Review all 40 Cambridge IELTS 16 Academic Test 1 Reading answers with explanations. The texts cover Why we need to protect polar bears, The Step Pyramid of Djoser and The future of work, with True/False/Not Given, summary completion and matching headings among the principal question types.
Test 1 Academic Reading Answers with Clear Explanations
Review all 40 Cambridge IELTS 16 Academic Reading Test 1 answers. Find the supporting passage evidence, understand misleading options and check the word limits before your next timed attempt.
Cambridge IELTS 16 Test 1 Academic Reading Answer Key
Use the key for quick marking, then read the explanations below. A slash separates accepted alternative forms. Where two letters are required, enter both letters across the two question numbers, in either order.
Passage 1: Why we need to protect polar bears
Questions 1 to 13Passage 2: The Step Pyramid of Djoser
Questions 14 to 26Passage 3: The future of work
Questions 27 to 40Passage 1: Why we need to protect polar bears
Questions 1-13. Use the evidence locations below to return to the relevant text and review each answer.
1Polar bears suffer from various health problems due to the build-up of fat under their skin.FALSE
Where to Look: Passage 1.
Why: Humans with this much body fat would risk illness, but polar bears do not have these health problems. The statement wrongly gives the human problem to the bears.
2The study done by Liu and his colleagues compared different groups of polar bears.FALSE
Where to Look: Passage 1.
Why: Liu's team compared polar bears with brown bears, their relatives from a warmer climate. They did not compare several groups of polar bears.
3Liu and colleagues were the first researchers to compare polar bears and brown bears genetically.NOT GIVEN
Where to Look: Passage 1.
Why: The passage describes Liu's genetic comparison of the two kinds of bear. It does not say whether another research team had made this comparison before, so we cannot call his team the first.
4Polar bears are able to control their levels of “bad” cholesterol by genetic means.TRUE
Where to Look: Passage 1.
Why: The researchers found that the APOB gene reduces a harmful type of cholesterol in polar bears. This links their control of cholesterol to their genes.
5Female polar bears are able to survive for about six months without food.TRUE
Where to Look: Passage 1.
Why: Female bears stay in their dens through winter and use their own stored energy to keep themselves and their cubs alive. The passage says this period without eating lasts about six months.
6It was found that the bones of female polar bears were very weak when they came out of their dens in spring.FALSE
Where to Look: Passage 1.
Why: The females came out of their dens without a significant loss of bone density. Their bones stayed strong, which contradicts the claim that they were very weak.
7The polar bear’s mechanism for increasing bone density could also be used by people one day.TRUE
Where to Look: Passage 1.
Why: The writer says that understanding how polar bears maintain their bones could help people who must stay in bed and astronauts. This is a possible future medical use, rather than a treatment already available.
8People think of bears as unintelligent and ____.violent
Where to Look: Passage 1.
Why: The writer describes the common view of bears as stupid and, in many cases, violent. The missing word names the second negative quality in this view, so use the adjective violent.
9In Tennoji Zoo, a bear has been seen using a branch as a ____.tool
Where to Look: Passage 1.
Why: GoGo used a branch to change something in his surroundings: he knocked down food he could not reach. The branch therefore acted as a tool, rather than simply something to play with.
10This allowed him to knock down some ____.meat
Where to Look: Passage 1.
Why: The food hanging beyond GoGo's reach was a piece of meat. He used the branch to knock it down, so meat completes what he obtained.
11A wild polar bear worked out a method of reaching a platform where a ____ was located.photographer
Where to Look: Passage 1.
Why: The wild bear jumped onto barrels while trying to reach someone on a high platform. That person was a photographer, so the gap needs this word for the person's job.
12Polar bears have displayed behaviour such as conscious manipulation of objects and activity similar to a ____.game
Where to Look: Passage 1.
Why: Ames saw bears pile objects up and knock them down in an activity that looked like play. The passage compares this activity to a game, which fits after a in the sentence.
13They may make movements suggesting ____ if disappointed when hunting.frustration
Where to Look: Passage 1.
Why: Bears sometimes strike ice and snow after failing to catch an animal. The writer suggests that these movements express frustration at the failed hunt.
Passage 2: The Step Pyramid of Djoser
Questions 14-26. Use the evidence locations below to return to the relevant text and review each answer.
14Paragraph Aiv - A single certainty among other less definite facts
Where to Look: Passage 2, paragraph A.
Why: Paragraph A mentions long debate about how pyramids developed, then identifies one point that is certain: Egypt's pyramid tradition began with Djoser's monument. Heading iv captures this contrast between uncertainty and one clear fact.
15Paragraph Bvii - An idea for changing the design of burial structures
Where to Look: Passage 2, paragraph B.
Why: Paragraph B explains Imhotep's idea of stacking smaller stone layers to make a taller tomb. Heading vii describes this new design for a burial structure.
16Paragraph Cii - A difficult task for those involved
Where to Look: Passage 2, paragraph C.
Why: Paragraph C describes repeated changes to the plans and the problem of supporting the pyramid's enormous weight. These construction difficulties make heading ii the best summary.
17Paragraph Dv - An overview of the external buildings and areas
Where to Look: Passage 2, paragraph D.
Why: Paragraph D surveys the whole complex, including its temple, courtyards, wall, doors and surrounding trench. Heading v covers these outside buildings and areas, rather than the objects inside the tomb.
18Paragraph Ei - The areas and artefacts within the pyramid itself
Where to Look: Passage 2, paragraph E.
Why: Paragraph E describes the underground burial chamber, passages, rooms and thousands of stone vessels. Heading i brings together the internal spaces and the objects found there.
19Paragraph Fviii - An incredible experience despite the few remains
Where to Look: Passage 2, paragraph F.
Why: Paragraph F says that thieves removed most valuables, but what remained still amazed the archaeologists. Heading viii captures their strong reaction despite the limited remains.
20Paragraph Gvi - A pyramid design that others copied
Where to Look: Passage 2, paragraph G.
Why: Paragraph G explains that the Step Pyramid became the model followed by later Egyptian pyramid builders. Heading vi focuses on this influence on later designs.
21The complex that includes the Step Pyramid and its surroundings is considered to be as big as an Egyptian ____ of the past.city
Where to Look: Passage 2, paragraph D.
Why: Paragraph D compares the size of the whole complex with a city in ancient Egypt. The gap asks for the thing used in this size comparison, so the one-word answer is city.
22The area outside the pyramid included accommodation that was occupied by ____, along with many other buildings and features.priests
Where to Look: Passage 2.
Why: The complex included living quarters for the priests as well as religious buildings and courtyards. Priests identifies the people who occupied this accommodation.
23In addition, a long ____ encircled the wall.trench
Where to Look: Passage 2.
Why: A long, wide trench ran around the wall of the complex. The gap asks for the feature outside the wall, so use trench rather than the wall itself.
24Visitors needed to know the ____ of the real entrance.location
Where to Look: Passage 2.
Why: Most doors were false, so visitors had to know where the one real opening was before arriving. Location is the passage's word for where that entrance could be found.
25Which TWO of the following points does the writer make about King Djoser?B + D (Either Order)
Where to Look: Passage 2, paragraphs B and F.
Why: Paragraph B gives different estimates of how long Djoser ruled, which supports B. Paragraph F says archaeologists found a few valuables that thieves had missed, which supports D; both points are needed for this pair.
26Which TWO of the following points does the writer make about King Djoser?B + D (Either Order)
Where to Look: Passage 2, paragraphs B and F.
Why: Paragraph B gives different estimates of how long Djoser ruled, which supports B. Paragraph F says archaeologists found a few valuables that thieves had missed, which supports D; both points are needed for this pair.
Passage 3: The future of work
Questions 27-40. Use the evidence locations below to return to the relevant text and review each answer.
27The first paragraph tells us aboutB - the extent to which AI will alter the nature of the work that people do.
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: The opening paragraph says some workers will change occupations and all workers will need to adapt as machines develop. B summarises how widely AI will change people's work; the percentages are not the share who will work in AI.
28According to the second paragraph, what is Stella Pachidi’s view of the “knowledge economy”?D - It is a key factor driving current developments in the workplace.
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: Pachidi identifies jobs based on data as an area where some of the most important changes are happening. This supports D's focus on current workplace developments, rather than a claim that production is declining.
29What did Pachidi observe at the telecommunications company?C - staff making sure that AI produces the results that they want
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: Pachidi saw workers enter false data so that the algorithm helped them reach their own targets. C describes this effort to obtain the results they wanted from AI.
30In his recently published research, Ewan McGaugheyD - illustrates how changes in the job market can be successfully handled.
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: McGaughey accepts that change can remove jobs, but says retraining and moving people into other work can deal with this. D reflects his focus on ways to manage changes in employment successfully.
31Jobs which rely not on production but on ____.G - information
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: Pachidi defines the knowledge economy as work that depends on data rather than production. Information, option G, expresses the same meaning as data in this summary.
32Pachidi observed a growing ____ on the recommendations made by AI.E - reliance
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: Workers begin to follow the algorithm's instructions and depend on its view of the work. Reliance, option E, means this growing dependence on AI's recommendations.
33Staff are deterred from experimenting and using their own ____.C - intuition
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: The passage says that following the algorithm discourages experiments and progress based on human instinct. Intuition, option C, refers to that personal sense of what may work.
34Researchers are trying to increase users’ ____ with regard to the technology.F - confidence
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: Researchers want AI decisions to be more trustworthy and easier for people to understand. This would increase users' confidence, option F, in the technology.
35Greater levels of automation will not result in lower employment.B - Hamish Low
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: Low argues that predictions of fewer jobs wrongly assume the total number of jobs stays fixed. His example shows the total growing even when robots take over some work, so B is the matching person.
36There are several reasons why AI is appealing to businesses.A - Stella Pachidi
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: Pachidi lists several business aims: better information for decisions, lower costs and greater productivity. These are the reasons AI attracts organisations, so choose A.
37AI’s potential to transform people’s lives has parallels with major cultural shifts which occurred in previous eras.C - Ewan McGaughey
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: McGaughey compares the coming changes with the industrial and corporate revolutions. These comparisons with earlier major changes in society identify C.
38It is important to be aware of the range of problems that AI causes.A - Stella Pachidi
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: Pachidi says we must understand the problems involving expertise, boundaries between jobs and control. This warning about several kinds of difficulty belongs to A.
39People are going to follow a less conventional career path than in the past.B - Hamish Low
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: Low expects people to move between learning, different jobs and chosen periods without work throughout life. This differs from the old education-work-retirement sequence, so B matches the less conventional career path.
40Authorities should take measures to ensure that there will be adequately paid work for everyone.C - Ewan McGaughey
Where to Look: Passage 3.
Why: McGaughey calls on governments and other leaders to prepare policies that protect full employment and fair incomes. C therefore matches action by authorities to provide work with adequate pay.
Using This Reading Answer Key
Is This the Academic or General Training Test?
This page covers Cambridge IELTS 16 Academic Reading Test 1. Academic and GT Reading use different texts and answer keys, so check the track before marking.
How Should I Review a Wrong Answer?
Return to the evidence location and compare the exact meaning, not just matching words. Check spelling and word limits. For NOT GIVEN, identify the information the text does not supply.
How Do I Estimate My Band?
Count one mark for each correct answer, then consult the Reading Band Score Guide. Academic and GT use different raw-score conversions, and an estimate is not an official IELTS result.
What to Do After Marking
Group your errors by misunderstanding, distractors, spelling and instructions. Review the difficult section, then try another complete test to check whether your accuracy improves.