All answers on this page include the question number, correct answer and a brief explanation of where to find it in the passage or audio. Use these alongside the original Cambridge IELTS books for the best practice experience.
Test 2 Academic Reading Answers with Clear Explanations
Review all 40 Cambridge IELTS 17 Academic Reading Test 2 answers. Find the supporting passage evidence, understand misleading options and check the word limits before your next timed attempt.
Cambridge IELTS 17 Test 2 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: The Dead Sea Scrolls
Questions 1 to 13Passage 2: A second attempt at domesticating the tomato
Questions 14 to 26Passage 3: Insight or evolution?
Questions 27 to 40Passage 1: The Dead Sea Scrolls
Questions 1-13. Use the evidence locations below to return to the relevant text and review each answer.
1Heard a noise of breaking when one teenager threw a ____.rock
Where to Look: Passage 1, opening discovery
Why: One shepherd threw a rock into an opening and heard something shatter. Rock is the thrown object, while the jars were discovered only after the teenagers entered.
2Teenagers went into the ____ and found a number of containers.cave
Where to Look: Passage 1, opening discovery
Why: The teenagers entered the cave and found large jars. The cliff describes the surrounding landscape, but cave is the enclosed place they went into.
3The containers were made of ____.clay
Where to Look: Passage 1, containers
Why: The jars are described as clay. The question asks for their material rather than their contents, so scrolls would not fit.
4The scrolls are thought to have been written by a group of people known as the ____.Essenes
Where to Look: Passage 1, proposed authors
Why: The prevailing theory links the scrolls with the Essenes, a Jewish sect living in the area. The text presents this as a theory, not an undisputed identification.
5They were written mainly in the ____ language.Hebrew
Where to Look: Passage 1, languages
Why: Most texts are in Hebrew. Aramaic and Greek also appear, but mainly asks for the majority language rather than any language found in the collection.
6The Bedouin teenagers who found the scrolls were disappointed by how little money they received for them.NOT GIVEN
Where to Look: Passage 1, sale by the teenagers
Why: The scrolls sold for a small sum, but the teenagers' feelings are not reported. A low price does not establish that they were disappointed.
7There is agreement among academics about the origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls.FALSE
Where to Look: Passage 1, debate about origins
Why: The origin remains a subject of scholarly debate. A prevailing theory is not universal agreement, so the claim of agreement among academics is contradicted.
8Most of the books of the Bible written on the scrolls are incomplete.TRUE
Where to Look: Passage 1, biblical manuscripts
Why: Isaiah is the only entire biblical book preserved in the collection. The other biblical books survive as fragments, confirming that most are incomplete.
9The information on the Copper Scroll is written in an unusual way.TRUE
Where to Look: Passage 1, Copper Scroll wording
Why: The Copper Scroll uses unconventional vocabulary and unusual spelling. Those descriptions directly support the claim that its information is written in an unusual way.
10Mar Samuel was given some of the scrolls as a gift.FALSE
Where to Look: Passage 1, Mar Samuel's acquisition
Why: Mar Samuel paid less than $100 for four scrolls. A purchase is not a gift, so the statement conflicts with the account.
11In the early 1950s, a number of educational establishments in the US were keen to buy scrolls from Mar Samuel.FALSE
Where to Look: Passage 1, attempts to sell in the US
Why: Mar Samuel offered the scrolls to universities unsuccessfully before advertising them. This contradicts the claim that several educational institutions were keen to buy them.
12The scroll that was pieced together in 2017 contains information about annual occasions in the Qumran area 2,000 years ago.TRUE
Where to Look: Passage 1, 2017 reconstruction
Why: The reconstructed text identifies seasonal celebrations and two annual religious events. Those are recurring occasions in the community that used the ancient calendar.
13Academics at the University of Haifa are currently researching how to decipher the final scroll.NOT GIVEN
Where to Look: Passage 1, final untranslated scroll
Why: The passage says one known scroll remains untranslated. It does not identify who is currently working on it, so the Haifa researchers' earlier success does not prove this claim.
Passage 2: A second attempt at domesticating the tomato
Questions 14-26. Use the evidence locations below to return to the relevant text and review each answer.
14a reference to a type of tomato that can resist a dangerous infectionC - Section C
Where to Look: Passage 2, Section C
Why: The Chinese team created a strain resistant to bacterial spot race, a disease that can devastate yields. This is the specific infection-resistant tomato requested.
15an explanation of how problems can arise from focusing only on a certain type of tomato plantB - Section B
Where to Look: Passage 2, Section B
Why: Selecting a single mutated plant for breeding reduces genetic diversity and can retain undesirable traits. The section explains the problems caused by narrowing the breeding population.
16a number of examples of plants that are not cultivated at present but could be useful as food sourcesE - Section E
Where to Look: Passage 2, Section E
Why: The final section lists foxtail, oat-grass and cowpea as possible targets for bringing plants into wider food production. This is the passage's list of prospective food sources.
17a comparison between the early domestication of the tomato and more recent researchA - Section A
Where to Look: Passage 2, Section A
Why: The opening contrasts at least 3,000 years of early domestication with less than three years for recent teams. It also compares the nutritional outcomes of the old and new approaches.
18a personal reaction to the flavour of a tomato that has been genetically editedC - Section C
Where to Look: Passage 2, Section C
Why: Kudla describes the edited tomatoes as tasty, strong and aromatic. This is a personal response to their flavour rather than a measurement of nutritional content.
19Domestication of certain plants could allow them to adapt to future environmental challenges.B - Caixia Gao
Where to Look: Passage 2, Gao in Section E
Why: Gao suggests selecting heat- or drought-tolerant wild plants to create crops suited to a warmer planet. That directly links domestication with future environmental challenges.
20The idea of growing and eating unusual plants may not be accepted on a large scale.D - Jonathan Jones
Where to Look: Passage 2, Jones in Section E
Why: Jonathan Jones doubts that unfamiliar foods will become popular enough with farmers and consumers to become staples. The concern is widespread acceptance rather than whether editing is possible.
21It is not advisable for the future direction of certain research to be made public.A - Jorg Kudla
Where to Look: Passage 2, Kudla at the end
Why: Kudla withholds the species his team plans to investigate because skilled competitors could reproduce the work easily. This supports keeping future research targets private.
22Present efforts to domesticate one wild fruit are limited by the costs involved.C - Joyce Van Eck
Where to Look: Passage 2, Van Eck in Section D
Why: Van Eck says further groundcherry work would be costly because of technology licences and regulatory approval. The limitation is financial rather than an absence of promising results.
23Humans only make use of a small proportion of the plant food available on Earth.A - Jorg Kudla
Where to Look: Passage 2, Kudla in Section A
Why: Kudla contrasts 50,000 edible plants with the fifteen crops supplying most human energy. The figures support his point that people rely on only a small part of the available plant food.
24An undesirable trait such as loss of ____ may be caused by a mutation in a tomato gene.flavour / flavor
Where to Look: Passage 2, Section B
Why: Supermarket tomato strains are given as an example of losing flavour during selection for desirable traits. Copy flavour from the passage. The live test also accepts the spelling flavor.
25By modifying one gene in a tomato plant, researchers made the tomato three times its original ____.size
Where to Look: Passage 2, Section C, FRUIT WEIGHT
Why: Editing the FRUIT WEIGHT gene tripled fruit size. A separate gene increased the number per truss, so size and number must not be confused.
26A type of tomato which was not badly affected by ____, and was rich in vitamin C, was produced by a team of researchers in China.salt
Where to Look: Passage 2, Section C, Chinese strains
Why: One Chinese strain tolerates salt better and contains more vitamin C. The bacterial disease belongs to a different strain described just before it.
Passage 3: Insight or evolution?
Questions 27-40. Use the evidence locations below to return to the relevant text and review each answer.
27The purpose of the first paragraph is toD - outline a common assumption.
Where to Look: Passage 3, first main paragraph
Why: The writers begin by outlining the common belief that discoveries come from genius and sudden insight. Their criticism follows afterwards, so the opening primarily states the assumption.
28What are the writers doing in the second paragraph?A - criticising an opinion
Where to Look: Passage 3, second main paragraph
Why: The writers concede limited truth to that belief but say it largely misrepresents discovery. They are criticising an opinion rather than yet explaining their full alternative model.
29In the third paragraph, what do the writers suggest about Darwin and Einstein?A - They represent an exception to a general rule.
Where to Look: Passage 3, third main paragraph
Why: Darwin and Einstein are set aside as celebrated exceptional figures before the writers describe innovation more generally as trial and error. This makes A the closest option in context.
30John Nicholson is an example of a person whose ideaC - laid the foundations for someone else’s breakthrough.
Where to Look: Passage 3, Nicholson and Bohr
Why: Although Nicholson's proto-elements were imaginary, his atomic ideas helped Bohr develop a successful model. The example shows one person's work laying foundations for another's breakthrough.
31What is the key point of interest about the “acey-deucy” stirrup placement?A - the simple reason why it was invented
Where to Look: Passage 3, Westrope's stirrups
Why: Westrope changed his stirrups because an injury prevented full bending of one knee. The speed benefit was incidental, making the ordinary practical reason more important than planned research or foresight.
32Acknowledging people such as Plato or da Vinci as geniuses will help us understand the process by which great minds create new ideas.NO
Where to Look: Passage 3, discussion of genius labels
Why: The writers say terms such as genius label achievements without explaining their development. Calling Plato or Leonardo a genius therefore does not supply the understanding claimed.
33The Law of Effect was discovered at a time when psychologists were seeking a scientific reason why creativity occurs.NOT GIVEN
Where to Look: Passage 3, introduction of the Law of Effect
Why: The passage names Thorndike and gives a date, but does not describe what psychologists collectively were seeking at that time. The historical motivation is therefore not given.
34The Law of Effect states that no planning is involved in the behaviour of organisms.YES
Where to Look: Passage 3, variation and selection
Why: The Law of Effect is described as a mechanical process operating without an end objective. Within the writers' account, this supports the statement about the absence of planning.
35The Law of Effect sets out clear explanations about the sources of new ideas and behaviours.NO
Where to Look: Passage 3, remaining research questions
Why: The origin of the raw material on which the Law of Effect acts is said to be unclear. That contradicts the claim that the law clearly explains the sources of novel ideas.
36Many scientists are now turning away from the notion of intelligent design and genius.NOT GIVEN
Where to Look: Passage 3, final recommendation
Why: The writers recommend abandoning notions of intelligent design and genius. They do not report how many other scientists are already doing so. A recommendation is not evidence of an existing trend.
37The traditional view of scientific discovery is that breakthroughs happen when a single great mind has sudden ____.F - inspiration
Where to Look: Passage 3, conventional view
Why: The traditional account presents fully formed ideas appearing suddenly in a great mind. Inspiration matches that notion of sudden insight, rather than repeated experiments or compromise.
38In some cases, this process involves ____, such as Nicholson’s theory about proto-elements.D - mistakes
Where to Look: Passage 3, Nicholson example
Why: Nicholson's incorrect proto-element theory still contributed to later progress. It illustrates the role of mistakes, D, in the cumulative process of innovation.
39There is also often an element of ____, for example, the coincidence of ideas that led to the invention of the Post-It note.E - luck
Where to Look: Passage 3, Post-It example
Why: Silver's weak adhesive and Fry's need for removable bookmarks happened to complement each other. The writers use this coincidence to illustrate luck, not a fully planned invention from the outset.
40With both the Law of Natural Selection and the Law of Effect, there may be no clear ____ involved, but merely a process of variation and selection.B - goals
Where to Look: Passage 3, comparison of the two laws
Why: Both laws involve variation and selection without an intended final objective. Goals expresses the missing idea, rather than denying that successful outcomes can eventually occur.
Using This Reading Answer Key
Is This the Academic or General Training Test?
This page covers Cambridge IELTS 17 Academic Reading Test 2. 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.