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About the Raising The Mary Rose Reading Passage
This passage traces the history of the Mary Rose a warship commissioned by King Henry VIII that sank in the Solent in 1545 while engaging a French fleet. It was rediscovered in 1836, located again in 1967, and finally raised in 1982 after years of archaeological excavation. The source is Cambridge IELTS 4, Academic Test 2, Passage 3.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–13, which are based on the passage below.
The passage contains two question types: True/False/Not Given (Questions 1–7) and Summary Completion (Questions 8–13).
Raising The Mary Rose — Full Reading Passage
Paragraph A
In 1545, English warships were engaged with the French fleet in the Solent, the stretch of water that separates the Isle of Wight from the mainland of southern England. Among the English vessels was the Mary Rose, a ship that had served King Henry VIII for 34 years. After a relatively brief period of engagement, she sank. Witnesses described how she heeled over, water poured in through the open gun ports, and she went down. An eye-witness account tells of the cries of the soldiers and crew who were trapped below decks as she sank. The Mary Rose sank in approximately 11 fathoms of water.
Paragraph B
The wreck was located in 1836 by two brothers, John and Charles Deane, who were pioneering divers at the time. The Deanes were using a newly invented diving helmet and they salvaged a number of bronze cannons, iron guns, and other artefacts from the wreck. They marked the location on their charts and the wreck was then forgotten for over a century. In 1967, the wreck was relocated by a local dive club, which also found that the starboard half of the ship was buried under a sandbank.
Paragraph C
Preliminary investigations showed that a large part of the ship was intact. The ship had come to rest on the seabed at an angle of about 60 degrees to port (the left side facing forward). The starboard half had been covered rapidly by silt, which protected it from the effects of centuries of marine life and tidal currents that would otherwise have caused serious damage. This timely coverage also protected the ship from human interference; treasure hunters had, at various times, damaged or destroyed many other wrecks in the Solent.
Paragraph D
Between 1971 and 1982, a team of archaeologists and volunteers worked to excavate the site. The team was led by Dr Margaret Rule, who became the leading expert on the Mary Rose. More than 500 dives were made to map, photograph, and systematically remove the remaining silt from around the vessel. Over 19,000 artefacts were recovered from the wreck site, including weapons, navigational instruments, clothing, and personal items belonging to the crew. These objects gave archaeologists an unusually detailed picture of shipboard life in Tudor England.
Paragraph E
When the excavation was complete, plans were put in place to raise the hull. The task was far from simple. The hull was too fragile to be lifted in the usual way, that is, by attaching cables directly to its structure. Lifting had to be done in a way that transferred the load across the largest possible area of the ship's structure. Lifting tests suggested that the hull could withstand a pull of 1,000 tonnes before cracking.
Paragraph F
The solution was to build a specially designed steel cradle that would hold the ship's hull from below. The hull was lowered onto this cradle as the cradle was raised from the seabed. A lifting frame was constructed above the cradle. Hydraulic jacks attached the lifting frame to the cradle and lifted it, along with the ship, to the surface. The entire operation was broadcast live on television and watched by millions of viewers around the world, including Prince Charles, who was a patron of the Mary Rose Trust.
Paragraph G
Once at the surface, the hull was carefully moved into a conservation tank in the old dry dock at Portsmouth. Since then, the hull has been sprayed continuously with chilled, fresh water to prevent the timber from drying out and cracking. The long-term conservation plan involves replacing the water gradually with a wax compound that will support the ship's timbers permanently. Work on the Mary Rose continues, and the ship is now on permanent display at the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth.
Raising The Mary Rose Reading Questions and Answers
Questions 1–7: True/False/Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
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
1. The Mary Rose was in service for over three decades before she sank.
2. The soldiers on board the Mary Rose could not swim.
3. The Deane brothers' discovery of the wreck was reported in the national press at the time.
4. Silt helped preserve the starboard side of the Mary Rose.
5. The hull of the Mary Rose was capable of withstanding a pull of 2,000 tonnes.
6. Prince Charles took an active role in raising the hull of the Mary Rose.
7. The Mary Rose hull is currently on display to the public.
Questions 8–13: Summary Completion
Complete the summary below using words from the box.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
The Sinking and Discovery of the Mary Rose
The Mary Rose was a warship belonging to 8 ……………… . She sank while fighting the 9 ……………… in the Solent in 1545. In 1967, divers discovered that one half of the ship was buried under a 10 ……………… , which had helped protect it. Much of the ship was found to be intact because a layer of 11 ……………… had covered it quickly after it sank. To raise the hull, engineers built a 12 ……………… to support the ship from below. A 13 ……………… was then used to lift the cradle and ship to the surface.
