The Exploration of Mars
Read The Exploration of Mars and check the IELTS Reading answers. In 1877, Giovanni Schiaparelli, an Italian astronomer, made drawings and maps of the Martian surface that suggested strange features. The images from telescopes at that time were not as sharp as today’s. Schiaparelli said he could se…
Passage preview
In 1877, Giovanni Schiaparelli, an Italian astronomer, made drawings and maps of the Martian surface that suggested strange features. The images from telescopes at that time were not as sharp as today’s. Schiaparelli said he could see a network of lines, or *canali*. In 1894, an American astronomer, Percival Lowell, made a series of observations of Mars from his own observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona, U.S.A. Lowell was convinced a great network of canals had been dug to irrigate crops for the Martian race. He suggested that each canal had fertile vegetation on either side, making them noticeable from Earth. Drawings and globes he made show a network of canals and oases all over the planet.
Vocabulary from this passage
9 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- barren adjective
Too dry or poor to support plant life; empty and lifeless.
In the passage:
Q35 option says "far less dynamic than Earth"; the passage says Mariner 4 showed "a cratered and barren landscape" (paragraph C).
Synonyms: less dynamic, lifeless
Opposites: fertile, lush
- gain strength verb phrase
To become stronger, more popular or more widely accepted.
In the passage:
"The idea that there was intelligent life on Mars gained strength" begins the answer to Q34 (paragraph B).
Synonyms: grow in influence, gather momentum
Opposites: lose ground
- grip the imagination verb phrase
To attract and hold people's interest strongly.
In the passage:
"Rampaging Martian monsters gripped the public’s imagination" shows how stories changed views of Mars (paragraph B, Q34).
Synonyms: capture the imagination, fascinate
Opposites: bore
- in association with adverb phrase
Together with, or connected to, something else.
In the passage:
Q39 says "a substance associated with certain germs"; the passage says magnetite is "found in association with certain micro-organisms" (paragraph D).
Synonyms: associated with, in connection with
Opposites: independently of
- intriguing adjective
Interesting in a way that makes you want to know more.
In the passage:
"Even more intriguing is an alternative scenario proposed by the Spanish scientists" (paragraph H, Q28).
Synonyms: fascinating, absorbing
Opposites: dull
- irrigate verb
To supply land with water so that crops can grow.
In the passage:
Q29 says "large-scale agricultural constructions"; the passage says canals "dug to irrigate crops" (paragraph A).
Synonyms: water, supply with water
- myriad adjective
Very many, of many different kinds.
In the passage:
"Evolved into the myriad plants and creatures alive today" (paragraph H).
Synonyms: countless, numerous
Opposites: few
- raise doubts about verb phrase
To make people less sure that something is true or correct.
In the passage:
Q38: the meteorite "raised fresh doubts about the above analysis", so the Viking results were challenged (paragraph D).
Synonyms: cast doubt on, call into question
Opposites: dispel doubts about
- the very existence of noun phrase
A phrase stressing that it is doubtful whether something exists at all.
In the passage:
"The very existence of nanobacteria is still controversial" limits the meteorite evidence (paragraph D).
Synonyms: whether ... exists at all
Answers with explanations
- 27. D
The item is **Martian evidence found on Earth**. Paragraph D describes **a Martian meteorite found on Earth**, and its analysis showing magnetite linked to micro-organisms. The other paragraphs about evidence describe probes and rovers sent to Mars, not something found on Earth.
- 28. H
**May share the same origin of life** matches **a common origin for Martian and Earth life**. Paragraph H explains that if Mars samples used DNA, life could have started on Mars and spread to Earth. Paragraph G also covers microbes, but never discusses origins.
- 29. A
**Large-scale agricultural constructions** are the **network of canals** dug **to irrigate crops**, and **detailed depiction** is the **drawings and globes** Lowell made. Paragraph B also has Martians, but that is fiction, not a description of structures.
- 30. G
**A project that aims to detect life** matches **SOLID, a life-detection instrument**, and **conditions similar to those on Mars** matches **environments similar to Martian sub-soil**. Paragraph E also talks about looking for life underground, but it describes no project.
- 31. E
**Drastic climatic transformation** is the climate that **transitioned from warm and wet to cold and dry**. Paragraph F also mentions water, but it is about evidence of ancient water, not a change in climate.
- 32. F
**Scientific attempts to locate liquid water** matches **NASA’s recent missions** that **focused on ... liquid water**, and the rovers were designed to find **evidence of ancient liquid water**. Paragraph E is about radiation and where life could survive, not water.
- 33. C
Look for **Lowell** in paragraph A. **Irrigate crops** and **fertile vegetation** are **traces of water and agriculture**, so that option fits. Arizona is just where his observatory was; the passage never says it is perfect. Nothing is said about the canals' width, and he saw no moving creatures.
- 34. B
Paragraph B shows ideas about Mars spreading through **science-fiction** books: Wells's classic and Burroughs's **novels**. These are **literary works**. The radio broadcast is a single event that people mistook for real news, not a way of learning. No real attack happened, and public lectures are never mentioned.
- 35. B
The 1960s probes are in paragraph C, the first images from **Mariner 4**. A **cratered and barren landscape** is a lifeless, unchanging surface, so Mars looked **far less dynamic than Earth**. It was only **more like** the Moon, not made of the same substances. The later missions "revealed little more", not something completely different.
- 36. A
The project in the Atacama Desert shows that **SOLID** **could be used in environments similar to Martian sub-soil** and could **detect** microbes **under comparable conditions**, so it can **explore organisms under Martian-like conditions**. The second option says the opposite. The passage never says the Atacama Desert is the only place, and the researchers did find micro-organisms there.
- 37. NOT GIVEN
The deciding words are **in every field**. The passage says only that the Martians use **highly advanced technology** to **crush human resistance**. It never says they were ahead of humans in every area, so there is not enough information for TRUE or FALSE. The answer is NOT GIVEN.
- 38. FALSE
The deciding word is **never**. Paragraph C ends with the Viking results: **no life was found**. Paragraph D opens by saying the Martian meteorite **raised fresh doubts about the above analysis**, so those results were challenged. The statement says they never were, which contradicts the text, so it is FALSE.
- 39. TRUE
Look at paragraph D, which is about the meteorite. **A substance** is the **magnetite**, and **certain germs** are **certain micro-organisms**. Analysis of the meteorite revealed a magnetite that on Earth appears only with such organisms. The statement matches, so it is TRUE.
- 40. NOT GIVEN
The deciding words are **will be sent to Mars once DNA-based life has been identified on Earth**. Parro says only that if microbes exist on Mars, instruments like SOLID could detect them. A DNA discovery appears separately, in the scenario of the Spanish scientists, and no plan to send the project to Mars is given. The answer is NOT GIVEN.