Moles Happy as Homes Go Underground Reading Answers: IELTS Comprehensive Passage

The Passage moles happy as homes go underground reading answers are of much importance to the IELTS aspirants who are focused on the English reading section. You’ll be offered some reading passages like this one in your IELTS test and based on that some questions will be asked. The questions will be of different types like MCQs, fill-ups, assigning headings for each paragraph etc. Answering these questions correctly can earn you one mark for each right answer.

Reading the paragraph carefully is the most important strategy to score marks in this section. Read twice - first skim and then with focus. Make quick notes and then answer the questions that are asked below.

This practice set also contains the paragraph and related questions. You can practice it out to improve your efficiency in attempting the questions.

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Moles Happy as Homes Go Underground Reading Answers Passage

A

The first anybody knew about Dutchman Frank Siegmunds and his family was when workmen tramping through a field found a narrow steel chimney protruding through the grass. Closer inspection revealed a chink of sky-light window among the thistles, and when amazed investigators moved down the side of the hill they came across a pine door complete with leaded diamond glass and a brass knocker set into an underground building. The Siegmunds had managed to live undetected for six years outside the border town of Breda, in Holland. They are the latest in a clutch of individualistic homemakers who have burrowed underground in search of tranquillity.

B

Most, falling foul of strict building regulations, have been forced to dismantle their individualistic homes and return to more conventional lifestyles. But subterranean suburbia, Dutch-style, is about to become respectable and chic. Seven luxury homes cosseted away inside a high earth-covered noise embankment next to the main Tilburg city road recently went on the market for $296,500 each. The foundations had yet to be dug, but customers queued up to buy the unusual part-submerged houses, whose back wall consists of a grassy mound and whose front is a long glass gallery.

C

The Dutch are not the only would-be moles. Growing numbers of Europeans are burrowing below ground to create houses, offices, discos and shopping malls. It is already proving a way of life in extreme climates; in winter months in Montreal, Canada, for instance, citizens can escape the cold in an underground complex complete with shops and even health clinics. In Tokyo builders are planning a massive underground city to be begun in the next decade, and underground shopping malls are already common in Japan, where 90 percent of the population is squeezed into 20 percent of the landspace.

D

Building big commercial buildings underground can be a way to avoid disfiguring or threatening a beautiful or "environmentally sensitive" landscape. Indeed many of the buildings which consume most land - such as cinemas, supermarkets, theatres, warehouses or libraries - have no need to be on the surface since they do not need windows.

E

There are big advantages, too, when it comes to private homes. A development of 194 houses which would take up 14 hectares of land above ground would occupy 2.7 hectares below it, while the number of roads would be halved. Under several metres of earth, noise is minimal and insulation is excellent. "We get 40 to 50 enquiries a week," says Peter Carpenter, secretary of the British Earth Sheltering Association, which builds similar homes in Britain. "People see this as a way of building for the future." An underground dweller himself, Carpenter has never paid a heating bill, thanks to solar panels and natural insulation.

F

In Europe the obstacle has been conservative local authorities and developers who prefer to ensure quick sales with conventional mass produced housing. But the Dutch development was greeted with undisguised relief by South Limburg planners because of Holland's chronic shortage of land. It was the Tilburg architect Jo Hurkmans who hit on the idea of making use of noise embankments on main roads. His two- floored, four- bedroomed, two- bathroomed detached homes are now taking shape. "They are not so much below the earth as in it," he says.

"All the light will come through the glass front, which runs from the second floor ceiling to the ground. Areas which do not need much natural lighting are at the back. The living accommodation is to the front so nobody notices that the back is dark."

G

In the US, where energy-efficient homes became popular after the oil crisis of 1973, 10,000 underground houses have been built. A terrace of five homes, Britain's first subterranean development, is under way in Nottinghamshire. Italy's outstanding example of subterranean architecture is the Olivetti residential centre in Ivrea. Commissioned by Roberto Olivetti in 1969, it comprises 82 one-bedroomed apartments and 12 maisonettes and forms a house/ hotel for Olivetti employees. It is built into a hill and little can be seen from outside except a glass facade. Patnzia Vallecchi, a resident since 1992, says it is little different from living in a conventional apartment.

H

Not everyone adapts so well, and in Japan scientists at the Shimizu Corporation have developed "space creation" systems which mix light, sounds, breezes and scents to stimulate people who spend long periods below ground. Underground offices in Japan are being equipped with "virtual" windows and mirrors, while underground departments in the University of Minnesota have periscopes to reflect views and light.

I

But Frank Siegmund and his family love their hobbit lifestyle. Their home evolved when he dug a cool room for his bakery business in a hill he had created. During a heatwave they took to sleeping there. "We felt at peace and so close to nature," he says. "Gradually I began adding to the rooms. It sounds strange but we are so close to the earth we draw strength from its vibrations. Our children love it; not every child can boast of being watched through their playroom windows by rabbits.

 

Moles Happy as Homes Go Underground Reading Answers: Questions 1-8

Instructions: This reading passage comes with nine paragraphs between A and I. You must select the appropriate heading for every paragraph from the list below. Write the suitable number (i-xii) in boxes 1-8 on the answer sheet.

Guideline: There are 12 statements given (i - xii), which are meant to be the headings of each paragraph A - I (9 Paragraphs). You have to mention the number of headings which suits the paragraph the most against the name of the paragraph in the box.

Headings:

i    A designer describes his houses

ii    Most people prefer conventional housing

iii    Simulating a natural environment

iv    How an underground family home developed

v    Demands on space and energy are reduced

vi    The plans for future homes

vii    Worldwide examples of underground living accommodation

viii    Some buildings do not require natural light

ix    Developing underground services around the world

x    Underground living improves health

xi    Homes sold before completion

xii    An underground home is discovered

Answers & Explanations

Paragraph	Statement	Explanation
Paragraph A	xii (An underground home is discovered)	Underground home of Frank Siegmunds in Holland is unexpectedly discovered after six years of hidden living.
Paragraph B	xi (Homes sold before completion)	Luxury Dutch underground homes sell quickly for $296,500 each before construction is completed, showing rising demand.
Paragraph C	ix (Developing underground services around the world)	Global trend of underground living with examples from Canada, Tokyo, and Japan highlights growing infrastructure development underground.
Paragraph D	viii (Some buildings do not require natural light)	Buildings like cinemas and warehouses don’t need windows, making them suitable for underground construction without natural light.
Paragraph E	v (Demands on space and energy are reduced)	Underground homes save space and energy, reduce land use, and require minimal heating due to natural insulation.
Paragraph F	I (A designer describes his houses)	Architect Jo Hurkmans describes features of Dutch underground homes, including glass fronts and earth-covered noise embankments.
Paragraph G	vii (Worldwide examples of underground living accommodation)	Examples of underground living across the US, Britain, and Italy show growing popularity and unique architectural designs.
Paragraph H	iii (Simulating a natural environment)	Japanese scientists create artificial environments with light and sounds to help people adapt to underground life.
Paragraph I	iv (How an underground family home developed)	Frank Siegmund explains how his family’s underground home evolved from a cool bakery room into a peaceful, nature-connected dwelling.

Going through the paragraph properly will make you hunt most answers from the passage itself. Read our IELTS preparation guide and get insights on how to effectively solve these passage questions in less time.

Moles Happy as Homes Go Underground Reading Answers: Questions 9-14

Instructions: From the given paragraphs A-I, complete the sentences given below with the words taken from passage. For each blank, do not use more than 3 words for each answer.

9) Many developers prefer mass-produced houses because they_____________ quickly. 

10) The Dutch development was welcomed by____________. 

11) Hurkmans’ houses are built into_____________________. 

12) The Ivrea Centre was developed for_________________. 

13) Japanese scientists are helping people_______ underground life. 

14) Frank Siegmunds’ first underground room was used for__________.

Answers and Explanations

Question	Answer	Paragraph Reference	Key Explanation
9	ensure quick sales	Paragraph F	Developers prefer conventional housing because it guarantees fast, low-risk sales.
10	South Limburg planners	Paragraph F	Planners welcomed the Dutch scheme due to Holland’s severe land shortage.
11	noise embankments	Paragraph F	Hurkmans situated his houses within road noise embankments to use land efficiently.
12	Olivetti employees	Paragraph G	The Ivrea Centre functions as a residential complex for Olivetti staff
13	adapt to	Paragraph H	Japanese scientists design systems to help people adapt to underground life.
14	his bakery business	Paragraph I	Siegmund first dug the underground cool room for his bakery operations.

If you think you did well in this passage, try another one - The birth of scientific english reading passage. This is also another type of reading passage on the basis of which you’ve to answer certain questions. Try it out!

Conclusion

This text, Moles Happy as Homes Go Underground, will give the students an excellent opportunity to train their reading skills in preparation for IELTS by providing them with the topics of the real world and question types difficult to answer: matching headings, filling gaps, and answering in few words. 

Reading passages such as this one, students could practice their reading speed, comprehension and the ability to grasp the main ideas, which are extremely vital in getting a good band score in the IELTS reading section.