IELTS BOOTCAMP DAY 9
Scanning for detail
The passages in the IELTS Reading paper gradually become more difficult, with Section 1 being the easiest.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Ochre find reveals ancient knowledge of chemistry
The oldest ochre processing toolkits and workshop ever found have been unearthed, indicating that as far back as 100,000 years ago, banians had an understanding of chemistry.
South Africa’s Blombos Cave lies within a limestone cliff on the southern Cape coast, 300 km east of Cape Town. Its known for its 75,000-year-old rich deposits of artefacts such as heads, bone tools and ochre engravings. Some engravings date as far back as 100,000 years.
Archaeologist Christophers, Henshilwood from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and University of Bergen, Norway has been excavating at the site since 1992, and has reported the discovery of a mixture, rich in ochre, stored in two abalone shells. It dates back to the Middle Stone Age – 100,000 years ago. Ochre is a term used to describe a piece of earth or rock containing red or yellow oxides or hydroxides of iron. It can be used to make pigments, or paints, ranging from golden-yellow and light yellow-brown to a rich red. Its use spans the history of humans from those living more than 200,000 years ago, to modern indigenous communities.
Made from an array of materials, this mixture, which could have functioned as wall, object and skin decoration or skin protection (acting in a similar way to modern-day sunscreen), indicates the early developments that occurred in the people who originally used the site.
“(Judging from) the complexity of the material that has been collected from different parts of the landscape and brought to the site, they [the people] must have had an elementary knowledge of chemistry to be able to combine these materials to produce this form. It’s not a straightforward process,” said Henshilwood.
Short answer
Short answer questions test your ability to find specific details in a passage. Use the words in the questions to:
– help locate the relevant part of the passage
– find out exactly what details you are looking for.
Locate the words in bold in the text and use them to help you locate the relevant parts of the text and answer the questions.
Practice
Ochre find reveals ancient knowledge of chemistry
The oldest ochre processing toolkits and workshop ever found have been unearthed, indicating that as far back as 100,000 years ago, banians had an understanding of chemistry.
South Africa’s Blombos Cave lies within a limestone cliff on the southern Cape coast, 300 km east of Cape Town. Its known for its 75,000-year-old rich deposits of artefacts such as heads, bone tools and ochre engravings. Some engravings date as far back as 100,000 years.
Archaeologist Christophers, Henshilwood from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and University of Bergen, Norway has been excavating at the site since 1992, and has reported the discovery of a mixture, rich in ochre, stored in two abalone shells. It dates back to the Middle Stone Age – 100,000 years ago. Ochre is a term used to describe a piece of earth or rock containing red or yellow oxides or hydroxides of iron. It can be used to make pigments, or paints, ranging from golden-yellow and light yellow-brown to a rich red. Its use spans the history of humans from those living more than 200,000 years ago, to modern indigenous communities.
Made from an array of materials, this mixture, which could have functioned as wall, object and skin decoration or skin protection (acting in a similar way to modern-day sunscreen), indicates the early developments that occurred in the people who originally used the site.
“(Judging from) the complexity of the material that has been collected from different parts of the landscape and brought to the site, they [the people] must have had an elementary knowledge of chemistry to be able to combine these materials to produce this form. It’s not a straightforward process,” said Henshilwood.