Cambridge IELTS Academic 10 Reading Test 1 Answers with Explanation / IELTS Academic Reading: Stepwells , European Transport Systems 1990-2010 , Psychology of innovation

READING PASSAGE 1

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

Stepwells

Answer	Keywords	Location	Explanation
1 false	ancient stepwells, world	Para 2 line 7	Now read this line “Most stepwells are found dotted round the desert areas of Gujarat (where they are called vav) and Rajasthan (where they are called baori), while a few also survive in Delhi.”Implies that they are not all over the world but Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi.
2 true	functions, water collection	Para 2, line 11	Now read this line, “During  their  heyday,  they  (stepwells)  were  places  of gathering of leisure and relaxation and of worship for villagers of all but the lowest classes.” Then, he continues “Some were located in or near villages as public spaces for the community; others were positioned  beside  roads  as  resting  places  for  travelers.” Here other functions are gathering place, worship place, resting place. Which means that stepwells were not only used for collecting water.
3 not given	few Delhi, attractive	Para 2	Para 2 mentions that “a few also survive in Delhi”.  However, no comparison of the attractiveness of stepwells in Delhi and in other places is found.
4 not given	stone steps	Para 3 & Para 4	No paragraph indicates the length of time workers took.
5 true	steps, altered, course of a year	Para 3, line 6	Now read this line “When the water level was high, the user needed only to descend a few steps to reach it; when it was low, several levels would have to be negotiated.”Because of the change in water level, the number of steps one had to climb up and down also changed. Which means the steps altered (changed) according the course of a year.
6 pavilions	shade	Para4, line 6	Here, shade= shelter.Now read this line “Built from stone and supported by pillars, they also included pavilions that sheltered visitors from the relentless heat.”Pavilions that sheltered visitors means Pavilions gave shade to visitors.
7 draught	climate event, southern Rajasthan	Para 5	Now read this line, “southern Rajasthan suffered an eight-year drought between 1996 and 2004.”Serious climatic event= drought.
8 tourists	requent visitors, nowadays,	Last para, line 6	Now read this line, “Tourists flock to wells in far-flung corners of north-western India to gaze  in  wonder  at  these  architectural  marvels  from  hundreds   of  years  ago…” This  means  that nowadays, a huge number of tourists visit India to gaze at these wells.
9 earthquake	Rani Ki Vav, Restored, 1960s,	Para 7	Now read this line, “Incredibly, in January 2001, this ancient structure survived an earthquake that measured 7.6 on the Richter scale.”This means that despite the earthquake in 2001,the stepwell of Rani Ki Vav was still in excellent condition.
10 4 sides	Surya Kund, geometrical pattern,	Para 8, line 8	Now read this line, “Besides, it is the steps on the four sides that create a geometrical formation.”It is the steps on the four sides that create a geometrical formation (pattern).
11 tank	Surya Kund, looks like	Para 8, line 4	Now read this line “It  actually  resembles  a  tank  rather than  a  well,”Resembles a tank means looks like a tank.
12 verandas	Chand baori, dramatic, view of the steps	Para 10, last line	Now read this line “On the fourth side, verandas which are supported by ornate pillars overlook the steps.” The same paragraph has the words like oldest, deepest, most dramatic.Verandas (which are supported by ornate pillars) overlook the steps means Verandas provide a view of the steps.
13 underwater	Neemrana Ki Baori	Para 11, line 4	Now read this line “Constructed in around 1700, it is nine storeys deep, with the last two being underwater.”Last two ar

 

 

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 .

European Transport Systems 1990-2010

Answers	Keywords	Location	Explanation
14 viii			“The number of cars on European Union (EU) roads saw an increase of three million cars each year from 1990 to 2010, … .. . ..”This means that the requirement  for  vehicles  continues  to  rise.
15 iii			As  far  as  goods  transport  is  concerned, growth  is  due  to  a  large  extent  to  changes  in  the  European  economy  and  its  system  of  production. Then,  the  author  indicates  that  these  changes  cause  some  production  sites  to  be  relocated  far  away from  the  final  assembly  plant  or  away  from  users  –  perhaps  even hundreds  or  even  thousands  of kilometres away‟.This means that these changes affect the transport distances. So, the correct heading for paragraph B is iii.
16 xi			In paragraph C, the author provides many transport statistics, or transport trends, in some countries which  are  “candidates  for  entry  to  the  EU”.   The  trends  include  an  increase  in  road  haulage  and  a decrease in  rail  haulage. These countries are awaiting admission to  become members of the EU.
17 i			In paragraph D, after the first line “A new imperative sustainable development- offers an opportunity for adapting the EU’s common  transport  policy.. .. ”, we find the word objective. And in the last line we find the time needed to implement the objective “… in 30 years’ time.”Here, Objective = goal, 30 years’ time = long-termHence, paragraph D is about fresh and important long-term goal.
18. v			In  paragraph  E,  it explains that CO2 emissions are projected to rise by 50% by 2020 because of the increase in traffic.The environmental cost of road transport= the environmental effect of road transport
19. x			paragraph  G focuses on the first solution which focuses on  road transport solely through pricing. In the short term, this  approach might “curb the growth in road transport”. Here, charging = pricing , alone = solely, restrict = curb.
20. ii			Paragraph H is about the second solution to achieve transport balance. This approach “concentrates on road transport pricing but is accompanied by measures to increase the efficiency of the other modes (better quality of services, logistics, technology.)”.Here, charging=pricing ,improve=increase the efficiency oftransport, methods=transport modes.
21. iv			In  paragraph  I,  “the  third  approach  comprises  a  series  of  measures  ranging  from  pricing  to revitalising  alternative  modes  of  transport  and  targeting  investment  in  the  trans-European  network”. This  means  that  the  third  approach  may  change  transport  patterns.
22 true	growing, technological developments,	Para A	Search for the synonyms and Keywords:In this paragraph,“requirement = need” “rise = grow” “information technologies = technological developments.”Now read this line “Although modern information technologies can reduce the demand for physical transport by facilitating teleworking and tele services, the requirement for transport continues to rise.”
23 false	reduce production costs, closer to customers	Para B	Now read this line “This  phenomenon  has  been  emphasized by the relocation of some industries, particularly those which are labour intensive, to reduce production costs, even though the production site  is  hundreds or even  thousands  of  kilometres  away  from  the  final assembly or away from users.”Which means that some industries are moved much far away from their relevant customers.
24 Not given	prohibitively expensive, countries.	Para C	The author does not provide any information about the price of these countries‟ cars or indicate whether they are expensive or not.
25 not given	Gothenburg,30 years ago		The Gothenburg European Council only appears in paragraph D, but the author does not mention when it was established or how long it has been  in existence.
26 false	the end of this decade, 739 billion tonnes,		Now read this line, “…,  CO2  emissions  from  transport  can  be  expected  to increase by 50% to 1,113 billion tonnes, compared with the 739 billion tonnes recorded in 1990.So, 739  billion  tonnes  is  the  figure  for  CO2  emissions in 1990, not “by the end of this decade”.

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27–40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 .

Psychology of innovation

Answer	Keywords	Location	Explanation
27. c	million-dollar quartet	Para 3, line 7	In paragraph 3, the author indicates that while four people in the picture “million-dollar quartet” who  are  Presley,  Cash,  Perkins  and  Lewis  understood  and  believed  in  Phillips’s  ambition  of revolutionising popular music, Roy Orbision who was not in the picture wasn’t inspired by this goal. Therefore, the example of the picture emphasizes the author’s point about “having a shared objective”
28 a	discover the DNA code	Para 6	Now read this line  “he (James Watson) and Crick had succeeded because they were aware that they weren‟t the most intelligent of the scientists pursuing the answer. The smartest scientist was called  Rosalind  Franklin  who  was  so  intelligent  she  rarely  sought  advice.” This  means  that  unlike Franklin who was too intelligent to need the help of others , James Watson and Crick knew they had limitations; therefore, they cooperated with each other and successfully discovered the DNA code.
29 d	competitions, cereal packets	Para 8	Now read “even something as simple as writing deepens (strengthen=deepen) every individual’s engagement in the  project”. Then,  again “competitions  on  breakfast  cereal  packets”  as  an  example  to support  this  finding. So,  the  example  is  mentioned  to  deepen  every  individual’s  commitment  to an idea.
30 b	important for employees to	Last para, line 4	Now read this line ,”Cialdini says: ‘Leaders should encourage  everyone  to  contribute  and  simultaneously assure all concerned that every recommendation is important to making the right decision and will be given full attention.”This means that company owners or employers should provide a view to their employees that they (employees) are also a big part of the company and their suggestions are valued.
31 g	values, match, more likely to,	Para 2, line 5	Now read this line ,”Research shows that the fit between an employee’s values and a company’s values makes difference to what contribution they make and whether they’re still at the company”.This clearly suggests that the matching or fitting of value has an influence on whether employees stay in their present jobs or not.
32 e	time of change	Para 4, line 4	Read this, “when things change, we are hard-wired to play it safe.”This line suggests that when there are changes we or people try our best to play safe or avoid risks.
33 a	aware, might lose, will often	Para 4	Read this line, “studies show that we invariably take more gambles when threatened with a loss than when offered a reward”.This means that when people are threatened with a loss or damage, people will take gambles or chances.
34 f	dominant boss, liable to	Para 9	Now read this line, “crew  members  of  multi pilot  aircraft  exhibit  a  sometimes  deadly passivity when the flight captain makes a clearly wrong-headed decision. This behavior is not unique to  air  travel,  but  can  happen  in  any  workplace  where  the  leader  is  overbearing.” This  means  that people working under an overbearing boss tend to be more passive. Passive means ignore duties
35 b	employees, with few rules	Para 10	Now read these lines, “where the only rule was that there were no  rules….. encouraged a free interchange of ideas”This means that employees who work in organisations with few rules are more likely to interchange/ share their ideas.
36 no	surroundings, determining creativity	para 1, line 3	Now read this line, “There are, nevertheless, people working in luxurious, state-of-the-art centres designed to stimulate innovation who find that their environment doesn’t make them feel at all creative. And there are those who don’t have a budget, or much space, but who innovate successfully.”This means that the working environment or physical surroundings of the workplace does not affect the employees’ creativity.
37 yes	potential, creative,	para 2, line 11	Now read this line, “although some individuals may be more creative than others, almost every individual can be creative in the right circumstances.”Here, most people means almost every individualand have the potential means can.
38 not given	work best, intelligence	Para 7	No mention of whether teamwork gives the best work result when team members are equally intelligent.
39 not given	easier, smaller companies, innovative	Para 5, line 2	Now read this line “It’s easy for a company to be pulled in conflicting directions as the marketing, product development, and finance departments each get different feedback from different sets of people.”Whether it is easier for smaller companies to be innovative or not is NOT GIVEN.
40 no	manager’s approval, more persuasive	Para 7, line 8	Now read this line, “Research shows that peer power, used horizontally not vertically, is much more powerful than any boss’s speech.”It means a colleague or peer’s speech is more persuasive or powerful than a boss.