Moles Happy as Homes Go Underground: reading answers and analysis
A Dutch family lived secretly underground for six years, and underground living is now becoming respectable: luxury Dutch homes built into road noise embankments sold before they were started. Underground malls, cities and offices are spreading worldwide. They save land and energy, but some people need simulated light, sound and breezes to cope. The Siegmunds love it.
Questions 13-26 · 14 marks · 2 question blocks
Where the answers sit
The headings (13-20) cover B to I (A is the example). The sentence completions (21-26) run from F to I.
Questions 13-20
B: homes sold before completion. C: underground services worldwide. D: buildings that need no windows. E: savings in land and energy. F: architect Hurkmans describes his houses. G: underground homes worldwide. H: simulated nature. I: how the Siegmunds' home developed. 'Most people prefer conventional housing' is a trap built on the local authorities in F.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | xi | — |
| 14 | ix | — |
| 15 | viii | — |
| 16 | v | — |
| 17 | i | — |
| 18 | vii | — |
| 19 | iii | — |
| 20 | iv | — |
Questions 21-26
Developers want quick sales, and the South Limburg planners welcomed the scheme. Hurkmans uses noise embankments, and Ivrea housed Olivetti employees. Japanese systems help people adapt to underground life, and Siegmund's first room was for his bakery. The key accepts several forms of each answer.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | sell quickly | sell more quickly |
| 22 | planners | South Limburg planners / South Limberg planners |
| 23 | embankments | noise embankments / road embankments |
| 24 | Olivetti employees | — |
| 25 | adapt to | — |
| 26 | his bakery business | his bakery / bakery business / a cool room / cool room |
The questions most people get wrong
ix. C lists shops, clinics, a planned city and malls: services, not homes. G is the paragraph about living accommodation.
vii. G gives underground homes in the US, Britain and Italy. Homes, not shopping or offices, separate it from C.
His cool room was dug for his bakery business, and the key accepts 'cool room' too. Sleeping there came later, during a heatwave.
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