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Biomimetic Reading Answers: IELTS Reading Practice Test

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Updated on Jul 15, 2024, 10:41

In the IELTS Reading section, three passages centred on biomimetic reading answers test your ability to comprehend complex topics. Each passage is accompanied by questions in formats such as multiple choice, matching headings, and True/False/Not Given. Lasting 60 minutes, this segment challenges you to grasp critical information, discern main ideas, and infer implications effectively.

 

 

To excel in the IELTS Reading section, employ effective strategies such as skimming to identify key themes like the principles and applications of biomimicry in technology and scanning for specific details such as innovative designs inspired by nature or research findings on biomimetic engineering. Regular practice with sample questions and exposure to diverse question types will refine your skills for test day.

 

 

Prepare for an insightful exploration of "Biomimetic Reading Answers," which delves into the intricate ways nature inspires technological advancements. Explore how the study of natural systems and organisms can lead to innovative solutions in engineering, architecture, and materials science. Understand the scientific theories behind biomimicry and the practical applications in various fields, from designing energy-efficient buildings to developing new medical technologies inspired by the efficiency and adaptability of biological structures.

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1. Biomimetic Reading Passage

You should spend approximately 20 minutes answering Questions 1 - 13 based on the Reading Passage below. This approach can help manage time effectively during a reading comprehension activity or exam. 


 


 

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2. Biomimetic Reading Answers & Questions

Discover exciting and informative IELTS reading answers about Biomimetic Reading Question & Answers

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1.

Biomimetic Reading Passage

General Information

  • Read Instructions: Understand each question before answering.
  • Manage Time: Spend about 20 minutes per passage.
  • Skim and Scan: Quickly get the main idea and find specific information.
  • Highlight Key Info: Underline essential words or phrases.
  • Answer All Questions: Attempt every question; no penalty for wrong answers.
  • Stay Focused: Avoid distractions and keep your attention on the task.
  • Check Spelling: Ensure correct spelling and grammar.
  • Transfer Answers Clearly: Write answers neatly on the answer sheet.
  • Don’t Dwell: Move on if stuck and return later.
  • Review: If time allows, review your answers.

 

 

 

 

Biomimetic  Reading Passage 

 

 

Paragraph A 


"Its back is completely drenched!" The lizard's leg had been scooped up by the water in the dish after 30 seconds, and it now had a glistening coating over its prickly hide. The water eventually entered its mouth, and the lizard started to slap its jaws in apparent enjoyment and satisfaction as soon as that happened. In essence, it was drinking from its foot. If the thorny devil has more time, he can execute the same conjuring trick on a damp patch of sand– giving him a crucial competitive edge in the desert. Parker had come here to find out exactly how it achieves this, not just for biological reasons but also with a specific goal in mind: to create a technology that is inspired by thorny devils and will aid people in gathering life-sustaining water in the desert. Drops from his eyedropper landed upon the lizard's back and disappeared like a magic as he remarked, "The water's spreading out unbelievably rapidly!", he said.” Its skin is much less hydrophobic than I had anticipated. there may be capillaries hidden from view that direct water to the mouth”.

 

 

Paragraph B

 

The global biomimetics movement is getting more and more active, and Parker's work is just one small piece of it. To create more agile aeroplane wings, engineers in Bath, England, and West Chester, Pennsylvania, is studying the bumps on the leading edges of humpback whale flukes. Engineers in Berlin, Germany, are being inspired by the raptors' finger-like primary feathers to create wings that change shape in the air to minimise drag and boost fuel efficiency. To design more comfortable buildings, Zimbabwean architects are studying how termites control temperature, humidity, and airflow in their mounds. Meanwhile, Japanese medical researchers are developing hypodermic needles with tiny serrations, similar to those on a mosquito's proboscis, to lessen the pain of injections by reducing nerve stimulation.

 

 

 

Paragraph C

 

Ronald Fearing, an electrical engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has taken on one of the most difficult tasks of all: developing a miniature robotic fly that is fast, compact, and manoeuvrable enough for surveillance or search-and-rescue missions. Fearing created his own, one of which he held out with tweezers for me to see. It was an 11-millimetre-long, barely-thickened-cat-whisker-sized gossamer wand. Fearing is required to utilise a micromachining laser and a rapid prototyping system to design miniature pieces of his fly in the same way, have them automatically cut and cured overnight, and then manually assemble them under a microscope the next day.

 

 

 

Paragraph D

 

He uses a micro laser to carve the fly's wings from a two-micron polyester sheet that is so thin that it needs to be reinforced with carbon fibre spars to stabilise it and crumples if you breathe on it. His most recent design has wings that flap 275 times per second, which is quicker than the blowfly's rate of motion and produces the characteristic buzz. With a hint of self-satisfaction, he declared, "Carbon fibre outperforms fly chitin.", said, with a trace of self-satisfaction. The fly-bot itself, a fragile, origami-like framework of black carbon-fibre struts and hairlike wires that, unsurprisingly, looks nothing like a genuine fly, was confined in a protective plastic box that was visible on the lab bench. One month later it successfully lifted off in a controlled flight on a boom. Fearing anticipates the fly-bot hovering in two to three years and eventually doing virtuosic bank and dive manoeuvres.

 

 

 

Paragraph E


Mark Cutkosky, a roboticist at Stanford University, created Stickybot, a gecko-insured climber. Gecko feet are dry and smooth to the touch, not sticky, and they owe their extraordinary adhesion to the two billion spatula-tipped filaments that cover each square centimetre of their toe pads, each filament is only 100 nanometers thick. These filaments are so small that they interact with the gecko's walking surface at the molecular level. They do this by utilising low-level van der Waals forces, which are produced by molecules' transient positive and negative charges and draw any two adjacent objects together. Cutkosky and doctoral student Sangbae Kim, the robot's principal designer, created a urethane cloth with minuscule bristles that end in 30-micrometre points to build the toe pads for Stickybot. They support the 500-gram robot on a vertical surface, however, they are not as flexible or adhesive as the gecko itself.

 

 

Paragraph F


Cutkosky endowed his robot gecko-like feet that squeak against the wall and seven-segment toes that pull and release like a lizard's. To achieve the same smooth transition from stiff to flexible that is present in the lizard's limbs and absent in most man-made materials, he also used a technique he calls shape deposition manufacturing (SDM) to make Stickybot's legs and feet. Additionally, SDM enables him to incorporate sensors, actuators, and other specialised structures that will improve Stickybot's climbing abilities. Then, he discovered in an article on the anatomy of geckos that the lizard needed to branch tendons to evenly distribute its weight across the surface of each of its toes. Eureka.”Wow, that's incredible," I thought upon seeing it. To evenly disperse the strain on his robot's limbs, he implanted a branching polyester "tendon" into each of its limbs.

 

 

Paragraph G


Although it will take some time before Stickybot can keep up with a gecko, it can now climb vertical surfaces made of glass, plastic, and glazed ceramic tile. Its current walking pace, which is barely four centimetres per second and is much slower than that of its biological role model, is limited to smooth surfaces. Stickybot's dry adhesive quickly becomes clogged with dirt because it isn't self-cleaning as the lizard is. Cutkosky claims that "there are many things about the gecko that we simply had to disregard." Nonetheless, there are several real-world applications on the horizon. An automaton that might slink up a building and hang there for hours or days, studying the terrain below, is what the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which finances the research, has in mind for surveillance. Cutkosky suggests a variety of non-military applications." I'm trying to get robots to travel to places they've never been before," he added. Whether it's a toy or another application, I'd like Stickybot to be used in the real world. It would be fantastic if one day it could lifesaving or assist others.

 

 

Paragraph H

 

Despite the strength of the biomimetics paradigm and the intelligent individuals who apply it, only one widely recognised product—Velcro—has been made using bio-inspiration, which was created in 1948 by Swiss chemist George de Mestral after observing how cockleburs stuck to his dog's coat. In addition to Cutkosky’s lab, five other top-tier research teams are currently attempting to duplicate gecko adhesion, but none of them has been able to equal the lizard's powerful, directed self-cleaning grasp. Similar to how several well-funded biotech companies failed in their attempts to produce synthetic spider silk, scientists have yet to meaningfully replicate the abalone nanostructure that accounts for the resilience of its shell.

2.

Biomimetic Reading Answers & Questions

Discover exciting and informative IELTS reading answers about Biomimetic 

Questions and Answers 1-3

  • Fill in the blanks below.
  • Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer about facts of stickybot.

 

 

Stickybot can only move across smooth surfaces because its feet lack the 1)..................function. Stickybot will be used by DARPA for 2)................... Cutkosky believes that stickybot has the potential to participate in 3).................. or other human-related activities.

 

 

Biomimetic  Reading Answers with Explanations (1-3)

 

 

Type of question: Sentence Completion

 

To answer sentence completion questions accurately, read the given sentence carefully and identify the missing word or phrase. Then, consider the context to determine the most suitable answer option that completes the sentence appropriately. Choosing the option that best fits the context will help you answer sentence completion questions accurately.

 

 

How to best answer the question

 

  • Carefully read the incomplete sentence and try to understand what information is missing.
  • Pay attention to the context and any clues provided in the sentence or the surrounding text.
  • Choose the option that best completes the sentence based on the information from the reading passage.


 

1. Self -Cleaning


 

Reference:

 

Paragraph G

Stickybot's dry adhesive quickly becomes clogged with dirt because it isn't self-cleaning as the lizard is.


 

Explanation

 

This line explicitly states that Stickybot's adhesive lacks the self-cleaning function, causing it to get clogged with dirt.


 

2. Surveillance


 

Reference:

 

Paragraph G

An automaton that might slink up a building and hang there for hours or days, studying the terrain below, is what the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which finances the research, has in mind for surveillance.


 

Explanation

 

This line clearly indicates that DARPA plans to use Stickybot for surveillance purposes.


 

3. Lifesaving


 

Reference:

 

Paragraph G

It would be fantastic if one day it could lifesaving or assist others.


 

Explanation

 

This line shows Cutkosky's belief that Stickybot has the potential to be used in lifesaving or other human-related activities.

 

 

Read more about Dictation Words for IELTS: Practice and Preparation!

Questions and Answers 4-6

  • Fill in the blanks below.
  • Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
  • Write your answers in boxes 4-6 on your answer sheet.

 

 

  • Ronald Fearing was required to fabricate tiny components for his robotic fly 4)……………………by specialised techniques. 
  • The robotic fly’s main structure outside is made of 5) …………………… and long and thin wires which make it unlike a fly at all. 
  • Cutkosky applied an artificial material in Stickybot 6) …………………… as a tendon to split pressure as a lizard does.

 

 

Biomimetic  Reading Answers with Explanations (4-6)

 

 

Type of question: Note Completion

 

In note completion questions, you are required to fill in the gaps in notes or summaries using information from the reading passage. This task assesses your ability to find specific details within the passage and requires you to understand and identify the main points. 


 

How to best answer the question

 

  • Understand what specific information you need to fill in the blanks.
  • Quickly read through the passage to get a general understanding of its main ideas, key points, and the context surrounding the information you need to complete.
  • Pay attention to keywords or phrases in the notes provided. 
  • Once you've identified the keywords, scan the passage to locate the section that contains the information needed to complete the notes. 
  • Be prepared for the information in the passage to be paraphrased or expressed using synonyms. 
  • Ensure that the completed notes fit logically within the context of the passage. 


 

4. The same way


 

Reference:

 

Paragraph  C

Fearing is required to utilise a micromachining laser and a rapid prototyping system to design miniature pieces of his fly in the same way.


 

Explanation

 

This line explains that Ronald Fearing had to use the same specialised techniques to fabricate tiny components for his robotic fly.


 

5. Carbon Fibre


 

Reference:

 

Paragraph D

His most recent design has wings that flap 275 times per second, which is quicker than the blowfly's rate of motion and produces the characteristic buzz." and "The fly-bot itself, a fragile, origami-like framework of black carbon-fibre struts and hairlike wires that, unsurprisingly, looks nothing like a genuine fly.


 

Explanation

 

This line indicates that the main structure of the robotic fly is made of carbon fibre and long, thin wires, making it look unlike a real fly.


 

6. Limbs


 

Reference:

 

Paragraph F

To evenly disperse the strain on his robot's limbs, he implanted a branching polyester 'tendon' into each of its limbs.


 

Explanation

 

This line shows that Cutkosky used an artificial material in Stickybot's limbs to split pressure, similar to how a lizard does.


 

Read more about A Guide on Most Common English Words Used in Daily Life!

Questions and Answers 7-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
In boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet, write

  • TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
  • FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
  • NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this in the passage

 

 

7. As a gecko descends, its feet secrete a substance that renders them adhesive.
8. The gecko's ability to adhere to a surface is facilitated by the tiny and thin hairs on its feet.
9. Andrew Parker was unable to create a functional water device that could be employed in arid environments.
10. When lizard skin comes into contact with water, it is easily moistened.
11. Many artificial engineering innovations by scientists are inspired by nature.
12. Famous cases stimulate a large number of successful products of biomimetics in real life.
13. Velcro is well known for its bionics design.

 

 

Biomimetic  Reading Answers with Explanations (7-13)

 

 

Question Type:  True/False/Not Given

 

In this task, you are presented with a statement, and your task is to determine if it agrees with the information in the passage (True), contradicts the information in the passage (False), or if there is insufficient information in the passage to decide (not given).


 

How to best answer the question:

 

  • Read the statement carefully to ensure you understand exactly what it is saying. 
  • Pay attention to details such as dates, numbers, and specific information.
  • Scan the passage to find the section where the relevant information is likely to be located. 
  • Focus on finding evidence that either supports or contradicts the statement.
  • True: If the statement agrees with the information in the passage.
  • False: If the statement contradicts the information in the passage.
  • Not Given: If there is no information in the passage that confirms or contradicts the statement.


 

7. Not Given


 

Reference:

 

Paragraph 

NA


 

Explanation

 

There is no information provided about a gecko's feet secreting a substance as it descends.


 

8. False


 

Reference:

 

Paragraph E

Gecko feet are dry and smooth to the touch, not sticky,


 

Explanation

 

The statement contradicts the passage as it explains that gecko feet are not sticky but rely on microscopic hairs for adhesion.


 

9. Not Given


 

Reference:

 

Paragraph 

NA


 

Explanation

 

The passage does not provide any information about Andrew Parker's success or failure in creating a functional water device.


 

10. False


 

Reference:

 

Paragraph A

Its skin is much less hydrophobic than I had anticipated.


 

Explanation


This line suggests that the lizard's skin does not moisten easily, contradicting the statement.


 

11. True


 

Reference:

 

Paragraph C

Ronald Fearing, an electrical engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has taken on one of the most difficult tasks of all: developing a miniature robotic fly.


 

Explanation


This line indicates that many engineering innovations are inspired by nature, agreeing with the statement.


 

12. False


 

Reference:

 

Paragraph H

Despite the strength of the biomimetics paradigm and the intelligent individuals who apply it, only one widely recognised product—Velcro—has been made using bio-inspiration,


 

Explanation

 

The statement contradicts the passage, which mentions that only one widely recognized product has been successfully created using biomimetics.


 

13. True


 

Reference:

 

Paragraph H

Velcro—has been made using bio-inspiration, which was created in 1948 by Swiss chemist George de Mestral after observing how cockleburs stuck to his dog's coat.


 

Explanation

 

This line confirms that Velcro is well-known for its biomimetic design, agreeing with the statement.


 

Read More:

 

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FAQs

Q. What is the difference between skimming and scanning?

Ans. Skimming involves quickly reading through the text to get a general idea of the content, while scanning involves looking for specific information or keywords in the text. Skimming helps to understand the main points, while scanning helps to locate particular details within the text. Both techniques are useful for quickly processing and retrieving information from written material.

Q. How can I handle tricky questions in the Reading test?

Ans. When dealing with tricky questions in the Reading test, it's important to read the questions carefully to fully understand what is being asked. Take your time to analyze the passage and look for keywords that may lead you to the relevant section. If you're unsure of an answer, don't spend too much time on it; move on and return to it later if you have time at the end. Always trust your instincts and go with the option that seems most logical based on the information provided in the passage.

Q. Are there any common traps in the Reading test?

Ans. Yes, there are common traps in the Reading test. Some traps include questions that seem straightforward but require careful attention to detail, answer choices that are designed to look similar to confuse test-takers, and distractor options that are based on information from the passage but are ultimately incorrect. It's important to stay focused and critically evaluate each question to avoid falling into these traps.