TASK TYPE 1 Identifying Information (True/False/Not Given)
The Complete Guide To IELTS (ACADEMIC READING)
1
IELTS PRACTICE TASK
Charles-Marie de la Condamine
The man who helped measure the shape of the world
Although ordinary people
may have thought so, few scientists had ever really believed that the
world was flat. And certainly, by the beginning of the eighteenth century,
they agreed without
exception that it was round. There was still some minor disagreement, however, about exactly what
being 'round' meant in this context. Some said the planet was a perfect sphere, like a ball. Others
thought it
might be generally round, but with some irregularities. The English scientist Sir Isaac
Newton argued that the Earth bulged outwards around the equator. On the other hand, the French
astronomer royal, Jacques Cassini, believed that the planet was stretched
out at the north and
south poles, making it shaped more like an egg. The debate was partly just a reflection of the way
England and France competed about many things at the time, but it was also a serious question
that affected how maps and
sailing charts were drawn, and therefore the safety of sailors at sea. So
in 1734 the French Academy of Sciences decided to measure the Earth's shape. An expedition
under Pierre de Maupertius would travel close to the North Pole, and another under Charles-Marie
de la Condamine would travel to the equator. Both expeditions would
survey the shape of the
Earth's surface and then compare findings. After a long voyage, Condamine reached Peru in South
America, where the scientific experiments began. His team climbed high into the mountains to take
measurements using surveying equipment and then descended to the desert
plains to continue their
work. Finally, after four years' work
– more than twice the time the leader had intended – the survey
work was complete. As part of their research, they had built small pyramids made of rock as
permanent features from which to take certain measurements, and their remains can still be seen
today as monuments to the expedition. When Condamine's team returned to France, the Earth was
found to be slightly wider between the poles than when measured through its centre at the equator.
Condamine and Maupertius were now counted as among the most eminent scientists in Europe.
TASK TYPE 1 Identifying Information (True/False/Not Given)
The Complete Guide To IELTS (ACADEMIC READING)
2
Questions 1
–6
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
You should write