All You Need to Know About Snow Reading Answers (with Explanations)

“All You Need to Know About Snow” is a popular IELTS Academic Reading Passage 3 practice test. It covers how snow forms, the different types of snowfall, how temperature shapes a snowflake, and why winters in the British Isles behave the way they do.

The passage has 14 questions (Questions 27–40) across three question types. In this guide, the experts at Pacific Educational Consultant give you the complete answer key, the exact location of every answer, the keyword synonyms you should have spotted, and the traps that cost most students marks.

Quick Overview of the Passage

• Passage: IELTS Academic Reading Passage 3
• Topic: Science / Weather and Climate
• Total questions: 14 (Questions 27–40)
• Question types: Yes / No / Not Given (7), Sentence Completion (4), Summary Completion with a word list (3)
• Recommended time: 20 minutes
• Difficulty: Moderate to difficult

All You Need to Know About Snow Reading Answers – Answer Key

Score yourself: 1 mark per correct answer. On this passage, 12+ correct is a strong Band 7.5+ level performance for Passage 3.

Passage Summary (Paragraph by Paragraph)

Understanding the structure first makes locating answers much faster.

Types of Snowfall – Paragraph 1: Most snow comes from extratropical cyclones (called windstorms in Europe). When their warm and cold fronts meet, snow forms on the poleward side of the precipitation band – north in the Northern Hemisphere, south in the Southern Hemisphere.

Paragraph 2: Lake-effect snow. Despite the name, it can be produced by any narrow body of water, not only lakes. It happens when the water is much warmer than the cold air passing over it. A difference of around 13 degrees or more can produce heavy, long-lasting snow.

Paragraph 3: Mountain snow. Heavy snow builds up on the windward side, as rising moist air cools and condenses at higher altitudes.

How Snow Is Formed – Paragraph 4: Supercooled droplets only freeze on their own below minus 35°C. In warmer clouds, a particle such as clay, desert dust or an ice nucleus is needed to start freezing.

Paragraph 5: The frozen droplet grows until the cloud can no longer hold it and it falls as snow. Ice crystals are actually transparent; they only look white because their imperfections scatter light.

The Snowflake – Paragraph 6: Shape depends on temperature and humidity. 0 to –3°C gives thin flat (planar) crystals; –3 to –8°C gives needles and prisms; plate shapes return until about –22°C, after which columns form again along with more complex patterns.

Snowfall in the British Isles – Paragraphs 7–9: UK snow is frequent but light and short-lived. A trend toward milder, wetter winters was broken by three cold winters in a row (2010–2013), the longest such run in over 50 years. The Gulf Stream keeps Britain warmer than other places at the same latitude. The Scottish Highlands have the only ski resorts, which recently enjoyed three bumper seasons.

Paragraph 10: Forecasters predict another record cold winter, citing sunspots, geothermal activity and changes in the Gulf Stream’s strength. If correct, this could signal a subtle climatic change toward more severe winters.

Answers with Explanations

Questions 27–33: Yes / No / Not Given

27. YES
Location: Types of Snowfall, Paragraph 1.
The passage says that when the warm front and cold front of an extratropical cyclone collide, snow can result on the poleward side of the precipitation band. The statement matches this exactly.
Keyword match: “meets” = “collide”.

28. NO
Location: Types of Snowfall, Paragraph 2.
The statement claims lake-effect snow is only associated with lakes. The writer says the opposite: although the name suggests a link to lakes, all narrow bands of water can generate it. The word “only” makes the statement contradict the passage.
Trap: Words like “only”, “always” and “never” often signal a NO answer.

29. YES
Location: Types of Snowfall, Paragraph 3.
Snow accumulates on the windward side of the mountain. “Windward” means the side facing the wind, so the statement that heavy snow is more likely on the side exposed to winds agrees with the writer.
Keyword match: “exposed to high winds” = “windward side”.

30. YES
Location: How Snow Is Formed, Paragraph 4.
Supercooled moisture only freezes by itself below –35°C. A cloud at –34°C or warmer is above that threshold, so without dust or a similar particle the moisture will not freeze. The statement agrees.
Trap: Many students mark NOT GIVEN because “–34” isn’t in the passage. You need to apply the –35°C rule, not search for the exact number.

31. NO
Location: How Snow Is Formed, Paragraph 5.
Snow crystals are actually transparent but appear white because of light scattering. Its real colour (transparent) is different from how it looks (white), so the statement contradicts the passage.

32. YES
Location: The Snowflake, Paragraph 6.
Prism-shaped crystals form between –3 and –8°C. More complex growth patterns form only at –22°C and below. So prisms form in milder (less cold) weather than complex flakes. The statement agrees.
Tip: In this question, “milder” means “less cold”, not “warm”.

33. NOT GIVEN
Location: The Snowflake, Paragraph 6.
The passage describes thin flat planar crystals and column-like crystals, but never compares their size or volume. There is no information about which is more “voluminous”.

Questions 34–37: Sentence Completion (No More Than Three Words)

34. quantities
Location: Snowfall in the British Isles, Paragraph 7.
The writer says snow is frequent in the UK but the quantities are typically small. “Rare for significant ___ to accumulate” = small quantities.

35. trend
Location: Snowfall in the British Isles, Paragraph 7.
The three winters from 2010/11 to 2012/13 “bucked the trend” towards milder, wetter winters. “Failed to follow the trend” = “bucked the trend”.

36. severe winters / very cold weather
Location: Snowfall in the British Isles, Paragraph 8.
Thanks to the Gulf Stream, Britain’s winters are typically not very severe, even though its latitude suggests prolonged cold. Both “severe winters” and “very cold weather” fit the gap within the three-word limit.

37. (subtle) climatic change
Location: Snowfall in the British Isles, final paragraph.
If the forecasts come true, the isles may be undergoing a subtle climatic change. “Is under way” = “undergoing”. “Subtle” is optional because “climatic change” alone completes the sentence correctly.

Questions 38–40: Summary Completion (Word List A–F)

38. A – uninterrupted
Location: Snowfall in the British Isles, Paragraph 7.
The passage describes the “longest period of consecutive cold winters” in over 50 years. “Consecutive” = one after another without a break = uninterrupted.

39. E – extreme
Location: Final paragraph.
The writer talks about a return to more severe winters in general. “Severe” = “extreme”.
Trap: “mild” (B) is the opposite meaning, so eliminate it.

40. D – waning
Location: Final paragraph.
Forecasters point to changes in the strength of the Gulf Stream as a sign of a cold winter. Since the Gulf Stream is what keeps Britain warm, a colder winter implies its influence is weakening, i.e. waning.
Trap: “strengthening” (C) looks attractive, but a stronger warm current would make winters milder, not colder.

Keyword and Synonym Table

Recognising paraphrases is the real skill this passage tests.

Note on the Passage Temperatures

In many published versions of this passage, the minus signs are missing in the snowflake paragraph (it reads “–3 to 8” and “22 degrees”). Read these as –3 to –8°C and –22°C. This matters for Question 32 – once you read the temperatures correctly, the answer is clearly YES.

Common Mistakes Students Make in This Passage

1. Confusing NO with NOT GIVEN. Q28 and Q31 are NO because the passage directly contradicts them. Q33 is NOT GIVEN because size is never discussed. Ask yourself: “Does the writer say the opposite, or say nothing?”
2. Searching for exact numbers. Q30 uses –34°C, which isn’t in the text. You must reason using the –35°C rule.
3. Ignoring the word limit. Q36 and Q37 must stay within three words. “A subtle climatic change” is four words with the article – write “subtle climatic change” only.
4. Choosing words with the opposite meaning. In Q39 and Q40, “mild” and “strengthening” are deliberate traps.
5. Spending too long on Paragraph 6. The snowflake temperatures are confusing; mark the ranges once and move on.

Tips to Solve Questions Like These

Yes / No / Not Given

• Underline qualifier words: only, always, more likely, all.
• Answers appear in the same order as the passage.
• If you can’t find the idea at all after a focused scan, it’s likely NOT GIVEN.

Sentence Completion

• Read the sentence first and predict the word type (noun, adjective).
• Copy the word exactly from the passage – spelling counts.
• Check the word limit after writing every answer.

Summary Completion with a Word List

• Decide whether the gap needs a positive or negative meaning before checking the list.
• Eliminate opposites first (mild vs extreme, strengthening vs waning).
• Each option is usually used only once.

Frequently Asked Questions

What type of passage is All You Need to Know About Snow?
It is an IELTS Academic Reading Passage 3 on a science topic – weather, snow formation and the British climate.

How many questions are in the All You Need to Know About Snow reading test?
There are 14 questions, numbered 27 to 40.

What is the answer to Question 33?
NOT GIVEN. The passage never compares the size or volume of planar crystals with column-like crystals.

Why is Question 40 “waning” and not “strengthening”?
The Gulf Stream keeps Britain warm. Forecasters predict a colder winter due to changes in its strength, which means its warming influence is weakening – waning.

Is “subtle climatic change” or “climatic change” correct for Question 37?
Both are accepted. They fit within the three-word limit, so either answer earns the mark.

How much time should I spend on this passage?
About 20 minutes, as it is Passage 3. Aim for roughly 8 minutes on Questions 27–33 and 6 minutes each on the two completion sections.

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