IR2 Unit 1 Reading I Comprehension Questions

Underground homes are considered normal in Cooper Pedy.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Paragraph 1: Subterranean living has become normal in Coober Pedy.

The first underground homes in Cooper Pedy were built by the Aborigines.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Paragraph 2: Many soldiers returning from World War I came to the area and dug the first underground residences.

All the opals located in and near Cooper Pedy belong to one trading company.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Paragraph 3: Dealers from Hong Kong buy the opals directly from the miners because large companies cannot mine here.

Coober Pedy has liberal attitudes toward miners’ behaviors.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Paragraph 4: The miners may enjoy a rough kind of fun--including occasional fights--but the community takes a liberal attitude toward this behavior.

The environment around Coober Pedy is dry and rocky.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Paragraph 5: Just outside town are colorful rocky areas, used as the location for numerous films, including "Red Planet" and "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome."

Some tourists have died from falling into holes in the town.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Paragraph 6: Tourists have died after carelessly walking backwards while taking photographs.

Most underground structures in Coober Pedy were originally opal mines.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Paragraph 7: Dug-outs in the 1980s, before Coober Pedy established a town government, were usually blasted into a hillside, not actually dug.

The cost of creating an underground home is similar to the cost of building a home on the surface.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Paragraph 8: Three-bedroom plans are common, and having your cave drilled out costs about the same as building a new above-ground home of similar size.

It is easier to dig an underground home into a hillside than into the ground.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Paragraph 7: Most home-diggers tunnel into a hillside, which is a lot easier than digging straight down.

So far, only one underground home in Cooper Pedy has water service.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Paragraph 8: The homes are essentially artificial caves, but don't assume there is anything primitive about them...Plumbing is set in similar grooves.