Questions –13 The correct answer is false

10 The correct answer is ‘documents’: 
The text says, ‘The earliest evidence of a horse at 
Uffington is from the 1070s CE when “White Horse Hill” is mentioned in documents from the 
nearby Abbey of Abingdon’. The phrase ‘earliest evidence’ means that these documents contain 
the first reference to White Horse Hill in existence.
11 The correct answer is ‘soil’: 
The text says that ‘Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) 
testing was carried out by the Oxford Archaeological Unit on soil from two of the lower layers of 
the horse’s body, and from another cut near the base.’ ‘Testing’ of soil has the same meaning as 
analysis of soil.
12 The correct answer is ‘fertility’: 
The text says that the goddess Epona ‘was worshipped as 
a protector of horses, and for her associations with fertility’.
13 The correct answer is ‘Rhiannon’: 
The text says, ‘It is possible that the carving represents 
a goddess in native mythology, such as Rhiannon, described in later Welsh mythology as a 
beautiful woman dressed in gold and riding a white horse.’ The words ‘such as’ refer back to 
the word ‘goddess’, indicating that Rhiannon was an example of a goddess; the capital ‘R’ of 
‘Rhiannon’ indicates that this was the name of the goddess.

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IELTS 16 Academic, Test 2 answer key with extra explanations, Reading
© Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment 2021
Reading Passage 2
Questions 14–26
14 The correct answer is D: 
The text says, ‘Microbes, most of them bacteria, have populated 
this planet since long before animal life developed and they will outlive us.’ The word ‘us’ refers 
to animal life, including humans. The idea that microbes ‘will outlive us’ means that they will live 
for longer than we will: there will still be microbes on this planet when the human race no longer 
exists.