Cambridge ielts 1-15 series reading answers explained

TALES
QUESTIONS 27-31: COMPLETE EACH SENTENCE WITH THE 
CORRECT ENDING, A-F, BELOW. 
27. Answer: C
Key words: fairy tales, details, plot
The very first sentence of the passage mentions that: “[…] the same story often takes a variety of 
forms in different parts of the world”. 
Thus, the matching answer is C, and the complete sentence is 
―In fairy tales, details of the plot show 
considerable global variation.‖

global = world 

variation = variety = different 

28. Answer: B
Key words: Tehrani, rejects, useful, lessons, life
Paragraph 2 mentions: “the idea that they contain cautionary messages”. Here, „cautionary messages‟ 
refer to the warnings or lessons for life, such as listening to your mother and avoid talking to strangers. 
This idea may be “what we find interesting” about fairy tales, and why it has survived till this day. 
However, Tehrani‟s research suggests otherwise. Therefore, it can be understood that : 
Tehrani 
rejects the idea that the useful, survival-relevant lessons in fairy tales are the reason for their 
survival.

29. Answer: F
Key words: theories, social, significance, fairy tales
Still in paragraph 2: “That hasn‟t stopped anthropologists, folklorists and other academics devising 
theories to explain the importance of fairy tales in human society”. 
Thus, there are various theories about the social significance of fairy tales devised by various 
academics. However, according to Tehrani, “‟We have this huge gap in our knowledge about the 
history and prehistory of storytelling”, which implies that such theories are developed without full 
knowledge on the topic, i.e. without factual basis. So, the complete sentence is:
Various theories 
about the social significance of fairy tales have been developed without factual basis.

develop = devise 

significance = importance 

social = in society 

factual basis = knowledge 
