A Very Special Dog Reading Answers | IELTS General Reading Practice Test Reading Answers

A very special dog

A. It is currently 8:15 a.m. Tullamarine International Airport in Melbourne receives a flight. Several hundred pieces of luggage are hurriedly loaded onto a conveyor belt in the baggage recovery annex from the airliner. A dog barks above the din of roaring motors, rushing air vents, and grinding generators. The tail of Florence, a sleek black labrador, wags. An unassuming hardback suitcase is among the cavalcade of luggage passing beneath Florence's all-smelling nose. There are 18 kilograms of hashish inside the case, packed in loose pepper and coffee, wrapped in freezer paper, and heat-sealed in plastic.

B. Super-sniffer Florence isn't fooled by the carefully disguised drugs, and her constant clawing at the case notifies her handler. Florence is a member of a completely new breed: she is the result of what may be the world's only project dedicated to breeding canines purely to detect drugs. In drug detection, ordinary canines have a 0.1 percent probability of succeeding. The Australian Customs' new breeding program is so successful that more than half of the canines it produces make the cut.

C. And what started out as a purely practical operation to keep illegal narcotics out of Australia could wind up having a role in a completely different sphere: the very obscure field of neurobiology. Florence's unwavering concentration, along with a few other crucial characteristics, turns out to be what makes her a great drug hound.

D. Florence could aid neurobiologists in their understanding of 'attention processing,' or the brain systems that control what a person pays attention to and for how long, as well as disorders like Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (ADHD). In the United States, where the frequency is highest, as many as 3 to 5% of children are considered to be affected, however, diagnosis is often disputed.

E. Since 1969, Australian Customs has deployed dogs to search for drugs. The animals used to come from pounds and private breeders. But, fed up with the low success rate of finding decent dogs this way, John Vanderloo, a senior instructor with the Detector Dog Unit, teamed up with Kath Champness, a Ph.D. student at the University of Melbourne at the time, to start a breeding program in 1993.

F. Champness started by outlining the six fundamental characteristics of a detecting dog. First and foremost, a good detector dog must enjoy praise because it is the only tool trainers have, but the dog must also be capable of working for lengthy periods of time without it. Then it requires a strong hunting instinct as well as the stamina to smell at a rate of 300 times each minute. The ideal detector is also fearless enough to face suffocating airport crowds and raging cargo ship engine rooms.

Questions 1- 6

This reading passage has eight paragraphs, A–F.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-F, as your answer to each question.
Note: You may use any letter more than once. 

1. The new breeding program for Australian Customs is so successful that more than half of the dogs it produces make the cut.
2. Animals were earlier obtained from pounds and private breeders.
3. Over the sound of roaring motors, rushing air vents, and grinding generators, a dog barks.
4. In addition to suffocating airport crowds and raging cargo ship engine rooms, the ideal detector is brave.
5. Florence's continuous concentration, coupled with a few other key attributes, turns out to be what makes her such a successful drug hound.
6. One of the many suitcases going beneath Florence's all-smelling nose is an inconspicuous hardcover suitcase.

1. Answer: Paragraph B 
Explanation: The Australian Customs' new breeding program is so successful that more than half of the canines it produces make the cut.

2. Answer: Paragraph E 
Explanation: The animals used to come from pounds and private breeders. 

3. Answer: Paragraph A 
Explanation: A dog barks above the din of roaring motors, rushing air vents, and grinding generators.

4. Answer: Paragraph F 
Explanation: The ideal detector is also fearless enough to face suffocating airport crowds and raging cargo ship engine rooms.

5. Answer: Paragraph C 
Explanation: Florence's unwavering concentration, along with a few other crucial characteristics, turns out to be what makes her a great drug hound.

6. Answer: Paragraph A
Explanation: An unassuming hardback suitcase is among the cavalcade of luggage passing beneath Florence's all-smelling nose.