Is There Anybody Out There Reading Answers

Is There Anybody Out There Reading Answers: The IELTS Reading section tests your ability to understand complex texts and locate specific information to attempt IELTS reading section. The passage "Is There Anybody Out There" explores the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and the possibility of alien life. In this practice test, you will find Matching Headings, Short Answer Questions, and True/False/Not Given questions. Each answer includes its location in the passage and a clear explanation, helping you develop essential reading skills for the IELTS exam 2025.

Free IELTS Reading Practice Tests, Cambridge Sample Test PDF

Is There Anybody Out There Reading Answers Passage 

The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence

The question of whether we are alone in the Universe has haunted humanity for centuries, but we may now stand poised on the brink of the answer to that question, as we search for radio signals from other intelligent civilizations. This search is often known by the acronym SETI [search for extraterrestrial intelligence], is a difficult one. Although groups around the world have been searching intermittently for three decades, it is only now that we have reached the level of technology where we can make a determined attempt to search all nearby stars for any sign of life.

1. The primary reason for the search is basic curiosity - the same curiosity about the natural world that drives all pure science. We want to know whether we are alone in the Universe. We want to know whether life evolves naturally if given the right conditions, or whether there is something very special about the Earth to have fostered the variety of life forms that we see around us on the planet. The simple detection of a radio signal will be sufficient to answer this most basic of all questions. In this sense, SETI is another cog in the machinery of pure science which is continually pushing out the horizon of our knowledge. However, there are other reasons for being interested in whether life exists elsewhere. For example, we have had civilization on Earth for perhaps only a few thousand years, and the threats of nuclear war and pollution over the last few decades have told us that our survival may be tenuous. Will we last another two thousand years or will we wipe ourselves out? Since the lifetime of a planet like ours is several billion years, we can expect that if other civilizations do survive in our galaxy, their ages will range from zero to several billion years. Thus any other civilization that we hear from is likely to be far older on average than ourselves. The mere existence of such a civilization will tell of that long-term survival is possible, and gives us some cause for optimism. It is even possible that the older civilization may pass on the benefits of their experience in dealing with threats to survival such as nuclear war and global pollution, and other threats that we haven't yet discovered.

2. In discussing whether we are alone, most SETI scientists adopt two ground rules. First. UFOs [Unidentified Flying objects] are generally ignored since most scientists don't consider the evidence for them to be strong enough to bear serious consideration (although it is also important to keep an open mind in case any really convincing evidence emerges in the future). Second, we make a very conservative assumption that we are looking for a life form that is pretty well like us, since if it differs radically from us we may well not recognize it as a life form, quite apart from whatever we are able to communicate with it. In other words, the life form we are looking for may well have two green heads and seven fingers, but it will nevertheless resemble us in that it should communicate with its fellows. Be interested in the Universe, Live on a planet orbiting a star like our Sun, and perhaps most restrictively have chemistry, like us, based on carbon and water.

3. Even when we make these assumptions, our understanding of other life forms is still severely limited. We do not even know, for example, how many stars have planets, and we certainly do not know how likely it is that life will arise naturally, given the right conditions. However, when we look at the 100 billion stars in our galaxy [the Milky Way], and 100 billion galaxies. In the observable Universe, it seems inconceivable that at least one of these planets does not have a life form on it; in fact, the best educated guess we can make using the little that we do know about the conditions for carbon-based life, leads us to estimate that perhaps one in 100,000 stars might have a life-bearing planet orbiting it. That means that our nearest neighbors are perhaps 1000 light years away, which is almost next door in astronomical terms.

4.   An alien civilization could choose many different ways of sending information across the galaxy, but many of these either require too much energy. or else are severely attenuated while traversing the vast distances across the galaxy. It bums out that. for a given amount of transmitted power: radio waves in the frequency range 1000 to 3000 MHz travel the greatest distance. and so all searches to date have concentrated on looking for radio waves in this frequency range. So far there have been a number of searches by various groups around the world,  including Australian searches using the radio telescope at Parkes, New South Wales. Until now there have not been any detections from the few hundred stars which have been searched. The scale of the searches has been increased dramatically since 1992, when the US Congress voted NASA $10 million per year for ten years to conduct a thorough search for extra-terrestrial life. Much of the money in this project is being spent on developing the special hardware needed to search many frequencies at once. The project has two parts. One part is a targeted search using the world's largest radio telescopes. The American-operated telescope in Arecibo. Puerto Rico and the French telescope in Nancy in France. This part of the project is searching the nearest 1000 likely stars with a high sensibility for signals in the frequency range 1000 to 3000 MHz. The other parts of the project is an undirected search which is monitoring all of the space with a lower using the smaller antennas of NASA`s Deep Space Network.

5.  There is considerable debate over how we should react if we detect a signal from an alien civilization. Everybody agrees that we should not reply immediately. Quite apart from the impracticality of sending e reply over such large distances at short notice, it raises a host of ethical questions that would have to be addressed by the global community before any reply could be sent. Would the human race face the culture shock if faced with a superior and much older civilization? Luckily, there is no urgency about this. The stars being searched are hundreds of light years away. so it takes hundreds of years for their signal to reach us, and a further few hundred years for our reply to reach them. It is not important, then, if there`s a delay of a few years, or decades, while the human race debates the question of whether to reply and perhaps carefully drafts a reply.

Is There Anybody Out There Reading Answers Sample Questions

IELTS Reading Matching Headings (Q. 1-4)

Match the following paragraphs (A–D) with the appropriate headings from the list below.

List of Headings:
I. The possible benefits of detecting an alien civilization
II. Reasons why SETI researchers focus on radio signals
III. The challenges of responding to an alien signal
IV. The motivations behind searching for extraterrestrial life
V. Assumptions made when searching for extraterrestrial life
VI. The expansion of funding for SETI research

1. Paragraph B

2. Paragraph C

3. Paragraph D

4. Paragraph E

IELTS Reading Short Answer Questions (Q. 5-7)

Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage.

5. What is the full form of SETI?

6. What is the frequency range SETI researchers use to detect signals?

7. What is the main reason why radio waves are preferred for communication across space?

True/False/Not Given IELTS Reading (Q. 8-13)

Do the following statements agree with the information in the passage?

• TRUE if the statement agrees with the information.

• FALSE if the statement contradicts the information.

• NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

8. SETI researchers believe UFO sightings are strong evidence of alien life.

9. SETI assumes that extraterrestrial life may have a carbon and water-based chemistry like humans.

10. The US government has permanently committed to funding SETI research.

11. Scientists have discovered signals from an alien civilization.

12. Any civilization detected by SETI is likely to be much younger than ours.

13. SETI scientists believe it is necessary to reply to any detected alien signals immediately.

Is There Anybody Out There Reading Answers with Explanations 

1. Paragraph B - IV. The motivations behind searching for extraterrestrial life

• Location: Paragraph B

• Reference: "The primary reason for the search is basic curiosity..."

• Explanation: The paragraph explains why humans are interested in searching for extraterrestrial life, including curiosity and survival concerns.

2. Paragraph C - V. Assumptions made when searching for extraterrestrial life

• Location: Paragraph C

• Reference: "In discussing whether we are alone, most SETI scientists adopt two ground rules..."

• Explanation: The paragraph outlines the assumptions made in SETI research, such as looking for life forms similar to humans.

3. Paragraph D - II. Reasons why SETI researchers focus on radio signals

• Location: Paragraph D

• Reference: "An alien civilization could choose many different ways of sending information... but radio waves in the frequency range 1000 to 3000 MHz travel the greatest distance."

• Explanation: The paragraph explains why radio signals are used in SETI, as they travel long distances with minimal loss of energy.

4. Paragraph E - III. The challenges of responding to an alien signal

• Location: Paragraph E

• Reference: "There is considerable debate over how we should react if we detect a signal..."

• Explanation: The paragraph discusses the ethical and practical challenges of responding to a detected alien signal.

5. What is the full form of SETI? - Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence

• Location: Paragraph A

• Reference: "This search is often known by the acronym SETI [search for extraterrestrial intelligence]..."

• Explanation: The passage clearly defines the meaning of SETI.

6. What is the frequency range SETI researchers use to detect signals? - 1000 to 3000 MHz

• Location: Paragraph D

• Reference: "...radio waves in the frequency range 1000 to 3000 MHz travel the greatest distance..."

• Explanation: The passage states that this frequency range is the best for detecting extraterrestrial signals.

7. What is the main reason why radio waves are preferred for communication across space? - Travel the greatest distance

• Location: Paragraph D

• Reference: "...radio waves in the frequency range 1000 to 3000 MHz travel the greatest distance..."

• Explanation: Radio waves are chosen because they travel long distances without losing much energy.

8. SETI researchers believe UFO sightings are strong evidence of alien life. - FALSE

• Location: Paragraph C

• Reference: "First, UFOs [Unidentified Flying objects] are generally ignored since most scientists don't consider the evidence for them to be strong enough..."

• Explanation: The passage states that SETI scientists do not consider UFO sightings as strong evidence.

9. SETI assumes that extraterrestrial life may have a carbon and water-based chemistry like humans. - TRUE

• Location: Paragraph C

• Reference: "...perhaps most restrictively have chemistry, like us, based on carbon and water."

• Explanation: The passage states that SETI assumes extraterrestrial life has similar chemical properties to humans.

10. The US government has permanently committed to funding SETI research. - FALSE

• Location: Paragraph D

• Reference: "The scale of the searches has been increased dramatically since 1992, when the US Congress voted NASA $10 million per year for ten years..."

• Explanation: The passage only mentions a ten-year funding plan, not a permanent commitment.

11. Scientists have discovered signals from an alien civilization. - FALSE

• Location: Paragraph D

• Reference: "Until now there have not been any detections from the few hundred stars which have been searched."

• Explanation: The passage states that no signals have been detected yet.

12. Any civilization detected by SETI is likely to be much younger than ours. - FALSE

• Location: Paragraph B

• Reference: "...any other civilization that we hear from is likely to be far older on average than ourselves."

• Explanation: The passage states that extraterrestrial civilizations are likely to be much older, not younger.

13. SETI scientists believe it is necessary to reply to any detected alien signals immediately. - FALSE

• Location: Paragraph E

• Reference: "Everybody agrees that we should not reply immediately..."

• Explanation: The passage states that scientists agree on delaying any response to alien signals.

Also Read:

• Should You Use All Capital Letters in the IELTS Listening and Reading Tests
• IELTS Reading Mistakes
• How to Improve IELTS Reading Score
• How to Manage Time in IELTS Reading

Guidance of PW IELTS

Physics Wallah offers multiple online IELTS courses for all students. Follow the IELTS pages to better prepare for the exam.