Beyond The Blue Horizon — IELTS Reading Answers

“An agricultural worker, digging in the grounds of a derelict plantation, scraped open a grave”

The gap needs the person who uncovered the grave; the passage names an agricultural worker digging on a derelict plantation, which is option B.

“An important archaeological discovery on the island of Efate in the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu has revealed traces of an ancient seafaring people”

The gap needs the island where the discovery occurred; the passage locates it on the island of Efate in Vanuatu, option F.

“They were also pioneers who carried with them everything they would need to build new lives – their livestock, taro seedlings and stone tools.”

The gap describes the settlers' role; the text calls them pioneers who carried livestock, taro seedlings and stone tools, option I.

“Other items included a Lapita burial urn with modeled birds arranged on the rim as though peering down at the human remains sealed inside.”

The gap refers to the part of the urn where modelled birds were placed; the passage says they were arranged on the rim, option G.

“for it conclusively identifies the remains as Lapita.”

The gap is an adverb showing certainty; the passage says the burial urn conclusively identifies the remains as Lapita, option D.

According to the writer, there are difficulties explaining how the Lapita accomplished their journeys because

1. Athe canoes that have been discovered offer relatively few clues.
2. Barchaeologists have shown limited interest in this area of research.
3. Clittle information relating to this period can be relied upon for accuracy.correct
4. Dtechnological advances have altered the way such achievements are viewed.

“No-one has found one of their canoes or any rigging, which could reveal how the canoes were sailed. Nor do the oral histories and traditions of later Polynesians offer any insights, for they turn into myths long before they reach as far back in time as the Lapita.”

With no canoe or rigging found and oral histories decaying into myth before reaching Lapita times, reliable evidence is scarce, which is option C.

According to the sixth paragraph, what was extraordinary about the Lapita?

1. AThey sailed beyond the point where land was visible.correct
2. BTheir cultural heritage discouraged the expression of fear.
3. CThey were able to build canoes that withstood ocean voyages.
4. DTheir navigational skills were passed on from one generation to the next.

“The real adventure didn’t begin, however, until their Lapita descendants sailed out of sight of land, with empty horizons on every side. This must have been as difficult for them as landing on the moon is for us today.”

Their real adventure was sailing out of sight of land with empty horizons on every side, so going beyond visible land is what was extraordinary, option A.

What does ‘This’ refer to in the seventh paragraph?

1. Athe Lapita’s seafaring talent
2. Bthe Lapita’s ability to detect signs of land
3. Cthe Lapita’s extensive knowledge of the region
4. Dthe Lapita’s belief they would be able to return homecorrect

“This is what would have made the whole thing work.”

The pronoun looks back to the belief in a safe return, which the sentence says would have made the whole thing work, option D.

According to the eighth paragraph, how was the geography of the region significant?

1. AIt played an important role in Lapita culture.
2. BIt meant there were relatively few storms at sea.
3. CIt provided a navigational aid for the Lapita.correct
4. DIt made a large number of islands habitable.

“For returning explorers, successful or not, the geography of their own archipelagoes would have provided a safety net.”

The archipelagoes would have provided a safety net for returning explorers, so the geography worked as a navigational aid, option C.

It is now clear that the Lapita could sail into a prevailing wind.

“the Lapita had mastered the advanced art of sailing against the wind. ‘And there’s no proof they could do any such thing,’ Anderson says.”

Anderson says there is no proof they could do any such thing, directly rejecting the claim that sailing into the wind is now established.

Extreme climate conditions may have played a role in Lapita migration.

“El Nino, the same climate disruption that affects the Pacific today, may have helped scatter the Lapita, Anderson suggests.”

El Nino, the same climate disruption affecting the Pacific today, may have helped scatter the Lapita, linking extreme climate to their migration.

The Lapita learnt to predict the duration of El Ninos.

“By reversing the regular east-to-west flow of the trade winds for weeks at a time, these super El Ninos might have taken the Lapita on long unplanned voyages.”

The text says super El Ninos reversed the trade winds for weeks at a time, but never suggests the Lapita could predict how long one would last.

It remains unclear why the Lapita halted their expansion across the Pacific.

“However they did it, the Lapita spread themselves a third of the way across the Pacific, then called it quits for reasons known only to them.”

They stopped for reasons known only to them, which is exactly the admission that the halt in their expansion remains unexplained.

It is likely that the majority of Lapita settled on Fiji.

“They probably never numbered more than a few thousand in total, and in their rapid migration eastward they encountered hundreds of islands – more than 300 in Fiji alone.”

The text mentions more than 300 islands in Fiji alone but gives no figure for how many Lapita settled there, so a majority cannot be inferred.