The Oldest Leather Shoe
Read The Oldest Leather Shoe and check the IELTS Reading answers. Archeologists discovered in 2010 what is said to be the world's oldest known leather shoe. The 5,500-year-old shoe, some 1,000 years older than the Egyptian pyramids, was found by scientists excavating a huge cave, designated Areni-1…
Passage preview
Archeologists discovered in 2010 what is said to be the world's oldest known leather shoe. The 5,500-year-old shoe, some 1,000 years older than the Egyptian pyramids, was found by scientists excavating a huge cave, designated Areni-1, in Armenia near the border of Turkey and Iran. The shoe was part of a treasure trove of artefacts that experts say provide unprecedented information about an important and sparsely documented era: the Chalcolithic period or Copper Age, when humans are believed to have invented the wheel, as well as domesticating horses and producing other important innovations.
Vocabulary from this passage
9 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- a treasure trove of noun phrase
A large, valuable collection of useful or interesting things.
In the passage:
"The shoe was part of a treasure trove of artefacts": a reusable phrase for rich sources of information.
Synonyms: a wealth of, a goldmine of
- be in no doubt that verb phrase
To be completely certain that something is true.
In the passage:
"I am in no doubt that a certain appearance of a shoe meant belonging to a certain tribe": the speaker's strong certainty.
Synonyms: be certain that, be convinced that
Opposites: have serious doubts that
- comprise verb
To make up; to be the parts that form a whole.
In the passage:
"the pieces of leather comprising the shoe": here it means "making up", not "consisting of".
Synonyms: make up, form
Opposites: be divided into
- extremes of temperature noun phrase
The very hot and very cold conditions at both ends of the temperature range.
In the passage:
Q6 says "a great variation in"; the passage says "cope with the extremes of temperature in the region".
Synonyms: great variation in, wide swings in
- it is quite plausible that adjective phrase
It is reasonable and likely to be true that.
In the passage:
"it is quite plausible that Armenia may give us the earliest clue": a cautious claim, not a proven fact (see Q11-13 style statements).
Synonyms: it is quite likely that, it is conceivable that
Opposites: it is highly unlikely that
- rugged adjective
Having a rough, uneven surface that is hard to travel across.
In the passage:
The note before Q6 says the terrain is "rough"; the passage says it is "very rugged and would have been difficult to walk on".
Synonyms: rough, uneven
Opposites: smooth
- sparsely documented adjective phrase
Described in very few written records, so little reliable detail is known.
In the passage:
"an important and sparsely documented era": useful when writing about gaps in evidence.
Synonyms: poorly recorded, little recorded
Opposites: well documented
- stuffed with verb phrase
Filled tightly with a soft or loose material such as grass or straw.
In the passage:
Q5 says "filled with"; the passage says "The shoe had been stuffed with grass".
Synonyms: filled with, packed with
Opposites: emptied of
- unprecedented adjective
Never having happened or existed before.
In the passage:
"provide unprecedented information about an important ... era": marks the discovery as a first.
Synonyms: unparalleled, never before seen
Opposites: commonplace
Answers with explanations
- 1. Innovations
The notes' **various ___, such as horse domestication** matches **domesticating horses and producing other important innovations**. The gap needs a plural noun naming this group of developments, and the passage gives it as **innovations**. The wheel is listed too, but it is one example, not the group.
- 2. Harvest
The notes say storage, **annual** and ceremonial items. The passage says the cave was used for **keeping** ritual objects, as well as their harvest **each year**, so the answer is **harvest**. Fruits are listed in the same paragraph, but they are examples of what was found, not what was kept each year.
- 2-3: Policemen
2: The notes say storage, **annual** and ceremonial items. The passage says the cave was used for **keeping** ritual objects, as well as their harvest **each year**, so the answer is **harvest**. Fruits are listed in the same paragraph, but they are examples of what was found, not what was kept each year.
3: Look for how the shoe was made, in the paragraph about its construction. **Treated with ___ from plants** matches **vegetable oil was applied**: vegetable means from plants, so the gap is **oil**. Take only the word after "vegetable".
- 3. Oil
Look for how the shoe was made, in the paragraph about its construction. **Treated with ___ from plants** matches **vegetable oil was applied**: vegetable means from plants, so the gap is **oil**. Take only the word after "vegetable".
- 3-4: NOT GIVEN
3: Look for how the shoe was made, in the paragraph about its construction. **Treated with ___ from plants** matches **vegetable oil was applied**: vegetable means from plants, so the gap is **oil**. Take only the word after "vegetable".
4: The notes' **held together by** matches **joined using** in the same paragraph. The gap must be something **also made of leather**, and the passage says **leather cords**, so the answer is **cords**. Eyelets and holes are part of the shoe itself, not what holds it together.
- 4. Cords
The notes' **held together by** matches **joined using** in the same paragraph. The gap must be something **also made of leather**, and the passage says **leather cords**, so the answer is **cords**. Eyelets and holes are part of the shoe itself, not what holds it together.
- 5. Grass
**Filled with** becomes **stuffed with**, and **to keep out the cold** becomes **warmth for the wearer**. The thing used was **grass**. The yellow clay in the same paragraph lined the bed of the pit, not the shoe, so it can't fill it.
- 6. Temperature
The notes say the area had **a great variation in** something, and the passage says people had to **cope with the extremes of** the same thing. The next words give the answer: **temperature**. The figures 45°C and -10°C show those extremes.
- 7. Stones
**Travelled widely** is paraphrased as **walking long distances**. Then Dr Areshian gives the proof he found **in the cave**: **stones** that came from at least 120 kilometers away. The notes say "discovered in the cave", which matches "We have found ... in the cave".
- 8. Tribe
**Signify membership of a** becomes **belonging to a certain** group. The expert Blahnik says a certain appearance of a shoe meant belonging to a certain **tribe**. The next sentence says "identity", but the gap needs the word that follows "belonging to a certain".
- 9. TRUE
The deciding phrase is **more than one animal**. The Otzi shoe had **bearskin soles** and **deerskin sides**, so two different animals supplied the leather. The grass socks are plant material and don't count. The statement agrees with the passage, so it is TRUE.
- 10. FALSE
The deciding word is **leather**. The sandals are indeed **older than the leather shoes**, which makes "very early" look right, but they were **made of plant fibers**, not leather. The statement describes them as leather footwear, which the passage contradicts, so it is FALSE.
- 11. TRUE
**Very early use of footwear** matches wearing shoes **40,000** years ago, and **human fossil remains** matches **toe bones found in ... fossils**. The analysis of those bones shows people wore some type of shoe at that date. The statement says the same thing in different words, so it is TRUE.
- 12. NOT GIVEN
The Aran Islands appear only in the last paragraph, where their **pampooties** are said to be **very similar** to the Armenian shoe. The passage never says anyone from the islands travelled to the Near East or traded leather goods, so you can't decide. It is NOT GIVEN.
- 13. FALSE
The deciding phrase is **one specific area of Europe**. Dr Pinhasi says this style was worn for thousands of years across **a large and environmentally diverse region**, and similar shoes were found **across Europe**. A shoe used so widely was not suited to one area only, so the statement is FALSE.