Cambridge IELTS 4 · Academic · Test 3 · Passage 2
Volcanoes – Earth-shattering News — IELTS Reading Answers
All 13 answers for Volcanoes – Earth-shattering News, Cambridge IELTS 4 Academic Reading Test 3 Passage 2, with the passage evidence and an explanation for each.
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Volcanoes – Earth-shattering News answer key at a glance
Questions 14–26. Tap an answer to see the evidence.
What this passage tests
This passage is tested with Matching Headings (Q14–17), Short Answers (Q18–21), Summary Completion (Q22–26). Each section below gives the strategy for that question type, the answers, and the sentence that proves them.
Questions 14–17: Matching Headings
Strategy: Read the paragraph first and summarise its main idea in five words. Choose the heading that matches the whole paragraph, not a repeated keyword.
Section A
“Vulcanism, the name given to volcanic processes, really has shaped the world. Eruptions have rifted continents, raised mountain chains, constructed islands and shaped the topography of the earth Volcanoes have not only made the continents,”
Section A explains that vulcanism 'really has shaped the world', rifting continents, raising mountains and building islands — heading iii.
Section B
“The flow, thought to be in the form of convection currents, is powerful enough to fracture the 'eggshell' of the crust into plates, and keep them bumping and grinding against each other, or even overlapping, at the rate of a few centimetres a year.”
Section B describes convection currents fracturing the crust into plates that bump and grind, causing earthquakes and volcanoes — heading i.
Section C
“Every eruption is different Sometimes it is slow Sometimes - as in Northern Ireland, Wales and the Karoo in South Africa - the magma rose faster Sometimes the magma moves very swiftly indeed”
Section C stresses that 'every eruption is different', varying from slow magma movement to swift, explosive surges — heading iv.
Section D
“But volcanoes are not very predictable. That is because geological time is not like human time”
Section D says volcanoes 'are not very predictable' because 'geological time is not like human time' — heading vi.
Questions 18–21: Short Answers
Strategy: Use the question word to predict the answer type, locate the relevant sentence, and copy no more words than the limit allows.
What are the sections of the earth's crust, often associated with volcanic activity, called?
“tectonic plates - the plates which make up the earth's crust and mantle”
The answer needs the term for crust sections: 'tectonic plates — the plates which make up the earth's crust and mantle'.
What is the name given to molten rock from the mantle?
“magma - molten rock from the mantle -”
The glossary defines 'magma — molten rock from the mantle', exactly the term the question asks for.
What is the earthquake zone on the Pacific Ocean called?
“The most dramatic of these is the Pacific 'ring of fire' where there have been the most violent explosions - Mount Pinatubo near Manila, Mount St Helen's in the Rockies and El Chichón in Mexico about a decade ago, not to mention world-shaking blasts like Krakatoa in the Sunda Straits in 1883”
The Pacific earthquake zone is called the Pacific 'ring of fire', where the most violent explosions have occurred.
For how many years did Mount Pinatubo remain inactive?
“In the case of Mount Pinatubo, this took 600 years”
Pinatubo's dormancy lasted '600 years' before it erupted again, according to the case described.
Questions 22–26: Summary Completion
Strategy: Read the summary as a paragraph first to establish the logic, then locate the missing idea in the passage. With a lettered list, confirm the grammar fits.
“Volcanoes have not only made the continents, they are also thought to have made the world's first stable atmosphere and provided all the water for the oceans, rivers and ice-caps”
Volcanoes 'provided all the water for the oceans, rivers and ice-caps', so water fills the summary gap.
“Sometimes it is slow: vast bubbles of magma - molten rock from the mantle - inch towards the surface, cooling slowly, to show through as granite extrusions”
The gap needs the surface material: slowly cooling magma that reaches the surface emerges as lava, forming granite extrusions.
“Sometimes - as in Northern Ireland, Wales and the Karoo in South Africa - the magma rose faster, and then flowed out horizontally on to the surface in vast thick sheets.”
The gap needs the location of the Deccan plateau's vast lava flows: 'in the Deccan plateau in western India' there are over two million cubic kilometres.
“Sometimes the magma moves very swiftly indeed. It does not have time to cool as it surges upwards. The gases trapped inside the boiling rock expand suddenly, the lava glows with heat, it begins to froth, and it explodes with tremendous force”
The gap needs the verb for what frothing lava does: 'it begins to froth, and it explodes with tremendous force'.
“The gases trapped inside the boiling rock expand suddenly, the lava glows with heat, it begins to froth, and it explodes with tremendous force”
The gap needs what expands inside the boiling rock: 'the gases trapped inside the boiling rock expand suddenly'.
Learn the question types in this passage
Frequently asked questions
Where does the Volcanoes – Earth-shattering News passage come from?
It is Passage 2 of Cambridge IELTS 4 Academic Reading Test 3, and it covers Questions 14–26.
What question types appear in Volcanoes – Earth-shattering News?
The passage is tested with Matching Headings, Short Answers, Summary Completion. Each type is explained on this page, alongside the answers.
Are these reading answers reliable?
Every answer is paired with the sentence that proves it, so you can check each one against the passage yourself. Use the page after a timed attempt, not instead of one.
Cambridge IELTS is published by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Band9Prep is not affiliated with Cambridge. This page is an independent study aid: it gives the answer key, the passage evidence and an explanation so you can review an attempt you have already made.