How Archaeologists Made Some Exciting Discoveries In Southeast Turkey — IELTS Reading Answers

Section A

“However, its construction has also provided a great opportunity to learn about the past of this region, because when the dam was proposed in the early 1990s, the government invited teams of local and international archaeologists to work in the Tigris valley upstream of Ilisu to recover as much as they could before the...”

Heading vii fits Section A: the dam gave archaeologists a chance 'to recover as much as they could before the dam was completed'.

Section B

“Tušhan was a provincial centre which guarded the northern border of the mighty Assyrian Empire for almost 300 years (882–611 BCE)”

Heading v matches Section B's description of Tušhan as 'a provincial centre which guarded the northern border' for almost 300 years.

Section C

“It includes a mass of information on the governor's palace at Tušhan, which sat on the eastern side of the high mound. It was built under King Ashurnasirpal II, who boasted about its construction in an inscription found not far away.”

Heading iv covers Section C's detailed account of the governor's palace, its painted walls, heated reception suite and tiled bathrooms.

Section D

“This building was the commercial and administrative centre of Tušhan”

Heading viii fits Section D, which calls the building 'the commercial and administrative centre of Tušhan'.

Section E

“The frontier character of the city, which stood on the border with hostile Shubria, is clear from the massive fortifications which surrounded both the high mound and the lower town. The mudbrick city wall was two kilometres long and almost three metres thick, with a substantial ditch in front of it.”

Heading i matches Section E's focus on the city's 'massive fortifications', including a two-kilometre mudbrick wall and ditch.

Section F

“Now Tušhan faces another threat, as the water from the Ilisu Dam advances along the same route as that used by the Medes and Babylonians 2,600 years ago”

Heading iii fits Section F's warning that Tušhan 'faces another threat' from the advancing dam water.

“Over many seasons, the excavation team uncovered a series of sizeable structures, all set around large courtyards paved with beautiful black and white mosaics made of thousands of small, plain black or white pebbles collected from local river beds”

The courtyards were 'paved with beautiful black and white mosaics', the plural noun the summary needs.

“The entrance chamber to this building yielded hundreds of tiny tokens in a range of forms standing for different numbers and commodities”

The entrance chamber 'yielded hundreds of tiny tokens', the plural noun the summary requires.

“These are thought to have been used for keeping records as merchandise and people passed in and out”

The tokens were 'used for keeping records as merchandise and people passed in and out', the plural noun.

“These include lists of different personnel, but most concern the movement of barley”

The tablets mostly 'concern the movement of barley', the noun for the grain recorded.

What do we learn about the ancient city of Tušhan?

1. AIt was built in an area which the Assyrians had taken over.correct
2. BIt was an impressive city the same size as Nineveh.
3. CIt was situated in the middle of the northern region of Assyria.
4. DIt was inhabited mainly by Assyrian soldiers and their families.

“Tušhan was home not just to Assyrian settlers, but to deportees from all over the empire, who had been uprooted from their homelands as a further means of subjugation”

Option A fits: Tušhan held 'deportees from all over the empire', people uprooted from lands the Assyrians had taken over.

Why do archaeologists consider the burials under the palace significant?

1. AAssyrian cremations did not generally include any bronze bowls.
2. BThey indicate that some governors may have been foreigners.correct
3. CThe furniture that was found there was unusual for the period.
4. DThey were the only bodies that were excavated in Tušhan.

“Intriguingly, cremation was not an Assyrian practice and these burials suggest that Tušhan's ruling elite had either adopted local customs, or were not themselves Assyrians”

Option B follows from the note that 'cremation was not an Assyrian practice', suggesting the elite 'were not themselves Assyrians'.

In Section F, what conclusion does the writer come to?

1. AIt is clear that Tušhan will soon be completely under water.
2. BEverything is now known about the history of the Tušhan area.
3. COther cities will be researched through the Ziyaret Tepe project.
4. DIt is likely that documents will be the only source of information on Tušhan.correct

“but even though its physical remains may be lost, along with the other Ilisu sites, there is some consolation in the fact that a rich record of the town of Tušhan, some of its history, its people and way of life, is now preserved in the archives and publications of the Ziyaret Tepe project”

Option D matches the conclusion that although remains may be lost, a rich record survives 'in the archives and publications of the Ziyaret Tepe project'.