Cambridge ielts 1-15 series reading answers explained

CAMBRIDGE IELTS 9 – TEST 1 – PASSAGE 1
WILLIAM HENRY PERKIN 
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?
QUESTIONS 14—17
: READING PASSAGE 2 HAS FIVE 
PARAGRAPHS,
A-E
. 
14.PARAGRAPH B. 
The main idea of paragraph B is “In discussing whether we are alone, most SETI scientists adopt 
two rules.” Then, the writer details these two rules. The second rule is “a very conservative 
assumption that we are looking for a life form that is pretty well like us”. 
– ground rules = assumptions 
– SETI = the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence 
=>ANSWER: iv 
15.PARAGRAPH C 

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191 
In paragraph C, the writer emphasizes that “our understanding of other life forms is still severely 
limited”, and “we do not know how likely it is that life will arise naturally”. This is followed by some 
guesses about life on other planets: “it seems inconceivable that at least one of these planets does 
not have a life form on it; in fact, the best educated guess we can make,…, leads us to estimate that 
perhaps one in 100,000 stars might have a life-bearing planet orbiting it.” In other words, this 
paragraph is about likelihood of life on other planets. 
– likelihood=best educated guess 
=>ANSWER: vii 
16.PARAGRAPH D 
In this paragraph, the writer says that “An alien civilisation could choose many different ways of 
sending information across the galaxy. It turns out that, for a given amount of transmitted po
wer, 
radio waves in the frequency range 1000 to 3000 MHz travel the greatest distance, and so all 
searches to date have concentrated on looking for radio waves around the world… “. Then, th
e writer gives more details about the project of searching for extra-
terrestrial life. So, paragraph D is about seeking the transmission of radio signals from planets. 
– signals=radio waves 
– seeking=looking for 
=>ANSWER:i 
17.PARAGRAPH E: 
This paragraph details how we should react to a signal from an alien civilisation: “Everybody 
agrees that we should not reply immediately.” Then he explains why we should not reply at
once. Therefore, this paragraph is about appropriate responses to signals from other civilisations. 
– response (n)=reply (v) 
=>ANSWER: ii