What Do Whales Feel Reading Answers

Abishek

Author

19-09-2025

What Do Whales Feel Reading Answers

The table includes all What Do Whales Feel Reading Passage Answers. Check out the solutions and evaluate your answers. 

Solution for what Do Whales Feel

1. taste buds 5. water/the water 9. freshwater dolphins(s)/the freshwater dolphin(s)
2. baleen/the baleen whales

6. lower frequencies/ the lower frequencies

10. airborne flying fish
3. IN EITHER ORDER; BOTH REQUIRED FOR ONE MARK forward (and) downward 7. bowhead 11. clear water(s)/clear open water(s)
4. freshwater dolphins(s)/the freshwater dolphin(s) 8. touch/sense of touch 12. acoustic sense/the acoustic sense

Now check out other question types in What Do Whales Feel IELTS Reading Answers article. You will get practice for 3 question types based on What Do Whales Feel passage. 

The IELTS reading section is one of the 4 sections in the IELTS test. What Do Whales Feel Reading Answers is developed in order to give you practice with the IELTS reading section. 

In this section you will come across 14 IELTS reading question types.  What Do Whales Feel Reading Answers article will discuss the following 3 question types. 

  • IELTS Reading Note Completion
  • IELTS Reading Yes/No/Not Given
  • IELTS Reading Matching Headings

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6 thoughts on “What Do Whales Feel”

What Do Whales Feel Reading Answers is an article that helps you attempt the IELTS test. Learn more about the “What Do Whales Feel” passage before you start answering the questions.

  • The What Do Whales Feel IELTS Reading Answers article is based on the passage from the Cambridge 4 Test 1. 
  • What Do Whales Feel is a passage about whales and dolphins and their external senses. 
  • We can see how  the senses in Cetaceans vary in different species. 
  • What Do Whales Feel passage helps you improve your reading abilities and time management skills. 
  • This passage helps you understand the 3 question types and to assess your reading skills and your performance in the IELTS test. 
  • This passage is long so you have to read the passage quickly. Also you can mark the answers as you read so you can easily answer the questions. 

Before attempting to write the What Do Whales Feel IELTS Reading Answers, check the IELTS reading tips

IELTS reading passage - What Do Whales Feel

The passage for What Do Whales Feel reading answers is given below. Read this passage carefully and start answering the questions.  

What Do Whales Feel?

  1. Some senses in Cetaceans are reduced or are absent or don't work in water, but we and other terrestrial mammals take these for granted. For example, toothed species are unable to smell which is evident from their brain structure. On the other hand, Baleen species have some similar brain structures but it is not understood whether these are functional. As the blowholes evolved and migrated to the top of the head it has been speculated that the neural pathways serving a sense of smell may have been nearly all sacrificed. The nerves serving these have degenerated or are rudimentary even though some cetaceans have taste buds. 
  2. The sense of touch has been sometimes reported to be weak too, but it is mostly mistaken. Trainers comment on their captive dolphins and small whales' responsiveness to being touched or rubbed. Free- ranging and captive cetacean individuals of all species (particularly adults and calves, or members of the same subgroup) appear to make frequent contact. Stroking or touching are part of the courtship ritual in most species and this contact may help to maintain order within a group. Captive animals often object to being touched around the area of the blowhole as it is sensitive there.
  3. The sense of vision is developed in different species to different degrees. Baleen species, specifically a grey whale calf, studied in captivity at close quarters underwater for a year, and humpback whales and free-ranging right whales, studied and filmed off Argentina and Hawaii, have tracked objects with vision underwater, and they can see to a certain extent both in water and in air. However, the position of the eyes limits the field of vision in baleen whales that do not have stereoscopic vision. 
  4. The position of the eyes in most dolphins and porpoises on the other hand, indicates that they have stereoscopic vision downward and forward. The eye position in freshwater dolphins, which often swim upside down or on their side while feeding, suggests that the vision they have is stereoscopic upward and forward. In comparison, the bottlenose dolphin has extremely keen eyesight in water. Judging from the way it tracks and watches the flying fish, it can also see well through the air-water interface as well. Even though the initial experimental evidence indicates that their vision in air is low, the precision with which dolphins spring high to catch small fish out of a trainer’s hand gives anecdotal evidence to the contrary. 
  5. With no doubt these variations can be explained with reference to the habitats in which individual species have grown. For example, to species inhabiting clear open waters, vision is more useful than to those living in turbid rivers and flooded plains. For instance, the Chinese beiji and South American boutu appear to have very limited sight, and the Indian susus are blind, their eyes reduced to slits that mostly allow them to recognise only the intensity of light and direction. 
  6. Even though the sense of taste and smell appear to have declined, and vision in water appears to be unknown, such shortcomings are compensated for by cetaceans’ well-developed auditory sense. Most species are highly vocal, although they vary in the range of voice they generate, and many hunt their prey using echolocation. Primarily large baleen whales use lower frequencies and are often restricted in their repertoire. The complex, haunting utterances of the humpback whales and the song-like choruses of bowhead whales in summer are notable exceptions. Toothed species in general produce a wider variety of sounds and more frequency spectrum than baleen species (though the sperm whale apparently produces a monotonous series of high-energy clicks and little else). Few of the complicated sounds are also clearly communicative. The role they play in the ‘culture’ and social life of cetaceans has been more of a wild speculation than of solid science.

What Do Whales Feel IELTS reading questions

IELTS Reading Note Completion Questions 1-5

Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/ OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

Toothed species are unable to 1_______. 

Blowholes evolved and migrated to the top of the 2_____.

Captive animals often object to being touched around the area of the 3______. 

The sense of 4________ is developed in different species to different degrees. 

The bottlenose dolphin has an extremely keen 5________ in water. 

Also check: IELTS Reading Note Completion

IELTS Reading Yes/No/Not Given Questions 6-9

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?

Write

YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO, if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

6. Stroking or touching may help to maintain order within a group.

7. Captive animals like  being touched around the area of the blowhole 

8. Dolphins live up to the age of 30. 

9. Chinese Beiji and South American Boutu have very limited sight.

Also check: IELTS Reading Yes/No/Not Given

IELTS Reading Matching Headings Questions 10-15

The reading passage has six paragraphs, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-vii, as your answer to each question.

i. Habitat of whales
ii. Absence of senses in Cetaceans  
iii. Voice of whales
iv. Responsiveness to touch
v. Position of eyes
vi. The size of whales
vii. Sense of vision 

10. Paragraph A 
11. Paragraph B 
12. Paragraph C 
13. Paragraph D 
14. Paragraph E 
15. Paragraph F 

Also check: IELTS Reading Matching Headings

What Do Whales Feel IELTS reading answers with explanations

Check for the What Do Whales Feel IELTS reading answers with explanations below. 

Answer for IELTS Reading Note Completion Questions

(Note: The text in italics is from the reading passage and shows the location from where the answer is taken or inferred. The text in the regular font explains the answer in detail.)

1. smell

Explanation: For example, toothed species are unable to smell which is evident from their brain structure. 

2. head

Explanation: As the blowholes evolved and migrated to the top of the head it has been speculated that the neural pathways serving a sense of smell may have been nearly all sacrificed. 

3. blowhole

Explanation:  Captive animals often object to being touched around the area of the blowhole as it is sensitive there.

4. vision 

Explanation: The sense of vision is developed in different species to different degrees. 

5. eyesight 

Explanation: In comparison, the bottlenose dolphin has extremely keen eyesight in water. 

Answer for IELTS Reading Yes/No/Not Given Questions
6. Yes

Explanation: Stroking or touching are part of the courtship ritual in most species and this contact may help to maintain order within a group.

7. No

Explanation: Captive animals often object to being touched around the area of the blowhole as it is sensitive there.

8. Not given

Explanation: The answer to the question is not given in the passage.

9. Yes

Explanation:  For instance, the Chinese beiji and South American boutu appear to have very limited sight, and the Indian susus are blind, their eyes reduced to slits that mostly allow them to recognise only the intensity of light and direction. 

Answer for IELTS Reading Matching Headings Questions
10. Paragraph A = ii 

Explanation: Some senses in Cetaceans are reduced or are absent or don't work in water, but we and other terrestrial mammals take these for granted.

11. Paragraph B = iv 

Explanation: The sense of touch has been sometimes reported to be weak too, but it is mostly mistaken. 

12. Paragraph C = vii

Explanation: The sense of vision is developed in different species to different degrees. 

13. Paragraph D = v 

Explanation: The position of the eyes in most dolphins and porpoises on the other hand, indicates that they have stereoscopic vision downward and forward. 

14. Paragraph E = i 

Explanation: With no doubt these variations can be explained with reference to the habitats in which individual species have grown. 

15. Paragraph F = iii

Explanation: Most species are highly vocal, although they vary in the range of voice they generate, and many hunt their prey using echolocation.

Check the other reading passages 

Click to check the other important reading passages listed below,

Conclusion

This article is developed for the purpose of providing practice for the IELTS reading section. We believe that you have understood the given question types and were able to give the “What Do Whales Feel Reading Answers”. 

Abishek

About Author Abishek Babu M

Abishek is a seasoned expert in the study abroad processes and IELTS, GRE, TOEFL, and SAT subjects. With over 2.5 years of experience in helping students achieve their foreign education goals, he has become a trusted individual in the industry. His extensive knowledge and authority in the IELTS test have earned him a reputation as a go-to resource for students seeking to excel in their exams. Abishek's exceptional track record has earned him the trust of countless students who rely on his resources to achieve their study abroad dreams.

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