Bringing cinnamon to Europe: reading answers and analysis
Cinnamon was used in biblical times, ancient Rome and medieval Europe, where it showed off wealth. Arab merchants carried it overland to Alexandria and Venice controlled its sale. Then the Portuguese, Dutch and English each seized Ceylon's cinnamon trade in turn, until wider cultivation and new trades in coffee, tea and sugar ended its importance.
The notes (1-9) are all in Paragraphs 1 and 2, in order: uses first, then the route from India to Venice. The TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN statements (10-13) move through Paragraphs 3 to 6, one European power at a time.
Answer key and self-check
Type what you wrote and hit mark. Hide the key first if you haven't done the passage yet. Every question number jumps to its explanation.
How to attack this block: The note headings are time periods, so you know which sentences to read. The first five gaps are about uses (an ingredient, a feeling, an event, a status, an illness), and the last four trace the trade route. Capital letters matter for the place names.
Question 1
Answer: oilsParagraph 1, second sentence
In biblical times, what was cinnamon mixed into?
both as an ingredient that was mixed with oils for anointing people's bodies
Question says → Passage says
added toan ingredient that was mixed with
Why: 'Added to' matches 'an ingredient… mixed with', and what it was mixed with is 'oils'. Keep the plural: the passage says 'oils'.
The trap: 'Bodies' is the end of the phrase, but the oil went on bodies. Cinnamon was added to the oils, not to people.
Question 2
Answer: friendshipParagraph 1, second sentence
What did cinnamon show between people in biblical times?
and also as a token indicating friendship among lovers and friends
Question says → Passage says
used to showa token indicating
between peopleamong lovers and friends
Why: 'Show' is 'indicating', and 'between people' is 'among lovers and friends'. The noun after 'indicating' is 'friendship'.
The trap: 'Lovers' or 'friends' are the people, not what was shown. The gap needs the feeling, 'friendship'.
Question 3
Answer: funeralsParagraph 1, third sentence
Where in ancient Rome was cinnamon burnt for its smell?
In ancient Rome, mourners attending funerals burnt cinnamon to create a pleasant scent.
Question says → Passage says
its sweet smella pleasant scent
atattending
Why: 'Sweet smell' is 'pleasant scent', and the event in the sentence is 'funerals'. 'At funerals' reads naturally; keep the plural.
The trap: 'Mourners' is the other noun here, but they're the people at the event. 'Used… at mourners' doesn't make sense.
Question 4
Answer: wealthParagraph 1, sixth sentence
What did cinnamon say about a person in the Middle Ages?
a host would offer guests a plate with various spices piled upon it as a sign of the wealth at his or her disposal
Question says → Passage says
was an indication ofas a sign of
a person'shis or her
Why: 'An indication of' is 'a sign of', and what the spices showed was the host's 'wealth'. The sentence before backs it up: people showed off that they could afford an expensive spice.
The trap: 'Ability' (to purchase) is the nearby idea, but 'a person's ability' is incomplete without 'to purchase'. One word that fits: 'wealth'.
Question 5
Answer: indigestionParagraph 1, last sentence
Which health problem was cinnamon said to treat?
Cinnamon was also reported to have health benefits, and was thought to cure various ailments, such as indigestion.
Question says → Passage says
known as a treatment forwas thought to cure
and other health problemsvarious ailments, such as
Why: 'Treatment for' matches 'cure', and 'such as' gives the one named ailment: 'indigestion'. Check the spelling; it's an easy word to lose marks on.
The trap: 'Ailments' is the general word, and the note already says 'other health problems'. The gap wants the specific example.
Question 6
Answer: IndiaParagraph 2, fourth sentence
Where was the cinnamon grown?
They took it from India, where it was grown, on camels via an overland route to the Mediterranean.
Question says → Passage says
grown inwhere it was grown
Why: The passage says it straight: 'India, where it was grown'. Use a capital letter.
The trap: Ceylon is where the Portuguese found it later, in Paragraph 3. The notes here are still about the Middle Ages, when Arab merchants brought it from India.
Question 7
Answer: camelsParagraph 2, fourth sentence
How did the merchants carry cinnamon to the Mediterranean?
They took it from India, where it was grown, on camels via an overland route to the Mediterranean.
Question says → Passage says
merchants usedArab merchants… took it… on camels
to bring it to the Mediterraneanvia an overland route to the Mediterranean
Why: The note asks what they 'used', which is the means of transport: 'camels'. Plural, as in the passage.
The trap: 'Route' is in the same sentence, but you travel along a route rather than use it to bring something. And 'overland route' is two words.
Question 8
Answer: AlexandriaParagraph 2, fifth sentence
Where did cinnamon arrive in the Mediterranean?
Their journey ended when they reached Alexandria.
Question says → Passage says
arrived in the Mediterranean atTheir journey ended when they reached
Why: The camel journey ended at 'Alexandria', which is where the cinnamon arrived. Copy the spelling exactly, with a capital.
The trap: Venice comes next and is also a Mediterranean city, but that's where European traders took it afterwards, which is the next note.
Question 9
Answer: VeniceParagraph 2, sixth and seventh sentences
Which city did traders take cinnamon to before it went round Europe?
European traders sailed there to purchase their supply of cinnamon, then brought it back to Venice. The spice then travelled from that great trading city to markets all around Europe.
Question says → Passage says
traders took it toEuropean traders… brought it back to
sold it to destinations around Europetravelled from that great trading city to markets all around Europe
Why: The traders bought it in Alexandria and brought it to 'Venice', and from that trading city it went to markets across Europe.
The trap: 'Europe' is the end of the sentence, but the note already says 'destinations around Europe'. The gap is the city in between.
TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN
Questions 10-13
How to attack this block: These are about dates and control, so put the years in order. The Portuguese held the trade for about 150 years, the Dutch took decades to push them out, and by the 1800s the spice trade was fading. The NOT GIVEN compares planted and wild trees, which the passage never does.
Question 10
Answer: TRUEParagraph 3 and Paragraph 4
Did the Portuguese control Ceylon's cinnamon trade all through the 1500s?
In 1518, the Portuguese built a fort on Ceylon, which enabled them to protect the island, so helping them to develop a monopoly … By 1640, the Dutch broke the 150-year Portuguese monopoly
Question says → Passage says
had control over the cinnamon tradedevelop a monopoly in the cinnamon trade / the 150-year Portuguese monopoly
throughout the 16th centurytoward the end of the 15th century / In the late 16th century
Why: TRUE. The Portuguese arrived at the end of the 1400s, built their fort in 1518, still had big profits in the late 1500s, and only lost the monopoly by 1640. A 150-year monopoly covers the whole 16th century.
The trap: Some people pick NOT GIVEN because no sentence says 'throughout the 16th century'. You have to put the dates together: arrival, fort, late-16th-century profits, then 1640.
Question 11
Answer: FALSEParagraph 4
Did the Dutch take over the trade straight after arriving?
When the Dutch arrived off the coast of southern Asia at the very beginning of the 17th century … By 1640, the Dutch broke the 150-year Portuguese monopoly
Question says → Passage says
as soon as they arrivedat the very beginning of the 17th century
took over the cinnamon tradebroke the 150-year Portuguese monopoly / gaining control of the lucrative cinnamon trade
Why: FALSE. They arrived around 1600, first allied with Kandy, broke the monopoly by 1640 and only expelled the Portuguese in 1658. That's decades, not 'as soon as'.
The trap: 'Set their sights on displacing the Portuguese' shows they wanted it from the start. Wanting it isn't having it.
Question 12
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 5, last sentence
Did the Dutch-planted trees produce more cinnamon than wild ones?
Eventually, the Dutch began cultivating their own cinnamon trees to supplement the diminishing number of wild trees available for use.
Question says → Passage says
The trees planted by the Dutchcultivating their own cinnamon trees
the wild treeswild trees available for use
Why: NOT GIVEN. The Dutch planted trees because wild ones were running out. Nothing compares how much cinnamon each kind produced.
The trap: 'Supplement' and 'boost production' make it sound as if the new trees were more productive. They added to supply; the passage never says they yielded more per tree.
Question 13
Answer: FALSEParagraph 6, last sentence
Did the spice trade stay economically important through the 1800s?
the spice trade overall was diminishing in economic potential, and was eventually superseded by the rise of trade in coffee, tea, chocolate, and sugar
Question says → Passage says
maintained its economic importancewas diminishing in economic potential / eventually superseded
Why: FALSE. By the mid-19th century the spice trade was 'diminishing in economic potential' and was later replaced by trade in coffee, tea, chocolate and sugar. 'Maintained' is the opposite.
The trap: Production reached 1,000 tons a year in the same paragraph, which sounds like success. More cinnamon didn't stop the trade losing its value.
TRUE. There's no single sentence. Combine the arrival at the end of the 15th century, the 1518 fort, late-16th-century profits and the 150-year monopoly broken by 1640.
'Wealth'. The banquet spices were a sign of the wealth at the host's disposal. 'Ability' is nearby but needs more words.
Words from this passage worth keeping
anointing(Paragraph 1)
putting oil on someone, often as a ritual
ailments(Paragraph 1)
minor illnesses
condiment(Paragraph 1)
something added to food for flavour
exorbitantly(Paragraph 2)
far too much, especially of a price
spurred(Paragraph 2)
encouraged or pushed into action
pliable(Paragraph 3)
easy to bend
lucrative(Paragraph 4)
making a lot of money
superseded(Paragraph 6)
replaced by something newer
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Cambridge IELTS 13, Test 2, Reading Passage 1. The passage and questions belong to Cambridge University Press and are not reproduced here. We quote short extracts only as evidence for our own commentary, and the answers are published for self-marking. Get the book for the full text, or sit the test on Langujet.
The rest of Cambridge 13 Test 2
Passage 1 · Questions 1-13 · You're hereBringing cinnamon to Europe
