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The Importance of Travel Books Reading Answers FAQs
Why did people travel in ancient times?
People traveled for various reasons, such as trade, pilgrimage, diplomacy, and curiosity. Ancient travelers like Herodotus and Zhang Qian recorded valuable information about different regions.
How did travel writing evolve over time?
Travel writing began with ancient records in Mesopotamia and Egypt, became popular during the classical era with historians like Herodotus, and expanded during medieval times due to trade and religious pilgrimages. European explorers and printing presses further contributed to its growth in the early modern era.
What role did the printing press play in travel literature?
The invention of the printing press in the early modern period led to a significant increase in travel books, making travel accounts widely accessible. Editors compiled numerous travel stories into large collections.
How did tourism influence travel writing in the 20th century?
With the rise of mass tourism in the 20th century, travel writing expanded to include guidebooks that provided tourists with information on destinations, local customs, and accommodations.
Importance of Travel Books Reading Answers
Importance of Travel Books Reading Answers provides practice IELTS Reading test questions with high-quality sample answers to help candidates improve their scores.
Porishmita .20 Feb, 2025
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Importance of Travel Books Reading Answers: The IELTS Reading test includes three passages that assess a candidate’s ability to understand key ideas, locate specific details, and interpret complex information. The Importance of Travel Books is a common topic in the IELTS Reading section. This passage contains 13 questions, divided into different types such as True/False/Not Given and Matching Information.
Below, we provide a sample passage along with answers to help IELTS aspirants practice effectively. Candidates are encouraged to attempt all questions to improve their reading skills and achieve a higher IELTS Reading score.
The Importance of Travel Books Reading Answers Passage
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, based on the reading passage.
Importance of Travel Books
There are many reasons why individuals have travelled beyond their own societies. Some travellers may have simply desired to satisfy curiosity about the larger world. Until recent times, however, travellers did start their journey for reasons other than mere curiosity. While the travellers’ accounts give much valuable information on these foreign lands and provide a window for the understanding of the local cultures and histories, they are also a mirror to the travellers themselves, for these accounts help them to have a better understanding of themselves.
Records of foreign travel appeared soon after the invention of writing, and fragmentary travel accounts appeared in both Mesopotamia and Egypt in ancient times. After the formation of large, imperial states in the classical world, travel accounts emerged as a prominent literary genre in many lands, and they held especially strong appeal for rulers desiring useful knowledge about their realms. The Greek historian Herodotus reported on his travels in Egypt and Anatolia in researching the history of the Persian wars. The Chinese envoy Zhang Qian described much of central Asia as far west as Bactria (modern- day Afghanistan) on the basis of travels undertaken in the first century BCE while searching for allies for the Han dynasty. Hellenistic and Roman geographers such as Ptolemy, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder relied on their own travels through much of the Mediterranean world as well as reports of other travellers to compile vast compendia of geographical knowledge.
During the post-classical era (about 500 to 1500 CE), trade and pilgrimage j? emerged as major incentives for travel to foreign lands. Muslim merchants sought trading opportunities throughout much of the eastern hemisphere. They described lands, peoples, and commercial products of the Indian Ocean basin from East Africa to Indonesia, and they supplied the first written accounts of societies in sub-Saharan West Africa. While merchants set out in search of trade and profit, devout Muslims travelled as pilgrims to Mecca to make their hajj and visit the holy sites of Islam. Since the prophet Muhammad’s original pilgrimage to Mecca, untold millions of Muslims have followed his example, and thousands of hajj accounts have related their experiences. East Asian travellers were not quite so prominent as Muslims during the post-classical era, but they too followed many of the highways and sea lanes of the eastern hemisphere. Chinese merchants frequently visited South-East Asia and India, occasionally venturing even to East Africa, and devout East Asian Buddhists undertook distant pilgrimages. Between the 5th and 9th centuries CE, hundreds and possibly even thousands of Chinese Buddhists travelled to India to study with Buddhist teachers, collect sacred texts, and visit holy sites. Written accounts recorded the experiences of many pilgrims, such as Faxian, Xuanzang, and Yijing. Though not so numerous as the Chinese pilgrims, Buddhists from Japan, Korea, and other lands also ventured abroad in the interests of spiritual enlightenment.
Medieval Europeans did not hit the roads in such large numbers as their Muslim and East Asian counterparts during the early part of the post-classical era, although gradually increasing crowds of Christian pilgrims flowed to Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostela (in northern Spain), and other sites. After the 12th century, however, merchants, pilgrims, and missionaries from medieval Europe travelled widely and left numerous travel accounts, of which Marco Polo’s description of his travels and sojourn in China is the best known. As they became familiar with the larger world of the eastern hemisphere - and the profitable commercial opportunities that it offered - European peoples worked to find new and more direct routes to Asian and African markets. Their efforts took them not only to all parts of the eastern hemisphere, but eventually to the Americas and Oceania as well.
If Muslim and Chinese peoples dominated travel and travel writing in post- classical times, European explorers, conquerors, merchants, and missionaries took centre stage during the early modern era (about 1500 to 1800 CE). By no means did Muslim and Chinese travel come to a halt in early modern times. But European peoples ventured to the distant corners of the globe, and European printing presses churned out thousands of travel accounts that described foreign lands and peoples for a reading public with an apparently insatiable appetite for news about the larger world. The volume of travel literature was so great that several editors, including Giambattista Ramusio, Richard Hakluyt, Theodore de Biy, and Samuel Purchas, assembled numerous travel accounts and made them available in enormous published collections.
During the 19th century, European travellers made their way to the interior regions of Africa and the Americas, generating a fresh round of travel writing as they did so. Meanwhile, European colonial administrators devoted numerous writings to the societies of their colonial subjects, particularly in Asian and African colonies they established. By mid-century, attention was flowing also in the other direction. Painfully aware of the military and technological prowess of European and Euro-American societies, Asian travellers in particular visited Europe and the United States in hopes of discovering principles useful for the organisation of their own societies. Among the most prominent of these travellers who made extensive use of their overseas observations and experiences in their own writings were the Japanese reformer Fukuzawa Yu-kichi and the Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen.
With the development of inexpensive and reliable means of mass transport, the 20th century witnessed explosions both in the frequency of long-distance travel and in the volume of travel writing. While a great deal of travel took place for reasons of business, administration, diplomacy, pilgrimage, and missionary work, as in ages past, increasingly effective modes of mass transport made it possible for new kinds of travel to flourish. The most distinctive of them was mass tourism, which emerged as a major form of consumption .for individuals living in the world’s wealthy societies. Tourism enabled consumers to get away from home to see the sights in Rome, take a cruise through the Caribbean, walk the Great Wall of China, visit some wineries in Bordeaux, or go on safari in Kenya. A peculiar variant of the travel account arose to meet the needs of these tourists: the guidebook, which offered advice on food, lodging, shopping, local customs, and all the sights that visitors should not miss seeing. Tourism has had a massive economic impact throughout the world, but other new forms of travel have also had considerable influence in contemporary times.
The Importance of Travel Books Reading Answers Sample Questions
Questions 1-7 (True/False/Not Given)
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write:
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
Travel records existed even before writing was invented.
Chinese and Muslim travelers were the most dominant in post-classical times.
Marco Polo’s travel accounts were not widely known during his lifetime.
The invention of the printing press led to a significant increase in travel books.
The 19th century saw a decline in travel writing due to European colonialism.
Asian travelers visited Europe and the United States to learn about technological advancements.
Guidebooks were first introduced in the 16th century.
Questions 8-13 (Matching Information)
The Reading Passage has sections A-G. Which section contains the following information? Write the correct A-G letter on your answer sheet in boxes 8-13.
The role of tourism in modern travel literature
The impact of European printing presses on travel accounts
The rise of pilgrimage as a motivation for travel
The contributions of Herodotus to travel writing
The significance of trade in medieval travel
The experiences of Asian travelers in the 19th century
Importance of Travel Books Reading Answers with Explanations
1. Travel records existed even before writing was invented.
Answer: FALSE Location in passage: "Records of foreign travel appeared soon after the invention of writing..." Explanation: The passage states that travel records appeared after the invention of writing, contradicting the statement.
2. Chinese and Muslim travelers were the most dominant in post-classical times.
Answer: TRUE Location in passage: "If Muslim and Chinese peoples dominated travel and travel writing in post-classical times..." Explanation: The passage clearly states that Muslim and Chinese travelers were dominant during this period.
3. Marco Polo’s travel accounts were not widely known during his lifetime.
Answer: NOT GIVEN Location in passage: "Marco Polo’s description of his travels and sojourn in China is the best known." Explanation: The passage discusses the popularity of Marco Polo’s travel accounts but does not specify whether they were widely known during his lifetime.
4. The invention of the printing press led to a significant increase in travel books.
Answer: TRUE Location in passage: "European printing presses churned out thousands of travel accounts that described foreign lands and peoples..." Explanation: The passage states that printing presses mass-produced travel books, confirming the statement.
5. The 19th century saw a decline in travel writing due to European colonialism.
Answer: FALSE Location in passage: "During the 19th century, European travellers made their way to the interior regions of Africa and the Americas, generating a fresh round of travel writing as they did so." Explanation: The passage states that travel writing increased during the 19th century, contradicting the statement.
6. Asian travelers visited Europe and the United States to learn about technological advancements.
Answer: TRUE Location in passage: "Painfully aware of the military and technological prowess of European and Euro-American societies, Asian travellers in particular visited Europe and the United States in hopes of discovering principles useful for the organisation of their own societies." Explanation: The passage explicitly confirms that Asian travelers visited these regions for technological knowledge.
7. Guidebooks were first introduced in the 16th century.
Answer: NOT GIVEN Location in passage: "A peculiar variant of the travel account arose to meet the needs of these tourists: the guidebook." Explanation: The passage mentions guidebooks but does not provide a specific time period for their introduction.
8. The role of tourism in modern travel literature
Answer: G Location in passage: "The 20th century witnessed explosions both in the frequency of long-distance travel and in the volume of travel writing... Tourism enabled consumers to get away from home to see the sights..." Explanation: Section G discusses how tourism became a major factor in modern travel literature.
9. The impact of European printing presses on travel accounts
Answer: F Location in passage: "European printing presses churned out thousands of travel accounts that described foreign lands and peoples..." Explanation: Section F talks about how printing presses played a key role in increasing travel books.
10. The rise of pilgrimage as a motivation for travel
Answer: C Location in passage: "Since the prophet Muhammad’s original pilgrimage to Mecca, untold millions of Muslims have followed his example, and thousands of hajj accounts have related their experiences." Explanation: Section C explains the role of pilgrimage in travel, particularly in Islamic culture.
11. The contributions of Herodotus to travel writing
Answer: B Location in passage: "The Greek historian Herodotus reported on his travels in Egypt and Anatolia in researching the history of the Persian wars." Explanation: Section B discusses the historical contributions of Herodotus to travel writing.
12. The significance of trade in medieval travel
Answer: C Location in passage: "During the post-classical era (about 500 to 1500 CE), trade and pilgrimage emerged as major incentives for travel to foreign lands." Explanation: Section C mentions that trade played a significant role in medieval travel.
13. The experiences of Asian travelers in the 19th century
Answer: F Location in passage: "By mid-century, attention was flowing also in the other direction. Painfully aware of the military and technological prowess of European and Euro-American societies, Asian travellers in particular visited Europe..." Explanation: Section F describes the experiences of Asian travelers in the 19th century.
