Cambridge 12 Reading Test 1 - Answers With Explanation

1. First paragraph: "Portugal alone accounting for roughly half of the world's entire production." No other country comes close — TRUE.

2. Second paragraph: the first strip yields "'virgin cork' — a relatively coarse, irregular material of limited commercial value." Low value, not high quality — FALSE.

3. Second paragraph: stripping is "done entirely by hand... a traditional craft... that cannot be replicated by machinery." Machines can't do it — FALSE.

4. Third paragraph: cork "has a density of approximately one quarter that of water." A quarter the density means it's far less dense — TRUE.

5. Fourth paragraph: cork closures "allow microscopic quantities of oxygen to enter a bottle over time." TRUE.

6. Third paragraph, last line: "No synthetic material has yet been developed that matches all of these properties simultaneously." The opposite of the statement — FALSE.

7. Second paragraph: the first stripping "yields what is known as 'virgin cork.'"

8. Second paragraph: harvests are "conducted every nine years (a minimum interval mandated by Portuguese law)."

9. Third paragraph: cell walls are "impregnated with a waxy, hydrophobic substance called suberin."

10. Fourth paragraph: bottle stoppers account "for around 60 per cent of all cork used commercially."

11. Fourth paragraph: "'cork taint' — a musty off-flavour caused by the compound trichloroanisole (TCA)."

12. Fifth paragraph: "NASA has used cork as a component in the thermal protection systems of spacecraft."

13. Sixth paragraph: these woodlands are "called montado in Portugal and dehesa in Spain."

14. Paragraph B opens: "The psychological motivations underlying collecting are complex and varied" — exactly what drives people to collect.

15. Paragraph C: "The range of objects that people collect is extraordinary," then lists the sheer variety collectors pursue.

16. Paragraph D: "One of the most significant aspects of collecting is its social dimension."

17. Paragraph E opens: "The economics of collecting can be complex" — the financial side of the hobby.

18. "Collectors tend to score higher on traits such as conscientiousness and openness to experience" — higher levels of specific personality traits, matching option C.

19. "An expertise that can rival or exceed that of professional scholars or curators" — surpassing academic professionals, option A.

20. "Collecting primarily for financial gain is likely to lead to disappointment" — unlikely to bring lasting satisfaction, option B.

21. "Online auction platforms have made it possible to access global markets... the internet has facilitated the rise of entirely new categories of collecting" — expanded access plus new categories, option C.

22. Paragraph B: "collecting often serves as a way of managing anxiety by creating a sense of order."

23. Paragraph D: collectors join "clubs, societies, or online communities where they exchange information."

24. Paragraph E: "the market for collectibles is volatile and unpredictable."

25. Paragraph F: "Online auction platforms have made it possible to access global markets."

26. Paragraph G: trading cards "involves negotiation, turn-taking, and an appreciation of relative value."

27. Paragraph D: "Some historians argue that exploration is fundamentally driven by commercial interests."

28. Paragraph G, final line: "the more we explore, the more we discover there is to explore."

29. Paragraph C: "particle physicists exploring the structure of matter, microbiologists mapping the human gut microbiome, and archaeologists excavating ancient civilisations are all... explorers."

30. Paragraph B: exploration is "a journey into the imagination as much as into the external world" — always more than physical travel.

31. Paragraph F: "the indigenous populations who suffered dispossession, disease, and exploitation as a direct consequence of European discovery and colonisation."

32. The writer asks "Does this mean the age of exploration is over?" then answers: "Not according to most contemporary theorists" — the writer sides against it being over — NO.

33. Davis defines exploration broadly, but the passage never ranks intellectual exploration above physical exploration in value — NOT GIVEN.

34. Paragraph D: commercial interests, among other motives, "have all played roles in different periods and different contexts" — YES.

35. Paragraph F: "These are serious objections that deserve serious engagement, and supporters of exploration cannot simply ignore them" — YES.

36. Feynman's point is that "the most exciting scientific discoveries are not the answers but the questions" — about discoveries opening new questions, not about most discoveries failing — NO.

37. Paragraph E: circumnavigation "produced not just trade routes but a revolution in human understanding of the size and shape of the planet."

38. Paragraph E: the Apollo missions "delivered scientific data that continues to inform our understanding of the solar system half a century later."

39. Paragraph F: "These are serious objections that deserve serious engagement" — critics' concerns are treated as legitimate.

40. Paragraph G: "exploration is by definition an endless endeavour: every discovery expands the frontier of the unknown rather than reducing it."