved the rule": a surprise that supported the general idea.
Synonyms: a rare counter-example
- uninterrupted adjective
Continuing without any break or stop.
In the passage:
Q9 says the evolution of complex life "continued"; the passage says it "went on uninterrupted".
Synonyms: continued, continuous
Opposites: intermittent
Answers with explanations
- 1. TRUE
Look for the book. The statement's **became widely known to the public** is the passage's **was popularized**, and the passage says the book, by Gould, did this in 1989. The meaning is the same, so the statement is TRUE.
- 2. NOT GIVEN
The deciding idea is **permission from Canadian authorities**. The passage only says Walcott **is said to have tripped over a block of shale** after hearing from railway workers. Permission is never mentioned, so nothing confirms or contradicts it: NOT GIVEN.
- 2-3: F
2: The deciding idea is **permission from Canadian authorities**. The passage only says Walcott **is said to have tripped over a block of shale** after hearing from railway workers. Permission is never mentioned, so nothing confirms or contradicts it: NOT GIVEN.
3: Look for **impressions** of body parts. The passage says the bed holds **soft body parts alongside the remains of bones and shells**. Bones and shells are the hard parts, so "soft and hard body parts" says the same thing: TRUE.
- 3. TRUE
Look for **impressions** of body parts. The passage says the bed holds **soft body parts alongside the remains of bones and shells**. Bones and shells are the hard parts, so "soft and hard body parts" says the same thing: TRUE.
- 3-4: A
3: Look for **impressions** of body parts. The passage says the bed holds **soft body parts alongside the remains of bones and shells**. Bones and shells are the hard parts, so "soft and hard body parts" says the same thing: TRUE.
4: The key phrase is **land animals**. The bed was found on a mountain, but the passage says the creatures **originally existed below an ocean**, so they lived in the sea. That contradicts the statement, so it is FALSE.
- 4. FALSE
The key phrase is **land animals**. The bed was found on a mountain, but the passage says the creatures **originally existed below an ocean**, so they lived in the sea. That contradicts the statement, so it is FALSE.
- 5. FALSE
The deciding word is **unrelated**. The writer says Hallucigenia **is now thought to be an ancestor** of the modern arthropods, a group that includes flies and crabs. A creature with modern descendants is related to them, so the statement is FALSE.
- 6. ["Cambrian explosion"]
Look for how the shale was **formed**. The notes' **following** is the passage's **soon after**, and the passage names the period: the **Cambrian explosion**. That name fills the gap.
- 7. ["railway","Canadian railway"]
Find **Walcott** and the people who told him about the finds. The notes' **building** matches **construction workers**, and the place they worked was **a Canadian railway**. The gap follows "a", so it needs the noun **railway**.
- 8. 1979
Scan for a year. The notes' **looked at … findings again** matches **re-examined Walcott's specimens**, and the year given is **1979**. The other years nearby, 1909 and 1924, belong to Walcott's own find and the first period of work.
- 9. evolution
Find **Van Roy** and the discoveries in Morocco. The notes' **continued** matches **went on uninterrupted**, and what went on is the **evolution** of such complex life. That word fills the gap.
- 10. fan
Look at the description of **Opabinia**. The table's **resembling** is the passage's **in the shape of**, so the tail looked like **a fan**.
- 11. food
Stay with Opabinia. The table's **used to hold** matches **grasping claws … grabbed**, and what the claws grabbed before stuffing it into the mouth was **food**.
- 12. leech
Find **Nectocaris**. The table's **looked like** matches **could be mistaken for**, and the animal it could be mistaken for was **a leech**.
- 13. move
Find **Hallucigenia**'s spines. The table's **used to** matches **helped it**, so you need the verb that follows: **move**. Feeding belongs to the tentacles, not the spines.