Cambridge IELTS 11, Test 4, Reading Passage 3: This Marvellous Invention, Solution With Answer Key
This Marvellous Invention Passage Solution with Answer Key – Cambridge IELTS 11 Test 4 Reading Passage 3. Here we will discuss detailed explanation of all the questions of the passage. Here is step by step Solution with Tips and Strategies. This post is for educational purpose only. If you find difficulties in reading passage to find the right answer in the exam, just read the post carefully. Tips and strategies will help you find the right answer.
This Marvellous Invention
IELTS Reading Passage Solution
IELTS Cambridge 11, Test 4 Academic Reading Module, Reading Passage 3
PASSAGE 3: This Marvellous Invention (View Full Passage Here)
Questions 27-32: (List of headings/ Matching Headlines)
** Tips (link details): How To Solve List of Heading in IELTS Reading Passage
Question 27: Paragraph A
Now, in paragraph A, we find two different lines which confirm our answer. The first line is line no. 1 which says, “Of all mankind’s manifold creations, language must take pride of place.” The second line is line no. 3 which says, “… Compared to language, all other inventions pale in significance, since … … . .” These two lines explain that language is the best invention of all.
Answer: vi (Why language is the most important invention of all)
Question 28: Paragraph B
Now, in paragraph B, again, the first and last lines give us the answer. Line 1 & 2 says, “.. . . . In its own right it is a tool of extraordinary sophistication, yet based on an idea of ingenious simplicity: . . ..” Here, the writer gives us the impression that language is something that is special (extraordinary sophistication) yet it is of an idea which may surprise us because of the creative simplicity (ingenious simplicity), and this is why it is incompatible or mismatched. Also, take a look at the last lines, “Language is mankind’s greatest invention – except, of course, that it was never invented. This apparent paradox is at the core of our fascination with language, and it holds many of its secrets.”
Here, paradox = irony or contradiction or mismatched.
Answer: iv (Apparently incompatible characteristics of language)
Question 29: Paragraph C
Now, in paragraph C, first, the writer asks in line 2-3, “How else could this instrument make so much out of barely three dozen measly morsels of sound?” Then, we find in the next few lines the explanations of how the alphabets or letters work out by arranging themselves to make perfect sounds that can be conveyed into a language. “In themselves, these configurations of mouth – p, f, b, v, t, d, k, sh, a, e and so on – amount to nothing .. . . . . . But run them through the cogs and wheels of the language machine, let it arrange them in some very special orders, and there is nothing that these meaningless streams of air cannot do: from sighing the interminable boredom of existence to unravelling the fundamental order of the universe.”
Here, barely three dozen measly morsels of sound = a few sounds
Answer: ii (The way in which a few sounds are organised to convey a huge range of meaning)
Question 30: Paragraph D
Now, in paragraph D, the writer talks about the universal or worldwide or common ability to use language “The language machine allows just about everybody – from pre-modern foragers in the subtropical savannah, to post-modern philosophers in the suburban sprawl – to tie these meaningless sounds together into an infinite variety of subtle senses, and all apparently without the slightest exertion.” This means that
language is universal to use.
Answer: vii (The universal ability to use language)
Question 31: Paragraph E
Now, in paragraph E, the writer states, “Often, it is the only estrangement of foreign tongues, with their many exotic and outlandish features, that brings home the wonder of language’s design.” This means the more a language is different from other language, the more it becomes impressive. The writer also provides the example of a Turkish word of outstanding length that takes a whole sentence to utter in English.
Answer: i (Differences between languages highlight their impressiveness)
Question 32: Paragraph F
Now, in paragraph F, the answer is found in lines 8-9, “… . . . . even the absence of a sound has been enlisted to express something specific.”
Here, the absence of a sound = silence, specific = meaningful;
Answer: v (Even silence can be meaningful)
Questions 33-36: (Summary completion with the given list of words)
** Tips (link details): How To Solve Completing Summaries with and without a Wordlist in IELTS Reading Module?
Title of the summary: The importance of language
Question 33 and 34: The wheel is one invention that has had a major impact on __________ aspects of life, but no impact has been as _________ as that of language.
Keywords: wheel, invention, impact, aspects
Now, in paragraph A, the writer states about the inventions like wheel, “Other inventions – the wheel, agriculture, sliced bread – may have transformed our material existence, but the advent of language is what made us human. Compared to language, all other inventions pale in significance, since everything we have ever achieved depends on language and originates from it.”
These lines suggest that the invention of wheel has had a major impact on material aspects of life, but such impacts has not been as significant or fundamental as that of language, because all other inventions save originated from language.
Answers: 33. E (material); 34. G (fundamental);
Question 35: Language is very _________, yet composed of just a small number of sounds.
Keywords: composed, small number of sounds
Now, at the beginning of paragraph B, the author states, “In its own right it is a tool of extraordinary sophistication, yet based on an idea of ingenious simplicity: .. .. .” Then in the next lines, the writer talks about the limitation of numbers of sounds, “… this marvelous invention of composing out of twenty-five or thirty sounds that infinite variety of expression . . . .. “
These lines suggest that language is sophisticated or complex but it comes out of only a few sounds.
Answer: B (complex)
Question 36: Language appears to be ________ to use. However, its sophistication is often overlooked.
Keywords: appears, sophistication, overlooked
Now, in paragraph D, lines 5-9, the author says, “.. . .. Yet it is precisely this deceptive ease which makes language a victim of its own success since in everyday life its triumphs are usually taken for granted. The wheels of language run so smoothly that one rarely bothers to stop and think about all the resourcefulness and expertise that must have gone into making it tick.” The lines suggest that language provides us ease, and this ease has made people think very little about how sophisticated a language is or how it is being constructed.
Answer: F (easy)
Questions 36-40 (YES/NO/NOT GIVEN):
** Tips (link details): How To Solve Yes, No, Not Given Question in IELTS Reading Module?
Question 37: Human beings might have achieved their present position without language.
Keywords: human beings, present position, without language
Now, in paragraph 1, in the end, “Without language, we could never have embarked on our ascent to unparalleled power over all other animals, and even over nature itself.”
So, the statement directly contradicts with the passage.
Answer: NO
Question 38: The Port-Royal grammarians did justice to the nature of language.
Keywords: Port-Royal grammarians, did justice,
Now, in paragraph B, “. . .. This was how, in 1660, the renowned French grammarians of the Port-Royal abbey near Versailles distilled the essence of language, and no one since has celebrated more eloquently the magnitude of its achievement.”
The lines suggest that the Port-Royal grammarians have most eloquently or beautifully described the essence or nature of language. So, surely they did justice to the nature of language.
Answer: YES
Question 39: A complex idea can be explained more clearly in a sentence than in a single word.
Keywords: complex idea, clearly, sentence
Now, we do not find any such statement as to whether a complex idea can be described more easily or clearly than in a single word. The writer refers to the long Turkish word on paragraph E to explain that one word can be expressed to clarify a big sentence.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Question 40: The Sumerians were responsible for starting the recording of events.
Keywords: Sumerians, recording events
Now, in paragraph F, the writer states, “And if that sounds like some one-off freak, then consider Sumerian, the language spoken on the banks of the Euphrates some 5,000 years ago by the people who invented writing and thus enabled the documentation of history.” So, the statement suggests clearly that the Sumerians invented writing and documentation of history.
Answer: YES
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Answer Key – This Marvellous Invention
Cambridge IELTS 11 Test 4 Answer Key, Reading Passage 3
This Marvellous Invention Reading Passage Answers Keys
Passage 3
27. vi
28. iv
29. ii
30. vii
31. i
32. v
33. E
34. G
35. B
36. F
37. NO
38. YES
39. NOT GIVEN
40. YES
