Why do we need to protect polar bears? IELTS reading answers: The IELTS reading section should be approached with full focus and attention, utilising effective strategies, and students should practice regularly to achieve their desired band score. The IELTS exam should be booked only after due preparation and gaining the confidence to manage time. Scoring high in the IELTS reading section demonstrates that the candidate possesses a sharp and excellent understanding of the English language and is well-equipped to adapt and adjust to English-speaking environments.
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IELTS Reading Passage: Why We Need to Protect Polar Bears Reading Answers
Introduction to the IELTS Reading Passage
Overview of the “Why We Need to Protect Polar Bears” Passage
Scientific Adaptations of Polar Bears
Medical Relevance to Humans
Intelligence and Emotional Complexity
IELTS Reading Question Types & Answer Strategies
Key IELTS Reading Tips for Students
Vocabulary Enhancements
Practice Section
Common IELTS Reading Pitfalls
Resources for IELTS Practice
Conclusion and Final Advice
Why We Need to Protect Polar Bears IELTS Reading Answers With Explanation
IELTS Reading Passage: Why We Need to Protect Polar Bears Reading Answers
Paragraph 1: Polar bears are being increasingly threatened by the effects of climate change, but their disappearance could have far-reaching consequences. They are uniquely adapted to the extreme conditions of the Arctic Circle, where temperatures can reach -40°C. One reason for this is that they have up to 11 centimetres of fat underneath their skin. Humans with comparative levels of adipose tissue would be considered obese and would be likely to suffer from diabetes and heart disease. Yet the polar bear experiences no such consequences.
Paragraph 2: A 2014 study by Shi Ping Liu and colleagues sheds light on this mystery. They compared the genetic structure of polar bears with that of their closest relatives from a warmer climate, the brown bears. This allowed them to determine the genes that have allowed polar bears to survive in one of the toughest environments on Earth. Liu and his colleagues found the polar bears had a gene known as APoB, which reduces levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) – a form of ‘bad’ cholesterol. In humans, mutations of this gene are associated with increased risk of heart disease. Polar bears may therefore be an important study model to understand heart disease in humans.
Paragraph 3: The genome of the polar bear may also provide the solution for another condition, one that particularly affects our older generation: osteoporosis. This is a disease where bones show reduced density, usually caused by insufficient exercise, reduced calcium intake or food starvation. Bone tissue is constantly being remodelled, meaning that bone is added or removed, depending on nutrient availability and the stress that the bone is under. Female polar bears, however, undergo extreme conditions during every pregnancy. Once autumn comes around, these females will dig maternity dens in the snow and will remain there throughout the winter, both before and after the birth of their cubs. This process results in about six months of fasting, where the female bears have to keep themselves and their cubs alive, depleting their own calcium and calorie reserves. Despite this, their bones remain strong and dense.
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Paragraph 4: Physiologists Alanda Lennox and Allen Goodship found an explanation for this paradox in 2008. They discovered that pregnant bears were able to increase the density of their bones before they started to build their dens. In addition, six months later, when they finally emerged from the den with their cubs, there was no evidence of significant loss of bone density. Hibernating brown bears do not have this capacity and must, therefore, resort to major bone reformation in the following spring. If the mechanism of bone remodelling in polar bears can be understood, many bedridden humans, and even astronauts, could potentially benefit.
Paragraph 5: The medical benefits of the polar bear for humanity certainly have their importance in our conservation efforts, but these should not be the only factors taken into consideration. We tend to want to protect animals we think are intelligent and possess emotions, such as elephants and primates. Bears, on the other hand, seem to be perceived as stupid and in many cases violent. And yet anecdotal evidence from the field challenges those assumptions, suggesting for example that polar bears have good problem-solving abilities. A male bear called GoGo in Tennoji Zoo, Osaka, has even been observed making use of a tool to manipulate his environment. The bear used a tree branch on multiple occasions to dislodge a piece of meat hung out of his reach. Problem-solving ability has also been witnessed in wild polar bears, although not as obviously as with GoGo. A calculated move by a male bear involved running and jumping onto barrels in an attempt to get to a photographer standing on a platform four metres high.
Paragraph 6: In other studies, such as one by Alison Ames in 2008, polar bears showed deliberate and focused manipulation. For example, Ames observed bears putting objects in piles and then knocking them over in what appeared to be a game. The study demonstrates that bears are capable of agile and thought-out behaviours. These examples suggest bears have greater creativity and problem-solving abilities than previously thought.
Paragraph 7: As for emotions, while the evidence is once again anecdotal, many bears have been seen to hit out at ice and snow – seemingly out of frustration – when they have just missed out on a kill. Moreover, polar bears can form unusual relationships with other species, including playing with the dogs used to pull sleds in the Arctic. Remarkably, one hand-raised polar bear called Agee has formed a close relationship with her owner Mark Dumas to the point where they even swim together. This is even more astonishing since polar bears are known to actively hunt humans in the wild.
Paragraph 8: If climate change were to lead to their extinction, this would mean the loss of potential breakthroughs in human medicine and, more importantly, the disappearance of an intelligent, majestic animal.
The best way to attempt the IELTS reading passage is to first read the question, understand it, and search for the information. While you are searching for the information, remember that the questions are asked in the sequence of the passage; hence, for the second set of questions, you may be required to read the entire passage again. Hence, this can lead to the wastage of time. To save time, we should be making a gist of the information we read using the annotation method so that we can track the required information quickly.
Context and Importance of the Topic
As a student, making the gist of each paragraph will help you understand the topic in the passage very well. You will also be able to retain the information. Scientific topics like “Why we need to protect the Polar Bear” have broader themes like conservation, medical research and emotional intelligence.
Overview of the “Why We Need to Protect Polar Bears” Passage
The passage “Why we need to protect polar bears” highlights the genetic traits of polar bears that help them survive in extreme climatic conditions and have emotional and cognitive capabilities. It also mentions the effects of extinction due to climatic conditions.
A study by Shi Ping Liu in 2014 revealed that polar bears have a gene called APoB, which lowers bad cholesterol. This contrasts with human physiology, where mutations in this gene can cause heart disease, proving that polar bears as a model for medical research.
Medical Relevance to Humans
Some of the relevances to humans with polar bears, as highlighted in the IELTS reading passage “Why we need to protect polar bears,” are as follows:
Insights into Heart Health – LDL study findings
Scientists may be able to develop medicines for cholesterol-related diseases in humans. This is possible because scientists have discovered that polar bears can remain healthy despite fat content because of the APOF gene in them.
Intelligence and Emotional Complexity
Polar bears show intelligence by making attempts like jumping on barrels to reach humans.
Polar bears display gaming behaviour like stacking and toppling objects.
Polar bears also show emotions like frustration, empathy, and cross-species bonding.
Some of the useful strategies to answer different kinds of IELTS reading questions are as follows:
True/False/Not Given Questions
Read the instructions attentively.
Break the question statement into simpler chunks to understand appropriately, and then search for the required information.
Analyze the information given in the passage and make the appropriate choice of selecting True/yes if the information exactly matches, False/No: if the information contradicts, and Not given for any missing information or no information at all.
Fill-in-the-Blank Table Practice
Read the instructions attentively.
Read the question statement and search for the information using the annotation technique or skimming and scanning.
Matching Headings & Paragraph Summaries –
Read the instructions attentively.
Remember the basic rule of any written information: of introduction-body-conclusion. Mostly, your answers will either be in the initial lines or the last lines of the paragraph.
Master the skill of using the elimination method.
Key IELTS Reading Tips for Students
Some of the key tips that students should use to answer the IELTS Reading section are as follows:
Effective Skimming & Scanning Techniques
One of the preferred tips applied by many students successfully is to skim and scan. Read the first and last sentence of the paragraph to understand its main gist. Scan all numbers and dates to search for accurate information.
Identifying Paraphrases & Synonyms
IELTS questions will not have direct or the same words; they will mostly be paraphrased. So, you are required to raise your vocabulary and understand the synonyms used in the question.
Time Management Strategies (20-minute pace)
The most crucial aspect of the exam is to manage time; each section of the IELTS Reading should be completed in 20 minutes, including transferring the answers to the answer sheet. With practice, students will be able to manage time to re-check or revise all the answers. Hence, building speed is a must.
Vocabulary Enhancements
Vocabulary building is a must for all modules of the IELTS., The IELTS Reading section gives you the chance to acquire more. So, make your own vocabulary journal, write all new words, along with their meanings, and synonyms, and make sentences. Some of the vocabulary words used in the passage are as follows:
Based on the passage: Why We Need to Protect Polar Bears”, let's practice some questions:
Directions: Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading 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
Polar bears' thick fat layer makes them more prone to cardiovascular problems.
The APoB gene was also found in brown bears living in warm climates.
Polar bears maintain bone strength during pregnancy without any notable loss.
Brown bears show the same resistance to bone loss during hibernation as polar bears.
Polar bears in captivity have never displayed tool-use behaviour.
Complete the Summary – Word-Only Responses
Complete the summary below using no more than TWO words from the passage for each answer.
Polar bears are exceptionally adapted to the (6) __________ temperatures of the Arctic region due to a thick layer of fat beneath their skin. Despite having fat levels that would normally cause (7) __________ in humans, they remain unaffected. Research conducted in 2014 revealed that polar bears possess a gene known as (8) __________, which is linked to lower levels of harmful cholesterol. This discovery could have important implications for understanding (9) __________ in humans.
In addition to genetic traits, female polar bears undergo long periods of (10) __________ while raising their young, yet maintain strong bone density — a phenomenon scientists hope to study further for human benefit.
Answer Key & Explanations
FALSE- The passage gives contradictory information: despite having up to 11 cm of fat, polar bears do not suffer from such diseases. They don’t experience the heart problems that obese humans do.
NOT GIVEN- The passage compares polar bears with brown bears to find genetic differences, but it does not state whether APoB exists in brown bears.
TRUE- The passage clearly states, “there was no evidence of significant loss of bone density” after the females emerged from their dens.
FALSE- The passage says “hibernating brown bears do not have this capacity” and must rebuild bone after hibernation. So, they do not show the same resistance.
FALSE- Paragraph 5 describes GoGo, a male polar bear in Tennoji Zoo, who used a tree branch as a tool to reach meat. Therefore, tool use has been observed in captivity.
Extreme- the passage states that: “extreme conditions of the Arctic Circle, where temperatures can reach -40°C.”
heart disease- the passage mentions that humans with similar fat levels would “be likely to suffer from diabetes and heart disease.” This shows the health risks for humans that polar bears avoid.
APoB- In Paragraph 2, the researchers identify a gene called APoB, which helps polar bears reduce LDLs (bad cholesterol).
heart disease- The passage says, “Polar bears may therefore be an important study model to understand heart disease in humans.”
Fasting - Paragraph 3 describes how pregnant female polar bears undergo about “six months of fasting” during maternity denning, yet maintain strong bones.
Common IELTS Reading Pitfalls
Some of the common pitfalls that students must avoid to get a high band score are given below:
Overlooking Key Detail or Paraphrasing
Do not rush, as it may lead to careless mistakes; in fact, follow the strategies given above to do smart work.
Confusing Opinion with Facts
Learn to differentiate between opinions and facts. Sometimes, the passage may just mention an opinion without any factual proof; you have to decide your answers based on factual proof when it comes to True/ False/not given types of questions.
Missing Synonym Matches
This is the most important aspect that has to be taken care of. Building vocabulary will surely help in overcoming this mistake. In the passage given above, failing to recognize that “tool” = “branch” or “frustration” = “hit ice” can lead to wrong answers.
Resources for IELTS Practice
Some of the best resources to practice IELTS Reading material are as follows:
Official IELTS Preparation Sources
- IELTS.org
- British Council
- IDP IELTS India
Online Tools and Practice Tests
Burlington IELTS
British Council
IDP IELTS India
Conclusion and Final Advice
The best advice for the preparation of the IELTS Reading section is to maintain consistency and review the mistakes you make. Do not hesitate to reach out to an expert for any doubt clarification or to clear a concept. Learn to manage time and build vocabulary.
Pooja Aggarwal is an experienced trainer with over 15 years of expertise in helping students achieve their educational goals. With a degree in Education, she focuses on clear, patient, and personalized instruction. Her approach has successfully guided students from diverse backgrounds, preparing them for both Academic and General Training modules of various exams in a supportive and engaging environment.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: How is the Reading score calculated?
A:
Raw scores out of 40 are converted to bands. For Band 8, you need approximately 35-36 correct answers.
Q: Is spelling important in IELTS Reading?
A:
Yes, incorrect spelling = incorrect answer. Hence, you need to be mindful of the spellings.
Q: Can I write in all capital letters?
A:
Yes, you can write answers in ALL CAPS for clarity. This will also help in making no identification mistakes.
Q: Are questions always in order in the IELTS Reading module?
A:
Yes, generally they follow the sequence of the text, but matching headings may vary.
Yes, admission to a German private university with 52% in bachelors, 6.0 IELTS band, and a 1-year gap is possible, but options are limited.
Private universities in Germany are more flexible than public ones. You can apply for courses in management, business, or IT fields. However, you must justify the gap year and ensure a strong Statement of Purpose (SOP).
It’s better to contact universities directly, as some may ask for additional documents or foundation courses before admission.
You are running short of time usually the ideal time would be 2–3 months prior,i advice that you start with your applications that you can quicky begin with your study abroad procedure.
It depends on the university you are applying to.
Most German universities do not require
GATE
for admission to a Master's in Biotechnology. However, some universities may ask for the
GRE
, especially if you are applying to a highly competitive program.
You should check the specific admission requirements of the universities you are interested in. Generally, having
IELTS (or TOEFL)
and a
German language proficiency certificate
(if the course is in German) is enough.
