Koalas IELTS Reading Passage with Answers
Reading Passage 1
Koalas
A.
Koalas are just too nice for their own good. And except for the occasional baby taken by birds of prey, koalas have no natural enemies. In an ideal world, the life of an arboreal couch potato would be perfectly safe and acceptable.
B.
Just two hundred years ago, koalas flourished across Australia. Now they seem to be in decline, but exact numbers are not available as the species would not seem to be ‘under threat’. Their problem, however, has been man, more specifically, the white man. Koala and aborigine had co-existed peacefully for centuries.
C.
Today koalas are found only in scattered pockets of southeast Australia, where they seem to be at risk on several fronts. The koala’s only food source, the eucalyptus tree has declined. In the past 200 years, a third of Australia’s eucalyptus forests have disappeared. Koalas have been killed by parasites, chlamydia epidemics and a tumour-causing retro-virus. And every year 11000 are killed by cars, ironically most of them in wildlife sanctuaries, and thousands are killed by poachers. Some are also taken illegally as pets. The animals usually soon die, but they are easily replaced. IE LTS XPRESS
D.
Bush fires pose another threat. The horrific ones that raged in New South Wales recently killed between 100 and 1000 koalas. Many that were taken into sanctuaries and shelters were found to have burnt their paws on the glowing embers. But zoologists say that the species should recover. The koalas will be aided by the eucalyptus, which grows quickly and is already burgeoning forth after the fires. So the main problem to their survival is their slow reproductive rate – they produce only one baby a year over a reproductive lifespan of about nine years.
E.
The latest problem for the species is perhaps more insidious. With plush, grey fur, dark amber eyes and button nose, koalas are cuddliness incarnate. Australian zoos and wildlife parks have taken advantage of their uncomplaining attitudes, and charge visitors to be photographed hugging the furry bundles. But people may not realise how cruel this is, but because of the koala’s delicate disposition, constant handling can push an already precariously balanced physiology over the edge.
F.
Koalas only eat the foliage of certain species of eucalyptus trees, between 600 and 1250 grams a day. The tough leaves are packed with cellulose, tannins, aromatic oils and precursors of toxic cyanides. To handle this cocktail, koalas have a specialised digestive system. Cellulose- digesting bacteria in the break down fibre, while a specially adapted gut and liver process the toxins. To digest their food properly, koalas must sit still for 21 hours every day. ieltsxpress.com
G.
Koalas are the epitome of innocence and inoffensiveness. Although they are capable of ripping open a man’s arm with their needle-sharp claws, or giving a nasty nip, they simply wouldn’t. If you upset a koala, it may blink or swallow, or hiccup. But attack? No way! Koalas are just not aggressive. They use their claws to grip the hard smooth bark of eucalyptus trees.
H.
They are also very sensitive, and the slightest upset can prevent them from breeding, cause them to go off their food, and succumb to gut infections. Koalas are stoic creatures and put on a brave face until they are at death’s door. One day they may appear healthy, the next they could be dead. Captive koalas have to be weighed daily to check that they are feeding properly. A sudden loss of weight is usually the only warning keepers have that their charge is ill. Only two keepers plus a vet were allowed to handle London Zoo’s koalas, as these creatures are only comfortable with people they know. A request for the koala to be taken to meet the Queen was refused because of the distress this would have caused the marsupial. Sadly, London’s Zoo no longer has a koala. Two years ago the female koala died of a cancer caused by a retrovirus. When they come into heat, female koalas become more active, and start losing weight, but after about sixteen days, heat ends and the weight piles back on. London’s koala did not. Surgery revealed hundreds of pea-sized tumours.
Almost every zoo in Australia has koalas – the marsupial has become the Animal Ambassador of the nation, but nowhere outside Australia would handling by the public be allowed. Koala cuddling screams in the face of every rule of good care. First, some zoos allow koalas to be passed from stranger to stranger, many children who love to squeeze. Secondly, most people have no idea of how to handle the animals; they like to cling on to their handler, all in their own good time and use his or her arm as a tree. For such reasons, the Association of Fauna and Marine parks, an Australian conservation society is campaigning to ban koala cuddling. Policy on koala handling is determined by state government authorities. “And the largest of the numbers in the Australian Nature Conservation Agency, with the aim of instituting national guidelines. Following a wave of publicity, some zoos and wildlife parks have stopped turning their koalas into photo.
Questions 1-5
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
1. The main reason why koala declined is that they are killed EXCEPT FOR
A. by poachers
B. by diseases they got
C. giving too many birth yet survived little!
D. accidents on the road
2. What can help koalas folly digest their food? ieltsxpress.com
A. toxic substance in the leaves
B. organs that dissolve the fibres
C. remaining inactive for a period to digest
D. eating eucalyptus trees
3. What would koalas do when facing the dangerous situation?
A. show signs of being offended
B. counter attack furiously
C. use sharp claws to rip the man
D. use claws to grip the bark of trees.
4. In what ways Australian zoos exploit koalas?
A. encourage people to breed koalas as pets
B. allow tourists to hug the koalas
C. put them on the trees as a symbol
D. establish a koala campaign
5. What would the government do to protect koalas from being endangered?
A. introduce koala protection guidelines
B. close some of the zoos
C. encourage people to resist visiting the zoos
D. persuade the public to learn more knowledge
Questions 6-12
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1
In boxes 6-12 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the information
NO if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this passage
6. new coming human settlers caused danger to koalas.
7. Koalas can still be seen in most of the places in Australia.
8. it takes decade for the eucalyptus trees to recover after the fire.
9. Koalas will fight each other when food becomes scarce.
10. It is not easy to notice that koalas are ill.
11. Koalas are easily infected with human contagious disease via cuddling
12. Koalas like to hold a person’s arm when they are embraced. i e lt s x press
Questions 13
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 13 on your answer sheet. From your opinion this article written by
A. a journalist who write for magazine
B. a zoo keeper in London Zoo.
C. a tourist who traveling back from Australia
D. a government official who studies koalas to establish a law
Koalas IELTS Reading Answers
Practice with Expert IELTS Tutors Online
Apply Code "IELTSXPRESS20" To Get 20% off on IELTS Mock Test
1. C
2. C
3. A
4. B
5. A
6. YES
7. NO
8. NO
9. NOT GIVEN
10. YES
11. NOT GIVEN
12. YES
13. A
ieltsxpress.com
Koalas IELTS Reading Answers Explanation
1. The main reason why koala declined is that they are killed EXCEPT FOR
Answer: C
Supporting Sentence: Koalas have been killed by parasites, chlamydia epidemics and a tumour-causing retro-virus. And every year 11000 are killed by cars, ironically most of them in wildlife sanctuaries, and thousands are killed by poachers.
Keyword: killed by, chlamydia epidemics, killed by cars, killed by poachers
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, Lines 4-6.
Explanation: the other options, a, b and d, are clearly spoken about in paragraph C. Koalas die due to parasites, diseases like chlamydia and retrovirus, killed in road accidents like by cars, and also hunted by poachers. Nothing about option C has been mentioned in this paragraph or anywhere else in the passage. The question asks LEAVING WHICH OPTION are koalas killed by. Hence, C is the correct answer. ieltsxpress
2. What can help koalas fully digest their food?
Answer: C
Supporting Sentence: To digest their food properly, koalas must sit still for 21 hours every day.
Keyword: digest, properly, sit still
Keyword Location: Paragraph F, 5th line
Explanation: In Paragraph F, it has been clearly written that Koalas need to sit at one place for many hours per day to digest their food well. Sitting at one place means doing nothing or being inactive. Hence C, is the correct answer.
3. What would koalas do when facing the dangerous situation?
Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: If you upset a koala, it may blink or swallow, or hiccup. But attack? No way! Koalas are just not aggressive.
Keyword: upset, blink, swallow, hiccup, not aggressive,
Keyword Location: Paragraph G, Lines 3-5
Explanation: Koalas are not aggressive animals. They show signs of distress when they face dangerous situations, like blinking, swallowing or doing hiccup. But they don’t attack anyone. They have sharp claws that they can use to defend themselves but they use it just for gripping the bark of trees. Hence, the other 3 options are not valid. Option A is correct as koalas show signs of being offended in some ways as mentioned earlier. ielts xpress
4. In what ways Australian zoos exploit koalas?
Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: Australian zoos and wildlife parks have taken advantage of their uncomplaining attitudes, and charge visitors to be photographed hugging the furry bundles. But people may not realize how cruel this is, but because of the koala’s delicate disposition, constant handling can push an already precariously balanced physiology over the edge.
Keyword: taken advantage, photographed hugging, cruel
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, Lines 5-7
Explanation: Taking advantage and exploiting are synonyms. In the paragraph it is written that Australian zoos take advantage of the innocent koalas by allowing tourists to take photographs with them. They allow you to hug them and touch them. This is not good for the Koalas. Hence, B is the right answer.
5. What would the government do to protect koalas from being endangered?
Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: Policy on koala handling is determined by state government authorities. “And the largest of the numbers in the Australian Nature Conservation Agency, with the aim of instituting national guidelines.
Keyword: policy, state government authorities, instituting, national guidelines
Keyword Location: Paragraph H, Lines 21-23
Explanation: The last paragraph of the passage states that the state government authorities decide on policies to be made for koala protection. They have the aim of forming national guidelines for the same purpose. Nothing about other options has been mentioned in the paragraph. Hence, A is the right answer.i e lt s x press
6. new coming human settlers caused danger to koalas.
Answer: Yes
Supporting Sentence: Their problem, however, has been man, more specifically, the white man. Koala and aborigines had co-existed peacefully for centuries.
Keyword: man, aborigine, co-existed
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, 3rd Line
Explanation: Koalas lived peacefully and safely with the ancient people, the aborigines, for hundreds of years. However, new human settlers like the white man have become a threat to koalas due to several of their activities, like driving cars and killing them for example. These new human settlers have new ways of lives, which cause problems to animals. Their lives are in contrast to the traditional life of the aborigines. Hence, the answer is yes, as the statement agrees with the information in the passage. i e l t s x p r e s s
7. Koalas can still be seen in most of the places in Australia.
Answer: No
Supporting Sentence: Today koalas are found only in scattered pockets of southeast Australia, where they seem to be at risk on several fronts.
Keyword: found only, scattered pockets, southeast Australia
Keyword Location: Paragraph C 1st line
Explanation: It has been clearly mentioned in the paragraph that koalas are only seen in the southeastern part of Australia, and that too in a scattered manner. Therefore, the statement in the question contradicts the information in the passage. Hence, the answer is No.
8. it takes decade for the eucalyptus trees to recover after the fire.
Answer: No
Supporting Sentence: The koalas will be aided by the eucalyptus, which grows quickly and is already burgeoning forth after the fires.
Keyword: grow quickly, burgeoning forth
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, 4th line
Explanation: the paragraph states clearly that the eucalyptus tree grows quickly and their numbers increase rapidly after the fires. This information is in contrast to the statement in the question. Hence, the answer is No.
9. Koalas will fight each other when food becomes scarce.
Answer: Not Given
10. It is not easy to notice that koalas are ill.
Answer: Yes
Supporting Sentence: Koalas are stoic creatures and put on a brave face until they are at death’s door. One day they may appear healthy, the next they could be dead. Captive koalas have to be weighed daily to check that they are feeding properly. A sudden loss of weight is usually the only warning keepers have that their charge is ill.
Keyword: stoic creatures, brave face, appear healthy, dead, have to be weighed daily
Keyword Location: Paragraph H, Lines 2-6
Explanation: Koalas are tough creatures who do not show signs of illness easily. They put up a brave face until their health is extremely bad. Thus it is difficult to notice when they are ill. Also, the only method of checking for their illness is to weigh them daily, which is quite a task! Therefore, it is not easy to notice that koalas are ill or not. Hence, the statement in the question agrees with the information in the passage. So the answer is Yes.ieltsxpress
11. Koalas are easily infected with human contagious disease via cuddling.
Answer: Not Given
12. Koalas like to hold a person’s arm when they are embraced
Answer: Yes
Supporting Sentence: most people have no idea of how to handle the animals; they like to cling on to their handler, all in their own good time and use his or her arm as a tree.
Keyword: cling on, use his or her arm as tree
Keyword Location: Paragraph H, Lines 17-18
Explanation: when tourists hug or embrace the koalas, the koalas hold on to their arms, thinking that those are tree branches on which they can cling. Therefore, the statement agrees with the information in the passage. Hence, the answer is Yes.
13. From your opinion this article written by
Answer: A
Explanation: There is no information in the passage about the writer of the article. However, going by the tone of the passage and the information provided, it seems that the article has been written by a person who may be working for a magazine. The other options do not seem right because of the following reasons. A zoo keeper in a London zoo would only talk about koalas in the London zoo; the passage talks about koalas in Australia and in general. No information about any tourist traveling back from Australia has been given. And, a government official would write more about laws and security rather than give information about koalas in general. Therefore, option A is the right answer. ieltsxpress
Also Check: The Forgotten Forest IELTS Reading
