How to Answer Flow-chart Completion Questions in IELTS Reading

We have derived this passage and the questions from Cambridge IELTS Official Practice Book. We're going to use this to unravel the mystery of answering Flow Chart Questions in the IELTS Reading exam. Ready? Let's get started!

On November 19. 1969. astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean made a difficult manual landing of the Apollo 12 lunar module in the Moon’s Ocean of Storms, just a few hundred feet from an unmanned probe. Surveyor J. that had landed in a crater on April 19. 1967. Unrecognized at the time, this was an important moment in the history of science. Bean and Conrad were about to conduct the first archaeological studies on the Moon.

After the obligatory planting of the American flag and some geological sampling, Conrad and Bean made their way to Surveyor 3. They observed that the probe had bounced after touchdown and carefully photographed the impressions made by its footpads. The whole spacecraft was covered in dust, perhaps kicked up by the landing.

The astronaut-archaeologists carefully removed the probes television camera, remote sampling arm. and pieces of tubing. They bagged and labelled these artefacts, and stowed them on board their lunar module. On their return to Earth, they passed them on to the Daveson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and the Hughes Air and Space Corporation in EI Segundo, California. There, scientists analyzed the changes in these aerospace artefacts.

One result of the analysis astonished them. A fragment of the television camera revealed evidence of the bacteria Streptococcus mitis. I or a moment it was thought Conrad and Bean had discovered evidence for life on the Moon, but after further research the real explanation became apparent. While the camera was being installed in the probe prior to the launch, someone sneezed on it. The resulting bacteria had travelled to the Moon, remained in an alternating freezing.' boiling vacuum for more than two years, and returned promptly to life upon reaching the safety of a laboratory back on Earth.

​

Ready for a challenge? We've got a set of questions lined up, but no peeking at the answers! Treat this like the real deal, and you might discover the key to your success. Ready to prove yourself? Dive in!

​

Complete the flow chart below.

​

Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.

During the assembly of the Surveyor 3 probe, someone 1 ....................... on a TV camera.
                              ↓
The TV Camera was carried to the Moon on Surveyor 3
                              ↓
The TV Camera remained on the Moon for over 2 ....................... years
                              ↓
Apollo 12 astronauts 3 ....................... the TV camera
                              ↓
The TV camera was returned to Earth for 4 .......................
                              ↓
The Streptococcus mitis bacteria were found.
                              ↓
The theory that this suggested there was 5 ....................... on the Moon was rejected.
                              ↓
Scientists concluded that the bacteria can survive lunar conditions.

​

The correct answers are:

1. sneezed

2. two

3. removed

4. analysis

5. life