Cambridge IELTS 16 Test 2 Reading Answers

Cambridge Practice Series

Cambridge IELTS 16 Academic Reading Test 2: Complete Explanations

⏱ 60 Minutes 🎯 40 Questions 📊 Target: Band 8.0+

Master Cambridge IELTS 16 Reading Test 2 with our exhaustive analysis. This walkthrough details passage locators, keyword synonym bridges, and step-by-step logic for The White Horse of Uffington, Ed Yong's I Contain Multitudes (Microbiome Science), and psychological research on How to Make Wise Decisions.

Reading Strategy & Passage Flow Map — Figure: Academic Reading Passage Structure & Question Distribution Map

Master Quick-Reference Answer Key (Questions 1–40)

Verify your answers across all 40 questions before examining the passage-by-passage breakdown.

Q#	Answer Key	Q#	Answer Key	Q#	Answer Key	Q#	Answer Key
1	TRUE	11	soil	21	YES	31	D (modesty)
2	NOT GIVEN	12	fertility	22	NO	32	A (opinion)
3	TRUE	13	Rhiannon	23	NOT GIVEN	33	C (view)
4	FALSE	14	D	24	YES	34	F (objectivity)
5	FALSE	15	C	25	NOT GIVEN	35	G (fairness)
6	TRUE	16	A	26	NO	36	FALSE
7	TRUE	17	G	27	B	37	NOT GIVEN
8	NOT GIVEN	18	B	28	C	38	NOT GIVEN
9	Ridgeway	19	H	29	B	39	TRUE
10	documents	20	E	30	D	40	TRUE

Section 1

Reading Passage 1: The White Horse of Uffington

Topic: Landscape Archaeology & Geoglyphs • Questions 1–13 (True/False/Not Given & Sentence Completion)

High-Yield Vocabulary Glossary

Academic Word	Part of Speech	Contextual Definition	Synonyms
Geoglyph	noun	A large visual design or motif produced on the ground surface	Hill figure, earthwork, turf carving
Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL)	noun	Dating technique measuring when sediment was last exposed to sunlight	Luminescence dating, chronometric testing
Scouring	noun/verb	Periodic clearing of weeds and renewing chalk trenches	Restoration, weeding, re-chalking

Questions 1–8: True / False / Not Given Breakdown

Q1: Most geoglyphs in England are located in a particular area of the country.

Ans: TRUE

Locator: "The vast majority of hill figures are found on the downlands of southern England..." (Paragraph 1)

"Vast majority" directly matches "most", and "downlands of southern England" specifies a distinct geographic region. Hence, TRUE.

Q2: There are more geoglyphs in the shape of a horse than any other creature.

Ans: NOT GIVEN

Locator: Paragraph 1 discusses horses and giants, noting horses are prominent, but never compares animal proportions statistically.

Because the passage offers no numerical ranking of creature shapes, this claim cannot be confirmed: NOT GIVEN.

Q3: A recent dating of the Uffington White Horse indicates that people were mistaken about its age.

Ans: TRUE

Locator: "The results pushed the creation back to the Bronze Age... overturning the earlier consensus that it was Iron Age or Anglo-Saxon." (Paragraph 2)

Overturning earlier beliefs about the period proves previous historical assumptions were mistaken. Statement is TRUE.

Q4: Historians have come to an agreement about the origins of the Long Man of Wilmington.

Ans: FALSE

Locator: "Meanwhile, the date and origins of the Long Man of Wilmington remain intensely debated, with theories ranging from prehistoric to 16th-century origins." (Paragraph 2)

Ongoing debate and lack of consensus directly contradict "have come to an agreement". Result: FALSE.

Q5: Geoglyphs were created by people placing white chalk on the hillside.

Ans: FALSE

Locator: "Builders excavated trenches into the turf to expose the stark white chalk bedrock beneath." (Paragraph 3)

They removed grass to reveal underlying rock rather than bringing and placing loose chalk. Direct contradiction: FALSE.

Q6: Many geoglyphs in England are no longer visible.

Ans: TRUE

Locator: "...scores of figures have succumbed to the elements, overgrowth, and neglect, disappearing entirely from the landscape." (Paragraph 3)

Scores disappearing entirely confirms that many are no longer visible today. Statement is TRUE.

Q7: The shape of some geoglyphs has been altered over time.

Ans: TRUE

Locator: "Repeated scouring ceremonies over hundreds of years altered the original outline of the figures." (Paragraph 4)

The physical outline was modified over centuries through scouring. Statement is TRUE.

Q8: The fame of the Uffington White Horse is due to its size.

Ans: NOT GIVEN

Locator: Paragraph 5 mentions its large scale (110 metres) and wide notoriety, but does not identify size as the primary causal reason for its fame.

A correlation does not establish causation in Cambridge IELTS. Verdict: NOT GIVEN.

Questions 9–13: Sentence Completion

Q#	Answer	Passage Sentence Locator	Context Rationale
9	Ridgeway	Near the prehistoric trackway known as the Ridgeway...	The ancient trail adjoining the monument.
10	documents	First explicitly mentioned in medieval documents from the 1070s...	Written historical records referencing the site.
11	soil	Optically stimulated luminescence was applied to soil sediments...	The material analyzed by modern OSL chronometry.
12	fertility	Associated with a Celtic fertility goddess cult...	Ritual purpose associated with agricultural and life fertility.
13	Rhiannon	Echoes the Celtic equestrian deity Rhiannon...	Specific Welsh mythological figure associated with white horses.

Section 2

Reading Passage 2: I Contain Multitudes

Topic: Microbiology, Microbiome Symbiosis & Public Health • Questions 14–26

Questions 14–16: Multiple Choice

Question 14: Ans D

The writer emphasizes that microbes are universal, residing in every environmental niche and numbering trillions in our physiology.

Question 15: Ans C

Yong is awed by how deeply bacterial biochemistry shapes immune education, digestion, and neurochemistry.

Question 16: Ans A

The author critiques extreme modern hygiene, illustrating how eliminating harmless microbes triggers immune dysfunction.

Questions 17–20: Summary Matching (Our Microbial Equilibrium)

Q#	Summary Statement	Letter	Matched Concept
17	Only a tiny fraction of bacteria cause	G	Pathogenic illness / disease
18	Human-microbe relations are characterized by	B	Mutual co-evolution and symbiosis
19	Equilibrium is disrupted by our poor	H	Nutritional diet (low in complex plant fiber)
20	Along with an obsessive fixation on	E	Excessive domestic cleanliness and sterilization

Questions 21–26: Yes / No / Not Given Claims

21. Using domestic antibacterial sprays can fail to deliver expected health protections.YES

22. Children should be isolated from environmental microbes as much as possible.NO

23. Yong's book includes an excessive quantity of scientific case studies.NOT GIVEN

24. The squid bioluminescent bacteria example has limited broad applicability.YES

25. Attempts to combat dengue fever via Wolbachia bacteria were surprisingly effective.NOT GIVEN

26. Beneficial protective bacteria have already been embedded in real hospital walls.NO

Section 3

Reading Passage 3: How to Make Wise Decisions

Topic: Cognitive Psychology, Contextual Reasoning & Solomon's Paradox • Questions 27–40

Questions 27–30: Multiple Choice Analysis

Q27: Key point established in the opening paragraph:

Ans: B

Wisdom is not a permanent personality trait; it fluctuates significantly depending on the immediate emotional context of the situation.

Q28: What does Igor Grossmann propose regarding wise reasoning?

Ans: C

Cultivating psychological distance from personal dilemmas unlocks greater philosophical insight and cognitive balance.

Q29: Explanations regarding the third-person vantage point:

Ans: B

Referring to oneself by name or in the third person dampens visceral ego-defense mechanisms, facilitating impartial evaluation.

Q30: Description in Paragraph 5:

Ans: D

Details an experiment where couples engaged in discussions about recurring conflict scenarios from an observer's perspective.

Questions 31–35: Characteristics of Wise Reasoning (Summary Box)

Q#	Cognitive Facet	Answer Code	Operational Definition in Research
31	Intellectual humility	D (modesty)	Acknowledging the boundaries and gaps in one's personal knowledge.
32	Appreciating opposing views	A (opinion)	Recognizing valid perspectives beyond one's immediate convictions.
33	Broadening situational scope	C (view)	Seeing events within their larger social and longitudinal context.
34	Emotional detachment	F (objectivity)	Evaluating scenarios without egocentric bias or defensive distortion.
35	Seeking compromise	G (fairness)	Balancing divergent interests to achieve harmonious resolution.

Questions 36–40: Experimental Findings (True / False / Not Given)

36. Students in the job prospects experiment were allowed to choose their perspective freely.FALSE

37. Couples knew in advance that the study was scoring their wisdom level.NOT GIVEN

38. The duration of romantic relationships correlated with wiser resolution outcomes.NOT GIVEN

39. In both trials, adopting an observer's perspective boosted measured wisdom.TRUE

40. Grossmann concluded that traditional intelligence (IQ) correlates only modestly with wisdom.TRUE

Band 8.5+ Strategy: Mastering Yes / No / Not Given

Claims vs. Facts: True/False/Not Given tests factual information against the passage; Yes/No/Not Given tests whether a statement matches the author's personal claims or opinions. Follow the exact wording requested on your answer sheet.
Negative Phrasing Traps: Watch out for double negatives in Question 22 ("children should come into contact with as few bacteria as possible" -> passage argues exposure is beneficial -> NO).
Summary Completion with Options: In Questions 31–35, always identify the grammatical form required. If the blank is preceded by "a sense of", look for abstract nouns like modesty or fairness.

Cambridge IELTS 16 Test 2 Reading Answers & Step-by-Step Explanations

Cambridge IELTS 16 Academic Reading Test 2: Complete Explanations

Master Quick-Reference Answer Key (Questions 1–40)

Reading Passage 1: The White Horse of Uffington

High-Yield Vocabulary Glossary

Questions 1–8: True / False / Not Given Breakdown

Q1: Most geoglyphs in England are located in a particular area of the country.

Q2: There are more geoglyphs in the shape of a horse than any other creature.

Q3: A recent dating of the Uffington White Horse indicates that people were mistaken about its age.

Q4: Historians have come to an agreement about the origins of the Long Man of Wilmington.

Q5: Geoglyphs were created by people placing white chalk on the hillside.

Q6: Many geoglyphs in England are no longer visible.

Q7: The shape of some geoglyphs has been altered over time.

Q8: The fame of the Uffington White Horse is due to its size.

Questions 9–13: Sentence Completion

Reading Passage 2: I Contain Multitudes

Questions 14–16: Multiple Choice

Questions 17–20: Summary Matching (Our Microbial Equilibrium)

Questions 21–26: Yes / No / Not Given Claims

Reading Passage 3: How to Make Wise Decisions

Questions 27–30: Multiple Choice Analysis

Q27: Key point established in the opening paragraph:

Q28: What does Igor Grossmann propose regarding wise reasoning?

Q29: Explanations regarding the third-person vantage point:

Q30: Description in Paragraph 5:

Questions 31–35: Characteristics of Wise Reasoning (Summary Box)

Questions 36–40: Experimental Findings (True / False / Not Given)

Band 8.5+ Strategy: Mastering Yes / No / Not Given

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