Approaching IELTS Academic Reading - Flow-chart

Walking with dinosaurs

Falkingham uses computational techniques to model a volume of mud and control the moisture content, consistency, and other conditions to simulate the mud of prehistoric times. A footprint is then made in the digital mud by a virtual foot. This footprint can be chopped up and viewed from any angle and stress values can be extracted and calculated from inside it. By running hundreds of these simulations simultaneously on supercomputers, Falkingham can start to understand what types of footprint would be expected if an animal moved in a certain way over a given kind of ground. Looking at the variation in the virtual tracks, researchers can make sense of fossil tracks with greater confidence.

Complete the flow-chart below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

PETER FALKINGHAM’S COMPUTER MODEL

Mud is simulated with attention to its texture and thickness and how much 1. moisture it contains. [contains=content]

↓

A virtual foot produces a footprint in the mud.

↓

The footprint is dissected and examined from all angles.

↓

Levels of 2. stress are measured within the footprint. [measured within the footprint=calculated from inside it ]

↓

Multiple simulations relate footprints to different types of 3. ground. [types=kind]

↓

More accurate interpretation of 4. fossil tracks is possible. [more accurate interpretation=greater confidence]

Tips

• First look at the heading of the flow-chart. This will help you locate the paragraph where you can find the information. e.g. Capital letters, numbers, unusual words etc.
• The answers in the passage follow the flow-chart order.
• The missing words you choose should make grammatical sense. Most of the missing words are nouns.

Sample reading passage taken from Cambridge IELTS Trainer p.24