Zheng He IELTS Reading Answers

Nehasri Ravishenbagam

11 min read

Updated On Sep 27, 2023

Reading Passage
Zheng He Reading Answers with Explanations
Tips for Answering the Question Types in the Zheng He Reading Passage
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The Reading Module of the IELTS can be the top-scoring category with diligent practice. To achieve the best results in this section, you must understand how to approach and answer the different Question types in the Reading Module. By solving and reviewing Sample Reading Questions from past IELTS papers, you can ensure that your Reading skills are up to the mark.

The Academic passage, ‘Zheng He’, is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test. Try to find the answers to get an idea of the difficulty level of the passages in the actual reading test. This page contains – Zheng He IELTS reading answers and its passage for you to practice. If you want more passages to solve, try taking one of our IELTS reading practice tests.

The question types found in this passage are:

Matching Information (Q. 1-5)
Sentence Completion (Q. 6-9)
Matching Sentence Ending (Q. 10-13)

If you want to revise how to solve Matching Information questions for IELTS Reading, check the video below.

IELTS Reading – How to Answer Matching Information Questions?

Reading Passage

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on the Reading Passage below.

Zheng He

The Chinese admiral-explorer of the 15th Century

A Zheng He was born around 1371, to a Muslim family in China’s southern Yunan Province, just north of Laos. When he was ten years old, he, along with other children, was captured by the army, and three years later he became a servant in the household of the Chinese emperor’s fourth son, Prince Zhu Di.

B He proved himself to be an exceptional servant, becoming skilled in the arts of war and diplomacy and serving as an officer of the prince. Zhu Di became emperor in 1402, and a year later, he appointed Zheng He to the high military position of admiral and ordered him to oversee the construction of a Treasure Fleet to explore the seas surrounding China.

C The first Treasure Fleet comprised 62 ships. The four flagships were huge wooden boats, some of the largest ever built in history: they were approximately 120 metres long and 50 metres wide. The fleet assembled at the capital, Nanjing, on the Yangtze River, and included 100-metre-long horse ships that carried nothing but horses, water ships that carried fresh water for the crew, troop transports, supply ships and war ships for offensive and defensive needs. The ships were filled with thousands of tons of goods to trade with others during the voyage. In the autumn of 1405, the fleet set sail with 27,800 men.

D The fleet used the compass-invented in China in the 11th century-for navigation. Marked sticks of incense were burned to measure time. Latitude was determined by monitoring the North Star in the Northern Hemisphere or the Southern Cross in the Southern Hemisphere. The ships of the Treasure Fleet communicated with one another through the use of flags, lanterns, bells, carrier pigeons, gongs and banners.

E The destination of the first voyage of the Treasure Fleet was Calicut, known as a major trading centre on the south-western coast of India. The fleet reached Sri Lanka and India in 1406, and stayed there for several months, carrying on barter and trade. The following spring, the seasonal change in direction of the monsoon winds enabled the ships to sail towards home. On the return voyage, the Treasure Fleet was forced to battle with pirates near Sumatra for several months. Eventually Zheng He’s men managed to capture the pirate leader and take him to the Chinese capital Nanjing, where they arrived in 1407.

F A succession of other voyages followed, back to India and Sri Lanka, to the rich city of Hormuz on the Persian Gulf, and along the east coast of Africa, almost as far south as Mozambique. During each of Zheng He’s voyages, he encouraged diplomats from other countries to travel to China, either aboard his ships or on their own vessels.

G Emperor Zhu Di died in 1424 and was succeeded by his son Zhu Gaozhi. The new emperor cancelled the voyages of the Treasure Fleets and ordered shipbuilders and sailors to stop their work and return home. Zheng He was appointed military commander of Nanjing.

H The leadership of Zhu Gaozhi did not last long, as he died in 1426 at the age of 26. His son Zhu Di’s grandson-Zhu Zhanji became emperor. Zhu Zhanji was much more like his grandfather than his father was, and in 1430, he restarted the Treasure Fleet voyages by ordering Zheng He to resume his duties as admiral and make a seventh voyage, in an attempt to restore peaceful relations with the kingdoms of Malacca and Siam. It took a year to gear up for the voyage, which departed as a large expedition with 100 ships and 27,500 men.

I Zheng He is believed to have died in 1433, on the return trip, although others claim that he died in 1435 after the return to China. Nonetheless, the era of exploration for China was soon over, as the following emperors prohibited trade with foreign countries and even the construction of ocean-going vessels, thus ending an era of trade and exploration.

J It seems likely that a detachment of one of Zheng He’s fleets, though not the admiral himself, sailed to northern Australia during one of the seven voyages. The evidence lies both in the Chinese artefacts found there and in the oral history of the native Australians.

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Questions 1-5

Reading Passage 1 has ten paragraphs labeled A-J. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter A-J in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

1 a summary of journeys to various places

2 examples of equipment used during voyages

3 speculation concerning a possible destination

4 details of the composition of a fleet of ships

5 how the weather affected the timing of a voyage

Questions 6-9

Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage 1.

Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 6-9 on your answer sheet.

The first treasure fleet

6 The ships carried a large quantity of…………..which were to be sold.

7 The sailors used the night sky to calculate the ships’………………. .

8 The fleet sailed to an important …………………..in India.

9 While returning to China, the fleet was attacked by………………. .

Questions 10-13

Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-G from the box below.

Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.

10 Zhu Di …………………….. .

11 Zheng He …………………….. .

12 Zhu Gaozhi …………………….. .

13 Zhu Zhanji…………………….. .

A travelled to Australia.

B ended trade with other countries.

C ended the construction of ships.

D took children away from their homes.

E wished to end hostilities between China and certain other countries.

F made contact with foreign diplomats.

G ordered ships to be built.

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Zheng He Reading Answers with Explanations

Now that you have checked your answers with the Answer key, read further for the explanation part of the reading answer.

1 Answer: F