Mapping Reading Answers

arivarasi

Author

16-09-2025

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cThe Mapping reading answers are provided in the table given below.

1. A 5. C 9. EGYPT 13. (SOME) CARS
2. D 6. D 10. MONKS  
3. B 7. C 11. PTOLEMY  
4. C 8. B 12. (NAVIGATION) SATELLITES  

The IELTS reading exam pattern is framed to test your English language reading skills. The test is for 60 minutes so you should have good time-management skills to solve the test quickly. For the answer method, we have provided Mapping reading answers with locations which will help you to locate your answers swiftly.

Mapping reading answers contain information about the study of how the law functions as a therapeutic agent. In this article there are three main IELTS Reading question types provided below

  • IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Questions
  • IELTS Reading Matching Features
  • IETLS Reading Summary Completion

Before going through the Mapping IELTS reading passage please refer to the IELTS reading tips.

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IELTS reading passage - Mapping

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage  below. After you've attempted all of the questions, review your answers using the provided Mapping reading answers with locations.

Mapping

  1. These days, a mapmaker's vision is not limited by what the eye can see. The crow's nest of the sailing ship, the mountain top, and the airplane have given way to new orbital altitudes as the perspective of mapmaking. Radar can see through dense jungle cover and has created the first maps of the mountains on Venus. Radar works by sending microwave radio waves to a surface and collecting photos of its shapes and textures. Additionally, charts of the seafloor are created using a mix of sonar and radar, which first places a large portion of Earth on a map. According to the opinion of Joel Morrison who is the chief of geography at the U.S. Bureau of the Census, "Suddenly it's a totally different universe for us." Even in five years, "our future as mapmakers is dubious."

  2. The basement of the Congress Library in Washington, D.C. houses the biggest collection of maps in the world. Up to 4.6 million map sheets and 63,000 atlases make up the collection, which also contains stunning bound collections of intricate maps from the Dutch cartography's heyday. In the reading room, academics use magnifying lenses to study historic maps while donning thin cotton gloves to safeguard the delicate sheets. People are analyzing the most recent maps while seated at their computers across the room. Computers can store information about people, places, and surroundings — the elements of maps — thanks to their enormous memories. Information is then presented on screens practically immediately in the proper geographic context, and with the touch of a button, a printout of the map is produced.

  3. The first significant step in scientific mapping was the measurement of the spherical Earth. The Greek astronomer Eratosthenes, a student at the renowned Alexandrian Library in Egypt in the third century BC, was the first to accomplish this. His estimate of 25,200 miles for the circumference of the Earth was amazingly accurate. We currently know the longitudinal circumference to be 24,860 miles.

  4. Ptolemy, an astronomer and geographer who lived in the second century AD, developed a system for arranging maps using latitude and longitude grids by building on the theories of his forebears. The reason for the width of current time zones is that meridians are typically spaced at intervals of 15 degrees and parallels are frequently spaced at intervals of 10 to 20 degrees. Ptolemy's suggestion to cartographers to produce scale-based maps is another one of his legacies. On modern maps, distance is shown as a percentage or ratio of the actual distance. However, Ptolemy's mapmakers lacked the geographic expertise necessary to uphold his scientific standards. Maps are not accurate representations of reality, even today, when surveyors can reach accuracy down to inches and satellites can plot probable missile targets down to feet.

  5. But just as the compass enhanced navigation and increased demand for practical charts, the printing press, which was developed in the 15th century, freed monks from producing maps, which had previously tended to represent religion rather than geography. Ocean-going ships ushered in an era of exploration by expanding the scope of what could and needed to be mapped and arousing a thirst for knowledge about the wider globe.

  6. Mapmakers in the fifteenth century gradually replaced theology with knowledge of distant locales as recorded by travelling merchants like Marco Polo, who were inspired by the rediscovered Ptolemy, whose work had been conserved by Arabs after the destruction of the Alexandrian Library in AD 931.

  7. The most famous shipbuilder of the 16th century, Gerhardus Mercator, devised a method for positioning meridians and parallels that allowed navigators to draw straight lines between two sites and maintain a consistent compass course between them. The "Greenland issue" was established by this distortion formula on his world map from 1569. One of the numerous issues with trying to depict a round world on a flat piece of paper is that Greenland still appears to be as big as South America on some modern standard maps. But because the Mercator projection was so valuable, sailors continued to choose it.

  8. With the accomplishments of the Cassini family, including the father, son, grandson, and great-grandson, scientific mapping of the area came into its own. The system's creator, Jean-Dominique, who was born in Italy, developed a sophisticated way to calculate longitude based on observation of Jupiter's moons in the late 17th century. Surveyors were able to create an accurate map of France using this method. His great-grandson published their renowned Cassini map in 1793, during the French Revolution, while the family continued to explore the French countryside. Even while it might not have had the same visual appeal as earlier maps, this one served as a social and geographic map model, displaying highways, rivers, canals, cities, abbeys, vineyards, lakes, and even windmills. By accomplishing this feat, France became the first nation to be entirely mapped using scientific techniques.

  9. Since then, maps have advanced greatly. Today's surveyors hardly ever enter the field unconnected to navigation satellite systems. Surveyors are increasingly using the satellite system built and still run by the US Defense Department, whose hand-held receivers are the most well-known of the new mapping technologies. It can be used by regular hikers, sailors, and explorers to provide location information. They can be purchased in simplified civilian versions for a few hundred dollars, and they serve as the brains of some cars' electronic map displays. However, regardless of how far away "there" may be, cartography's goal has always been to convey a feeling of where "here" is with respect to that location.

Mapping Reading questions

Questions 1-5

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write the correct letter in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

1. The opening paragraph claims that 21st-century mapmakers

  1. combine methods to explore uncharted territory
  2. Rely still on being able to see the maps they create
  3. are now allowed to access the darkest jungle
  4. need advice from professionals in other domains

2. The Library of Congress provides a chance to

  1. Use their collection of Dutch maps as a resource.
  2. Learn how to preserve old, delicate maps.
  3. Enjoy the ambiance of the reading room.
  4. Make customized computer maps for each customer

3. Ptolemy made his contemporaries aware of the significance of

  1. calculating the world's circumference
  2. arranging maps to represent precise distance ratios
  3. calculating the separation between parallels of latitude
  4. Precision and accuracy in mapping

4. The printing press's creation

  1. renewed enthusiasm for scientific knowledge
  2. made it possible for maps to be printed more affordably
  3. altered the way maps are made
  4. ensured that Ptolemy's work was carried on

5.  The author states as a conclusion that

  1. Making maps has become overly specialized.
  2. Conditions for cartographers are quite difficult.
  3. The primary objectives of mapping are still the same.
  4. The uses for satellite mapping are limitless.

Click to know more about IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Questions

Questions 6-8 

Look at the following list of achievements (Questions 6-8) and the list of mapmakers below.
Match each achievement with the correct mapmaker, A, B, C, or D.

      6.  Established the basis for the current time zones
      7.  Produced maps displaying built-up areas
      8.  Very nearly measured the Earth's orbital distance precisely.

  1. Ptolemy
  2. Cassini family
  3. Eratosthenes
  4. Mercator

Click to know more about IELTS Reading Matching Features

Questions 9-12

Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Maps from history help us understand how the world has come to make sense to us. The attitudes and knowledge of the time are also reflected in them. The earliest significant development in the art of mapmaking took occurred in (9)...........................................in the third century BC. Work in this tradition continued until the second century AD but was then put on hold for more than a thousand years. During this time, (10)......................................rather than scientists were responsible for creating maps. To their great luck, however, the writings of (11)................................................had been retained, and interest in scientific mapmaking was resurrected as academics strove to construct maps based on the tales of travellers. These days, (12)........................................are essential to the process of creating maps, and radar has made it possible for cartographers to map areas that extend beyond our local environment. In addition, this high-tech equipment is not only utilized for the mapping of remote locations but more cost-effective variants of it have also been developed for usage in (13)........................

Click to know more about IELTS Reading Summary Completion

Mapping reading answers with explanation

Mapping reading answers with explanations can assist you in correcting errors and identifying the required information for your answer.

1. A

Answer Location: Paragraph A 
Explanation: The initial lines of Paragraph A  show that the vision has been transformed and is now more constrained than what the human visual system is capable of. The perspective has undergone a total change. As mentioned in the opening paragraph, mapmakers in the twenty-first century combine approaches in order to explore the unexplored territory. The answer is therefore A.

2. D

Answer Location: Paragraph B 4th line
Explanation: Academics study maps in the Library of Congress using computers that also include data about people, places, and surroundings. The last line of the paragraph discloses that a printout of the map may be made with only one click. Therefore, upon request, the library offers the ability to create personalized computer maps. Thus, B is the right answer.

3. B

Answer Location: Paragraph D 1st line
Explanation: The lines of paragraph D suggest that the astronomer and geographer Ptolemy devised a method for arranging maps using latitude and longitude grids. He thus reminded his colleagues of the importance of positioning maps to accurately portray distance ratios. B is the answer; as a result.

4. C

Answer Location: Paragraph E 1st line
Explanation: The lines in the passage show how the widespread availability of maps resulted from the invention of the printing press in the fourteenth century, which in turn had an effect on the method by which matches were made. Given that, the answer is C.

5. C

Answer Location: Paragraph I 1st line
Explanation: Lines of paragraph I demonstrate that cartography, the process of creating maps, is exploring the limits of space. The conclusion states that the main objective of mapmaking is still the same as a consequence. Therefore, C is the answer.

6. A

Answer Location: Paragraph D 4th line
Explanation: According to paragraph D, Ptolemy was the one who informed his contemporaries of the significance of ordering maps to show precise distance ratios. According to the second line, the reason for the width of modern time zones is that meridians are typically spaced at intervals of 15 degrees and parallels of latitude are frequently spaced at intervals of 10 to 20 degrees. Ptolemy's suggestion to cartographers to produce scale-based maps is another one of his legacies.

7. B

Answer Location: Paragraph H 1st line
Explanation: The H paragraph demonstrates how the Cassini family's contributions—father, son, grandson, and great-grandson—led to the scientific mapping of the land coming into its own. These lines indicate that the Cassini family was responsible for creating maps that showed man-made landmarks.

8. C

Answer Location: Paragraph C 1st line
Explanation: According to the third paragraph, determining the sphericalness of the Earth was the first significant step in scientific mapping. The Greek astronomer Eratosthenes, a student at the renowned Alexandrian Library in Egypt throughout the third century BC, was the first to accomplish this. His estimate of 25,200 miles for the circumference of the Earth was amazingly accurate. Eratosthenes was thus extremely close to correctly calculating the circumference of the Earth.

9. EGYPT

Answer Location: Paragraph C 2nd line
Explanation: According to paragraph C, the famous Alexandrian Library in Egypt's third century BC saw the first important advancement in mapmaking. The right response is Egypt.

10. MONKS

Answer Location: Paragraph E 1st line
Explanation: According to paragraph E, the development of the printing press in the 15th century put maps into more people's hands and forced monks, who had previously tended to illustrate theology rather than geography, out of the business of producing them. This is similar to how the compass improved navigation and increased demand for useful charts. From these lines, it is clear that while the printing press's creation in the 15th century was very beneficial to the populace, monks who illustrated theology rather than geographic topics lost their ability to produce books.

11. PTOLEMY

Answer Location: Paragraph D 4th line
Explanation: Ptolemy advised the cartographers to create scaled maps, therefore these are his words. The distance is depicted on contemporary maps as a ratio or percentage of the actual distance. Because Ptolemy's writings have been preserved, academics' interest in scientific mapping has been reignited. Ptolemy is the appropriate answer.

12. (NAVIGATION) SATELLITES

Answer Location: Paragraph I 1st line
Explanation: The lines in paragraph I imply that radar has enabled it for cartographers and that today's maps rely on navigation satellites. These have made it possible for us to map areas outside of our local surroundings. The answer is satellite navigation systems.

13. (SOME) CARS

Answer Location: Paragraph I 5th line
Explanation: According to the fifth sentence of paragraph I, civilian versions of the receivers that have been simplified are sold for a few hundred dollars and serve as the brains of some cars' electronic map displays. These lines imply that less complicated receivers can be purchased for a few dollars and that more affordable receivers have been developed for use in some cars in addition to being used to map remote locations. So, a few cars are the solution.

Check the other reading passages

Click the links to check the other important reading passages listed below,

Conclusion

The "Mapping reading answers" article provides you the reading answers with explanations and locations. We hope that this article has helped you in solving your IELTS reading test. Also, links to the extra reading section have been provided in this article.

arivarasi

About Author Arivarasi

Arivarasi is an experienced author with expertise in the study abroad industry and preparing test materials for exams like IELTS, TOEFL, GRE, SAT, PTE, etc. She stays up-to-date with university and college requirements for international students which allows her to provide guidance on course selection, documents like SOP, LOR, and scholarship opportunities. She has written numerous articles on study abroad exams, destinations, universities & colleges requirements, admission procedures, and the entire process of studying abroad. Collaborating with industry experts and counselors, she crafts informative articles that make students take the right decisions.

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