# The thylacine: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 17, Test 3, Reading Passage 1

Source: Passage, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 17, Test 3, 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 | carnivorous | it was exclusively carnivorous |
| 2 | scent | thylacines were likely to have relied more on scent than any other sense. |
| 3 | pouch | When old enough to leave the pouch |
| 4 | fossil | well-dated occurrence of a thylacine on the mainland is a carbon-dated fossil from Murray Cave in Western Australia |
| 5 | habitat | loss of habitat along with the disappearance of prey species |
| 6 | TRUE | which began in the 1830s and continued for a century ... relentless efforts of sheep farmers and bounty hunters |
| 7 | FALSE | There was only one successful attempt to breed a thylacine in captivity, at Melbourne Zoo in 1899. |
| 8 | NOT GIVEN | The famous naturalist John Gould foresaw the thylacine's demise |
| 9 | FALSE | nor was much concern expressed by scientists at the decline of this species in the decades that followed |
| 10 | NOT GIVEN | to suggest that some should be captured and placed on a small island |
| 11 | FALSE | with the species on the very edge of extinction |
| 12 | TRUE | in the north-east of Tasmania in 1930, leaving just captive specimens |
| 13 | NOT GIVEN | There have been numerous expeditions and searches for the thylacine over the years |

## Why these answers are right

**1. carnivorous.** The note says the thylacine ate an "entirely" something diet, and paragraph B says it was "exclusively carnivorous". Exclusively is a direct synonym for entirely, and carnivorous is a single adjective that fits neatly before the noun diet.

**2. scent.** Paragraph B says that during long chases the animal relied more on scent "than any other sense". The note's "depended mainly on" paraphrases "relied more on", and "when hunting" matches the long-distance chases, so scent is the one-word answer.

**3. pouch.** Paragraph C explains that newborns crawled into the pouch and stayed attached to a teat for up to three months. The note's "first months of life inside its mother's" points to that location, and pouch is the single word that names it.

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

[Practice The thylacine](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/the-thylacine)