Cambridge 17 Reading Test 1 - Answers With Explanation

1. First paragraph: "London's population grew at an astonishing rate." The note is describing this directly.

2. Second paragraph: Pearson's plan was to relocate slum workers "to newly constructed suburbs."

3. Second paragraph: "Pearson's ideas gained support amongst some businessmen."

4. Third paragraph: the company "had difficulty in raising the funding for such a radical and expensive scheme."

5. Same sentence: the difficulty was partly "the critical articles printed by the press."

6. Fourth paragraph, last line: "A two-metre-deep layer of soil was laid on top of the tunnel."

7. The passage says the Metropolitan line "was the world's first underground railway." If it was first, no other country built one earlier — FALSE.

8. We're told 40,000 passengers rode it on day one, but the passage never says whether that was more or less than predicted — NOT GIVEN.

9. "Smoke and fumes remained a problem, even though ventilation shafts were added to the tunnels." The shafts were meant to fix this, and the problem stayed anyway — TRUE.

10. "The 'cut and cover' method of construction was not an option in this part of the capital. The only alternative was to tunnel deep underground." A different method was needed — TRUE.

11. The carriages "had tiny windows just below the roof." Just below the roof is above eye level, not at it — FALSE.

12. "Although the City & South London Railway was a great technical achievement, it did not make a profit." Not profitable is the opposite of financially successful — FALSE.

13. The passage says the Tuppenny Tube "was very popular," but says nothing about punctuality — NOT GIVEN.

14. Section A: "stadiums are regarded with growing scepticism... construction costs can soar above £1 billion... fallen into disuse and disrepair." That's the negative attitude.

15. Section F gives the actual figures: "1.14 GWh of electricity annually," cutting CO2 "by 660 tons." Numbers, as the question asks for.

16. Section E lists "hotels, retail outlets, conference centres, restaurants and bars, children's playgrounds and green space" — a wide range of facilities.

17. Section D covers early-1900s stadiums: "steel and reinforced concrete," suburban locations, surrounded by parking lots, less accessible.

18. Section B: the Arles amphitheatre "became a fortress with four towers."

19. Section B: later "converted back into an arena for the staging of bullfights."

20. Section B: the Verona arena is "one of the world's prime sites for opera."

21. Section C: Lucca's site was used as "houses, a salt depot and a prison."

22. Section C: today it's "embedded in the various shops and residences."

23–24. Section D says these stadiums are "situated in suburban areas... surrounded by parking lots" and "may not be as accessible to the general public" (less convenient locations). It also says "some of the flexibility was lost" once steel and concrete took over (less versatile).

25–26. Section E: mixed-use spaces bring "families and a wider cross-section of society" back into stadiums (community life). Section F: canopies "have a large surface area for fitting photovoltaic panels" and stand tall enough for wind turbines (renewable power site).

27. "Charles II... did a deal with the Scots." An agreement between two parties for mutual benefit is a strategic alliance.

28. He accepted Presbyterianism "in return for being crowned King of Scots," giving up the religious principle his father had died defending.

29. For the Parliamentarians, since Charles was "comprehensively defeated" — their decisive victory.

30. "A huge sum offered for his capture" — a large reward.

31. He ended up "seeking refuge in France" — relative safety.

32. Pepys was chosen to write the story down, but the passage never says why Pepys specifically, or whether trust was the reason — NOT GIVEN.

33. "The king related to him in great detail his personal recollections." Great detail is the opposite of lacking detail — NO.

34. Charles says: "After the battle was so absolutely lost... I began to think of the best way of saving myself." He started planning after the defeat, not before — NO.

35. "One of the joys of Spencer's book... is just how close the reader gets to the action," credited partly to Charles's own narrative. That's a positive — YES.

36. The first paragraph is entirely about the chain of events (the deal with the Scots, the invasion, the battle) that led to Charles fleeing.

37. The third paragraph's details (the haircut, the dye, the oak tree) are exactly the kind of specifics that make a historical account feel immediate and real.

38. The fourth paragraph notes Charles "loved the story" and commissioned paintings and a new order of chivalry to memorialise what was, in fact, his lowest point — celebrating a defeat.

39. Fifth paragraph: "He has even-handed sympathy for both the fugitive king and the fierce republican regime that hunted him." Even-handed means unbiased.

40. Sixth paragraph asks whether the six weeks "affected him in some way" and says the book "doesn't quite hit the mark" here — it never resolves whether the experience left a lasting mark on him.