# The Dead Sea Scrolls: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 17, Test 2, Reading Passage 1

Source: Passage, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 17, Test 2, Reading Passage 1. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | rock | One of these young shepherds tossed a rock into an opening on the side of a cliff |
| 2 | cave | He and his companions later entered the cave |
| 3 | clay | stumbled across a collection of large clay jars |
| 4 | Essenes | and the people are thought to have belonged to a group called the Essenes |
| 5 | Hebrew | The majority of the texts on the Dead Sea Scrolls are in Hebrew |
| 6 | NOT GIVEN | they were sold for a small sum to a local antiquities dealer |
| 7 | FALSE | is still the subject of scholarly debate even today |
| 8 | TRUE | The only entire book of the Hebrew Bible preserved among the manuscripts from Qumran is Isaiah |
| 9 | TRUE | Using an unconventional vocabulary and odd spelling |
| 10 | FALSE | paying less than $100 for them |
| 11 | FALSE | unsuccessfully offered them to a number of universities, including Yale |
| 12 | TRUE | details two yearly religious events known from another Dead Sea Scroll |
| 13 | NOT GIVEN | Only one more known scroll remains untranslated. |

## Why these answers are right

**1. rock.** Paragraph A says one shepherd "tossed a rock into an opening" and heard a shattering sound. The note's "threw" paraphrases tossed and "a noise of breaking" paraphrases a shattering sound, so the thrown object, rock, is the answer.

**2. cave.** Paragraph A continues that the boy and his companions "later entered the cave". The note's "went into the" is a plain paraphrase of entered, so cave is the single word needed for the place where the jars were found.

**3. clay.** The teenagers "stumbled across a collection of large clay jars". The note's "a number of containers" paraphrases a collection of jars, and "made of" asks for the material, which is clay.

The why and the trap for questions 4 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/the-dead-sea-scrolls/answers).

[Practice The Dead Sea Scrolls](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/the-dead-sea-scrolls)