Glass: Capturing the Dance of Light: reading answers and analysis
Glass is everywhere, from fibre optics to missile nose cones and dental crowns. Optical computers and cell imaging lie ahead, and glass art is booming (Dale Chihuly earns fortunes). The 1920s ribbon machine made cheap light bulbs possible. Glass is versatile because its atoms stay disordered, like a liquid's, and architects imagine walls that turn opaque or change colour.
Questions 1-13 · 13 marks · 3 question blocks
Where the answers sit
The headings (1-5) cover B to F (A is the example). The ribbon machine diagram (6-8) is in D. The now / future / not mentioned classification (9-13) needs A, B, C and F.
Questions 1-5
B is exciting fibre-optic innovations, C the booming market for glass art, D the light-bulb ribbon machine (a former technology), E what makes glass so adaptable, and F architectural experiments. 'Glass art galleries flourish' is a trap for C, which is about artists selling work, not galleries.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | viii | — |
| 2 | i | — |
| 3 | ix | — |
| 4 | iii | — |
| 5 | vi | — |
Questions 6-8
D describes the machine step by step: a ribbon of molten glass moves over a steel belt with holes, then sags into waiting moulds. The key accepts several phrasings for each part.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | molten glass | ribbon of glass / molten glass ribbon |
| 7 | belt of steel | steel belt / moving belt |
| 8 | moulds | lightbulb moulds / light bulb moulds |
Questions 9-13
Crowns for teeth and glass sculpture exist today. Optical computers are 'on the horizon'. Instant-curtain glass is available now but expensive, so it exists today. Colour-changing buildings are the future, and fashion isn't mentioned at all.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | A | — |
| 10 | B | — |
| 11 | A | — |
| 12 | C | — |
| 13 | A | — |
The questions most people get wrong
A (exists today). 'Glass as instant curtains is available now, but the cost is exorbitant'. It's expensive, but it exists.
ix. The ribbon machine dates from the 1920s. The paragraph opens with 'not all the glass technology that touches our lives is ultra-modern'.
i. C is about a boom in glassblowing and Chihuly's sales and commissions, which is a growing market for glass crafts. Nothing is said about galleries.
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 1 Test 4 reading paper: all three passages, 60 minutes, marked the second you finish with a review of every answer. Already done it? Take it again and see if the same traps still get you.
Cambridge IELTS 1, Test 4, Reading Passage 1. The passage name belongs to Cambridge University Press. No passage text or question wording is reproduced on this page. The answers are published for self-marking, and the analysis is our own.