The Thylacine IELTS Reading Answers with Explanation

“The Thylacine” is Passage 1 of Cambridge IELTS 17 Academic Reading Test 3. This page gives the answers for Questions 1–13 with a short explanation of why each answer is right, so you can check your work and learn from every mistake. The question types are: Note Completion, True / False / Not Given.

Quick answers: Questions 1–13

Question	Answer
1	carnivorous
2	scent
3	pouch
4	fossil
5	habitat
6	TRUE
7	FALSE
8	NOT GIVEN
9	FALSE
10	NOT GIVEN
11	FALSE
12	TRUE
13	NOT GIVEN

Questions 1–5: Note Completion

Q	Question	Answer	Why
1	ate an entirely ___ diet	carnivorous	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.
2	probably depended mainly on ___ when hunting	scent	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.
3	young spent first months of life inside its mother’s ___	pouch	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.
4	last evidence in mainland Australia is a 3,100-year-old ___	fossil	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.
5	reduction in ___ and available sources of food were partly responsible for decline in Tasmania	habitat	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.

Questions 6–13: True / False / Not Given

Q	Question	Answer	Why
6	Significant numbers of thylacines were killed by humans from the 1830s onwards.	TRUE	The passage agrees with this statement.
7	Several thylacines were born in zoos during the late 1800s.	FALSE	The passage contradicts this statement.
8	John Gould’s prediction about the thylacine surprised some biologists.	NOT GIVEN	The passage gives no clear information to confirm or reject this statement.
9	In the early 1900s, many scientists became worried about the possible extinction of the thylacine.	FALSE	The passage contradicts this statement.
10	T.T. Flynn’s proposal to rehome captive thylacines on an island proved to be impractical.	NOT GIVEN	The passage gives no clear information to confirm or reject this statement.
11	There were still reasonable numbers of thylacines in existence when a piece of legislation protecting the species during their breeding season was passed.	FALSE	The passage contradicts this statement.
12	From 1930 to 1936, the only known living thylacines were all in captivity.	TRUE	The passage agrees with this statement.
13	Attempts to find living thylacines are now rarely made.	NOT GIVEN	The passage gives no clear information to confirm or reject this statement.

Tips for these question types

• Completion tasks: check the word limit and the grammar of the gap before you write the answer exactly as it appears in the passage.
• True / False / Not Given: TRUE means the passage says the same thing, FALSE means it says the opposite, and NOT GIVEN means it does not say. Never use your own knowledge.
• Review every mistake. Find the exact sentence in the passage that proves the answer so you can spot the same trap next time.

FAQ

How many questions does this passage have? The Thylacine covers Questions 1–13, which is 13 questions.

Where is this passage from? It is Reading Passage 1 in Cambridge IELTS 17, Academic Test 3.

How should I use these answers? Attempt the passage under timed conditions first, then check your answers here and read the reason for every mistake.

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