Cutty Sark: the fastest sailing ship of all time: reading answers and analysis
Cutty Sark is the last surviving tea clipper. Built in 1869 to be the fastest ship in the China tea trade, she never quite managed it, and the Suez Canal gave steam ships the edge. She did better carrying wool from Australia under Captain Woodget, was sold to Portugal, then bought back as a training ship and finally put on display in Greenwich.
The TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN statements (1-8) follow the ship's history from Paragraph 1 to Paragraph 7. The sentence completion (9-13) picks up at Paragraph 6 and runs to the end, also in order.
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: Several statements are almost right but miss one detail: what the clippers were built for, where in the poem the name comes from, who reached London first. The NOT GIVEN is about steam ships on the ocean route, which the passage only describes for sailing ships.
Question 1
Answer: FALSEParagraph 1, second sentence
Were clippers first meant to carry passengers?
three-masted ships built to transport goods around the world, although some also took passengers
Question says → Passage says
originally intended to be used asbuilt to
passenger shipssome also took passengers
Why: FALSE. Clippers were 'built to transport goods'. Passengers were an extra on some of them ('although some also'), so carrying people wasn't the original purpose.
The trap: 'Passengers' is right there in the sentence, which pulls people towards TRUE. Read what they were built for, and what 'although' does to the rest.
Question 2
Answer: FALSEParagraph 2, first two sentences
Was the ship named after a character in the poem?
Tam, a farmer, is chased by a witch called Nannie, who is wearing a 'cutty sark' - an old Scottish name for a short nightdress.
Question says → Passage says
the name of a charactera witch called Nannie
Cutty Sark was givena 'cutty sark' - an old Scottish name for a short nightdress
Why: FALSE. The name does come from the poem, but it's the name of a piece of clothing, the witch's short nightdress. The characters are Tam and Nannie.
The trap: The first sentence says the name 'comes from the poem', so TRUE is tempting. The next sentence tells you what in the poem it is, and it isn't a character.
Question 3
Answer: TRUEParagraph 3, second sentence
Did the building contract give Willis the advantage?
ensured that the contract with them put him in a very strong position
Question says → Passage says
favoured Willisput him in a very strong position
Why: TRUE. A contract that puts one side 'in a very strong position' favours that side. The builders going out of business backs this up.
Question 4
Answer: TRUEParagraph 4, first sentence
Did Willis want Cutty Sark to be the quickest ship on the China tea run?
Cutty Sark was designed to make the journey more quickly than any other ship
Question says → Passage says
the fastest tea clippermore quickly than any other ship
travelling between the UK and Chinathe tea trade between China and Britain
Why: TRUE. Willis's company was in the China tea trade, where speed meant profit, and the ship was designed to make the trip faster than any other. 'More quickly than any other' is 'fastest'.
The trap: 'Never lived up to the high expectations of her owner' tempts people to FALSE, but failing to be the fastest doesn't change what Willis wanted.
Question 5
Answer: FALSEParagraph 4, last sentence
Did Cutty Sark get back to London before Thermopylae, despite the storm?
Cutty Sark reached London a week after Thermopylae.
Question says → Passage says
beat Thermopylae back to Londonreached London a week after Thermopylae
Why: FALSE. She arrived a week after Thermopylae, so she lost. The 400-mile lead was gone after the rudder damage.
The trap: The lead of over 400 miles makes it sound like a win. That was halfway, before the rudder broke.
Question 6
Answer: TRUEParagraph 5, last two sentences
Did the Suez Canal let steam ships beat clippers between Britain and China?
While steam ships could make use of the quick, direct route between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, the canal was of no use to sailing ships
Question says → Passage says
steam ships could travel… faster than clippersSteam ships reduced the journey time between Britain and China by approximately two months
Why: TRUE. Steam ships could use the canal's short route, sailing ships couldn't, and steam cut the Britain-China journey by about two months.
The trap: Some choose NOT GIVEN because no single sentence says 'faster than clippers'. Put the two facts together: only steam ships could use the canal, and that saved them about two months.
Question 7
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 5, third sentence
Did steam ships sometimes take the long ocean route?
the canal was of no use to sailing ships, which needed the much stronger winds of the oceans, and so had to sail a far greater distance
Question says → Passage says
the ocean routethe much stronger winds of the oceans… had to sail a far greater distance
Why: NOT GIVEN. The ocean route is described only for sailing ships. The passage never says whether steam ships ever used it as well.
The trap: It's easy to answer from logic (steam ships had the canal, so surely they didn't go the long way, so FALSE). The passage simply doesn't say.
Question 8
Answer: TRUEParagraph 7, second sentence
Did Woodget put the ship in danger from icebergs?
Woodget took her further south than any previous captain, bringing her dangerously close to icebergs off the southern tip of South America
Question says → Passage says
put Cutty Sark at risk of hitting an icebergbringing her dangerously close to icebergs
Why: TRUE. 'Dangerously close to icebergs' is a risk of hitting one, and the next sentence calls it a 'gamble'.
The trap: 'His gamble paid off' might make you think there was no real risk. A gamble that works was still a risk.
Sentence completion (ONE WORD ONLY)
Questions 9-13
How to attack this block: Each sentence carries a date or a name that leads you to the right line: after 1880, Woodget, Falmouth, 1923 to 1954, the 21st century. The answers are all simple nouns, but two of them (a cargo and a kind of damage) have wrong options nearby from earlier in the ship's life.
Question 9
Answer: woolParagraph 6, last two sentences
What was the main cargo in the ship's best years?
This marked a turnaround and the beginning of the most successful period in Cutty Sark's working life, transporting wool from Australia to Britain.
Question says → Passage says
during its most successful timethe most successful period in Cutty Sark's working life
carriedtransporting
Why: 'Most successful time' is 'most successful period', and the cargo was 'wool' from Australia.
The trap: 'Tea' was her original cargo, but by 1878 tea traders had lost interest. After 1880 it was wool.
Question 10
Answer: navigatorParagraph 7, first sentence
Besides being a captain, what was Woodget skilled at?
The ship's next captain, Richard Woodget, was an excellent navigator, who got the best out of both his ship and his crew.
Question says → Passage says
very skilledexcellent
As a captain andThe ship's next captain… was an excellent
Why: 'Very skilled' is 'excellent', and the noun is 'navigator'.
The trap: 'Crew' appears in the same sentence, but he got the best out of the crew. He wasn't one of them.
Question 11
Answer: galeParagraph 8, fourth sentence
What damaged the Ferreira and sent her to Falmouth?
Badly damaged in a gale in 1922, she was put into Falmouth harbour in southwest England, for repairs.
Question says → Passage says
went to Falmouth to repair damageshe was put into Falmouth harbour… for repairs
that a… had causedBadly damaged in a
Why: The damage came from 'a gale', a very strong wind. One word after 'a'.
The trap: 'Storm' isn't wrong in meaning, but the answer must come from the passage, and the word used here is 'gale'. 'Stormy seas' belongs to the 1872 rudder story.
Question 12
Answer: trainingParagraph 9, first two sentences
What was Cutty Sark used for from 1923 to 1954?
Dowman used Cutty Sark as a training ship, and she continued in this role after his death. When she was no longer required, in 1954
Question says → Passage says
Between 1923 andthe ship returned to Falmouth the following year… in 1954
was used forused Cutty Sark as a
Why: Dowman bought her back and used her as a 'training' ship until 1954. The sentence ends 'used for ___', so you want 'training', not 'training ship'.
The trap: 1923 isn't printed: it's 'the following year' after 1922. Don't let the missing date make you look for something else.
Question 13
Answer: fireParagraph 9, last sentence
What damaged Cutty Sark twice this century?
The ship suffered from fire in 2007, and again, less seriously, in 2014
Question says → Passage says
twice been damagedsuffered from… and again
in the 21st centuryin 2007… in 2014
Why: 2007 and 2014 are both 21st century, and both times it was 'fire'.
The trap: 'Gale' is from 1922, the 20th century. Check the dates the sentence gives you.
FALSE. Clippers were built to carry goods; 'some also took passengers' was an extra, not the original purpose.
Words from this passage worth keeping
propulsion(Paragraph 1)
the force that moves something forward
intact(Paragraph 1)
complete and not damaged
figurehead(Paragraph 2)
a carved figure on the front of a ship
maiden voyage(Paragraph 4)
a ship's first journey
daunting(Paragraph 4)
difficult and a bit frightening
laden with(Paragraph 4)
carrying a heavy load of
incompetent(Paragraph 6)
not able to do a job properly
miscellaneous(Paragraph 8)
of various different kinds
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The full Cambridge 13 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 13, Test 4, 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 4
Passage 1 · Questions 1-13 · You're hereCutty Sark: the fastest sailing ship of all time
