Finding the Way Across the Pacific: Reading Answers & Explanations
IELTS Reading practice test · 14 questionsAcademicmedium
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About this passage
The passage opens: “Long before Europeans learned to cross the open ocean, the peoples of the Pacific were settling islands scattered across a third of the globe. From South East Asia they spread eastwards across thousands of kilometres of empty water, reaching Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand at the far corners of a vast triangle.”
- Passage length: about 740 words
- Questions: 14
- Question types: Matching Features, Sentence Completion, Multiple Choice — Multiple Answers, True / False / Not Given
“Finding the Way Across the Pacific” is an original IELTS-style practice passage written by IELTS-Bank. It is not taken from an official IELTS or Cambridge test, so these answers only apply to our version.
Answer key at a glance
Finding the Way Across the Pacific answers with explanations
Questions 1–4: Matching Features
Match each statement with the correct natural guide, A, B or C. You may use any letter more than once.
- A. the stars
- B. ocean swells
- C. seabirds
- D. the wind
- 1
Their rising and setting points helped fix a direction through the night.
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Answer: A — the stars
Why: The passage states that navigators used the rising and setting points of stars to maintain a steady bearing through the night, indicating their role in fixing direction.
Where to find it · Paragraph 2 “Navigators learned the points on the horizon where particular stars rise and set, and by holding a course towards a known rising star, and then the next star to rise behind it, they could keep a steady bearing through the hours of darkness.”
- 2
The way they bend around an island can reveal hidden land.
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Answer: B — ocean swells
Why: Ocean swells bend around islands and create disturbances in their rhythm, which can indicate the presence of land that is still out of sight, as described in the passage.
Where to find it · Paragraph 3 “When such a swell struck an island it bent around the obstacle and was thrown back, and this disturbance in the familiar rhythm could betray the presence of land that was still far below the horizon and quite out of sight.”
- 3
Watching them fly at dusk showed which way land lay.
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Answer: C — seabirds
Why: The passage states that navigators could determine the direction of land by observing seabirds, such as terns and frigatebirds, flying purposefully at dusk to return to land.
Where to find it · Paragraph 4 “Certain seabirds, such as terns and frigatebirds, feed at sea during the day but return to land each evening to roost; a navigator who spotted them flying purposefully at dusk knew that an island lay in the direction of their flight, and roughly how far.”
- 4
A navigator lying in the hull could feel them lifting the canoe.
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Answer: B — ocean swells
Why: The passage states that an experienced navigator lying in the hull of a canoe could feel the way ocean swells lifted and rocked the vessel, using them like lines of an invisible grid.
Where to find it · Paragraph 3 “Long ocean swells, generated by distant and dependable winds, travel in steady directions, and an experienced navigator lying in the hull of a canoe could feel the way these swells lifted and rocked the vessel, using them like the lines of an invisible grid.”
Questions 5–10: Sentence Completion
Complete the sentences below using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
- 5
Pacific voyagers crossed the ocean without printed charts or a magnetic ______.(max 2 words)
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Answer: compass
Why: The answer is found in the passage's third sentence, which states that Pacific voyagers navigated without using a magnetic compass or printed charts.
Where to find it · Paragraph 1 “They did all of this without a magnetic compass, without printed charts and without any of the instruments that European sailors came to depend upon.”
- 6
The navigator's memorised framework of star positions is called a ______.(max 2 words)
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Answer: star compass
Why: The answer is found in the passage where it explains that the mental framework of star positions, memorized by navigators, is often referred to as a star compass, existing only in their trained memory.
Where to find it · Paragraph 2 “This mental framework of star positions is often called a star compass, though it exists only in the navigator's trained memory.”
- 7
Seabirds such as terns and ______ return to land each evening.(max 2 words)
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Answer: frigatebirds (also accepted: frigate birds)
Why: The answer is found in the passage where it mentions that certain seabirds, including terns and frigatebirds, feed at sea during the day but return to land each evening to roost.
Where to find it · Paragraph 4 “Certain seabirds, such as terns and frigatebirds, feed at sea during the day but return to land each evening to roost; a navigator who spotted them flying purposefully at dusk knew that an island lay in the direction of their flight, and roughly how far.”
- 8
In 1976 a canoe named ______ sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti.(max 2 words)
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Answer: Hokulea (also accepted: Hokule'a)
Why: The passage does not provide information about a canoe named Hokulea sailing from Hawaii to Tahiti in 1976.
Where to find it · Paragraph 5 “In 1976 he guided a double-hulled voyaging canoe named Hokulea from Hawaii to Tahiti using no instruments at all, steering by stars, swells and birds across more than four thousand kilometres of ocean.”
- 9
The voyage was guided by a master navigator from the island of ______.(max 2 words)
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Answer: Satawal
Why: The passage mentions that the dramatic revival of the art of navigation owed much to a master navigator named Mau Piailug, who was from the island of Satawal.
Where to find it · Paragraph 5 “Its dramatic revival owed much to a master navigator named Mau Piailug, from the small island of Satawal in Micronesia, one of the last people fully trained in the traditional way.”
- 10
The success of the voyage proved that such journeys were ______ rather than accidental.(max 2 words)
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Answer: deliberate (also accepted: intentional)
Why: The passage explains that the navigators used a complex system of knowledge and skills, such as star positions and ocean swells, to intentionally guide their voyages, rather than relying on chance.
Where to find it · Paragraph 5 “It demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that such journeys could be made deliberately rather than by chance, and it inspired a wider renaissance of traditional navigation across the Pacific that continues today.”
Question 11: Multiple Choice — Multiple Answers
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
- A. reading the positions of the stars
- B. following printed sea charts
- C. observing the flight of seabirds
- D. using a magnetic compass
- E. measuring depth with a weighted line
- 11
Which TWO methods did Pacific navigators use to find their way? Choose TWO letters.
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Answer: A — reading the positions of the stars; C — observing the flight of seabirds
Why: Pacific navigators used the positions of stars as a guide and observed the flight of seabirds to determine the direction and distance to land, as described in the passage.
Where to find it · Paragraph 4 “Certain seabirds, such as terns and frigatebirds, feed at sea during the day but return to land each evening to roost; a navigator who spotted them flying purposefully at dusk knew that an island lay in the direction of their flight, and roughly how far.”
Questions 12–14: True / False / Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.
- 12
Pacific navigators recorded their routes on written charts.
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Answer: FALSE
Why: The passage states that Pacific navigators did not use printed charts but relied on memorized knowledge passed orally through generations.
Where to find it · Paragraph 2 “In truth the voyagers relied on an intricate body of knowledge, memorised and passed on by word of mouth from one generation of navigators to the next.”
- 13
The 1976 voyage helped to revive traditional navigation in the Pacific.
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Answer: TRUE
Why: The passage states that traditional navigation was nearly lost by the twentieth century, but its revival was significantly influenced by a master navigator, implying that the 1976 voyage contributed to this revival.
Where to find it · Paragraph 5 “Its dramatic revival owed much to a master navigator named Mau Piailug, from the small island of Satawal in Micronesia, one of the last people fully trained in the traditional way.”
- 14
Women were traditionally trained as navigators in Pacific communities.
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Answer: NOT GIVEN
Why: The statement claims women were trained as navigators, but the passage neither confirms nor denies this, only mentioning that navigational knowledge was passed orally through generations without specifying the gender of the navigators.
Closest related text · Paragraph 2 “In truth the voyagers relied on an intricate body of knowledge, memorised and passed on by word of mouth from one generation of navigators to the next.”
Estimated band score for this test
Your raw score out of 14 scaled to the 40-question IELTS Reading (Academic) conversion table. This is the same estimate the practice page shows after you submit. A single passage is a small sample, so treat it as a guide.
| Correct answers | Estimated band |
|---|---|
| 14 / 14 | 9.0 |
| 13 / 14 | 8.5 |
| 12 / 14 | 7.5 |
| 11 / 14 | 7.0 |
| 10 / 14 | 6.5 |
| 8–9 / 14 | 6.0 |
| 7 / 14 | 5.5 |
| 6 / 14 | 5.0 |
| 5 / 14 | 4.5 |
| 4 / 14 | 4.0 |
| 3 / 14 | 3.5 |
| 2 / 14 | 3.0 |
| 1 / 14 | 2.0 |
| 0 / 14 | 0.0 |
Full-test score? Use the IELTS band calculator.
Tips for the question types in this test
Matching Features
- Read the list of options (the features) and locate each one in the passage, underlining every place it appears — names and dates are easy to spot.
- Read the statements and identify the claim or characteristic each one describes.
Common trap: Assuming each option is used exactly once — some are reused and some are distractors.
Full Matching Features strategySentence Completion
- Circle the word limit before reading anything else.
- Predict the missing word class: noun, verb, adjective, number or short phrase.
Common trap: Exceeding the word limit.
Full Sentence Completion strategyMultiple Choice — Multiple Answers
- Underline exactly how many answers are required.
- Locate the relevant passage section and read its full scope.
Common trap: Choosing too many or too few answers.
Full Multiple Choice — Multiple Answers strategyTrue / False / Not Given
- Read the statement first and underline the key idea, especially any qualifiers like "all", "only", "never", "always", "more than" or dates and numbers.
- Because the questions follow the order of the passage, scan for the paragraph that deals with the same topic rather than re-reading everything.
Common trap: Confusing "False" with "Not Given": choose False only when the passage actively contradicts the statement; if the passage is silent, it is Not Given.
Full True / False / Not Given strategyPractise “Finding the Way Across the Pacific” under exam conditions
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