The growth of bike-sharing schemes around the world: reading answers and analysis
The story of bike-sharing from Provo's free white bikes in 1960s Amsterdam to Schimmelpennink's later schemes in Copenhagen, Amsterdam and, through JC Decaux, Vienna, Lyon and Paris. Amsterdam itself, oddly, still has no working scheme.
Paragraph matching (14-18) jumps around the text and uses C twice. The two choose-TWO questions follow the passage: 19-20 sit in D and E (the 1999 scheme), 21-22 in G (Amsterdam today). The summary (23-26) goes back to A and B.
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.
Q
Your answer
Answer
Questions 14-18 · Matching information (paragraphs A-G)
How to attack this block: C holds two answers: the cost comparison and the council's reason for saying no. Look for paraphrase rather than repeated words: 'misused' is vandalism and theft, and 'unable to profit' is never filing a patent. The problems the scheme was meant to solve are in the very first paragraph.
Question 14
Answer: EParagraph E
Which paragraph describes people abusing a bike-sharing scheme?
The system, however, was prone to vandalism and theft. 'After every weekend there would always be a couple of bikes missing,'
Question says → Passage says
how people misusedprone to vandalism and theft
a bike-sharing schemeThe system
Why: Misusing a scheme means damaging or stealing the bikes, and E describes exactly that: vandalism, theft and bikes going missing every weekend.
The trap: B has the bikes taken away too, but by the police, who were opposing the scheme, not misusing it.
Question 15
Answer: CParagraph C
Which paragraph explains why a proposed scheme was rejected?
the council unanimously rejected the plan. 'They said that the bicycle belongs to the past. They saw a glorious future for the car,'
Question says → Passage says
a proposed bike-sharing schemea more elaborate Witte Fietsenplan
was turned downunanimously rejected the plan
an explanation of whyThey said that the bicycle belongs to the past
Why: C gives the council's reason in their own terms: bikes were the past and cars were the future. 'Turned down' is 'rejected', and the reason follows straight after.
The trap: B also has an authority against the scheme (the police), but it doesn't explain why, and it wasn't a formal proposal.
Question 16
Answer: FParagraph F, last sentence
Which paragraph mentions someone who couldn't make money from their work?
But financially I didn't really benefit from it, because I never filed for a patent.
Question says → Passage says
unable to profitfinancially I didn't really benefit
their workall modelled on Schimmelpennink's
Why: Cities around the world copied Schimmelpennink's model, but he never took out a patent, so he made no money from it. 'Didn't really benefit financially' is 'unable to profit'.
The trap: E mentions Postbank dropping the chip card because it 'wasn't profitable'. That's a company deciding something didn't pay, not a person unable to profit from their own work.
Question 17
Answer: CParagraph C
Which paragraph explains the money a bike-sharing scheme could save?
a white bicycle - per person, per kilometre - would cost the municipality only 10% of what it contributed to public transport per person per kilometre
Question says → Passage says
potential savingswould cost the municipality only 10% of
an explanationI made serious calculations
Why: Schimmelpennink's calculations show a white bike would cost the city a tenth of what it spent on public transport per person per kilometre. That's a potential saving. C answers twice, which is allowed.
The trap: D mentions money too (the coin deposit and one guilder per trip), but that's what users paid, not savings for the city.
Question 18
Answer: AParagraph A
Which paragraph names the problems the scheme was meant to fix?
They believed the scheme, which was known as the Witte Fietsenplan, was an answer to the perceived threats of air pollution and consumerism.
Question says → Passage says
intended to solvewas an answer to
the problemsthe perceived threats of air pollution and consumerism
Why: A states Provo's aim: the scheme was 'an answer to' air pollution and consumerism. 'An answer to' a threat is a solution to a problem.
The trap: D mentions people becoming more environmentally conscious, but that's about changed attitudes in the 1990s, not the problems the original scheme targeted.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 19-20
How to attack this block: Stick to the 1999 scheme only, which starts halfway through D and ends in E. One correct option is about why the government became interested, the other about why the scheme ended. Options that mention the earlier council or bike rack designs are about different events.
Question 19-20
Answer: B and D (in either order)Paragraphs D and E
Which two things does the text say about the 1999 Amsterdam scheme?
People had become more environmentally conscious… To continue the project we would have needed to set up another system, but the business partner had lost interest.
Question says → Passage says
made possible by a change in people's attitudesTimes had changed… People had become more environmentally conscious
a partner in the scheme withdrew supportPostbank decided to abolish the chip card… the business partner had lost interest
Why: B: Postbank, the partner that supplied the chip card, dropped it and lost interest, so the scheme couldn't continue. D: Schimmelpennink says times had changed and people were more environmentally conscious, which is why the Ministry became interested.
The trap: A is the strongest distractor: a government department is mentioned, but the Ministry of Transport was interested, not opposed. C and E aren't there: Copenhagen was proof the idea worked, not a rival, and the only designer of better racks was Schimmelpennink himself.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 21-22
How to attack this block: Everything is in G. Check each option against exact wording: 38% of trips is a share, not a majority, and Schimmelpennink is optimistic, not resigned. The right answers are his point about underground users and the city's cycle-friendly reputation.
Question 21-22
Answer: D and E (in either order)Paragraph G
Which two things does the text say about Amsterdam today?
it is regarded as one of the two most cycle-friendly capitals in the world… People who travel on the underground don't carry their bikes around. But often they need additional transport
Question says → Passage says
a reputation as a place that welcomes cyclistsit is regarded as one of the two most cycle-friendly capitals in the world
residents who use public transportPeople who travel on the underground
would benefitoften they need additional transport to reach their final destination
Why: E: Amsterdam is 'regarded as' one of the two most cycle-friendly capitals, which is its reputation. D: Schimmelpennink argues underground travellers need extra transport at the end of their trip, so bike-sharing would help them.
The trap: C tempts with '38% of all trips', but 38% isn't the biggest share of transport, and the passage never compares it with other forms. A overstates 'not dominated by cars' into banning all cars, and B is the opposite of his optimism.
Summary completion (ONE WORD ONLY)
Questions 23-26
How to attack this block: The summary covers A and B in order. Each gap is a single noun: who Provo were, the second problem besides pollution, what they handed out, and who removed the bikes. Copy the spelling exactly; 'consumerism' is easy to get wrong.
Question 23
Answer: activistsParagraph A, second sentence
What were the members of Provo?
Provo, the organisation that came up with the idea, was a group of Dutch activists who wanted to change society.
Question says → Passage says
The people who belonged to this group werewas a group of Dutch
Why: The gap needs a plural noun for the members. Provo was 'a group of Dutch activists', so its members were activists.
The trap: 'Dutch' fits the grammar badly and the summary already calls them Dutch. 'Organisation' describes the group, not the people in it.
Question 24
Answer: consumerismParagraph A
Besides damage to the environment, what was Provo worried about?
an answer to the perceived threats of air pollution and consumerism
Question says → Passage says
concerned aboutthe perceived threats of
damage to the environmentair pollution
Why: The passage lists two threats. The summary has already turned 'air pollution' into 'damage to the environment', so the gap takes the other one: 'consumerism'. Check the spelling.
The trap: 'Pollution' is the obvious word to grab, but the summary has already covered it.
Question 25
Answer: leafletsParagraph A
What did Provo hand out that criticised cars?
They also distributed leaflets describing the dangers of cars and inviting people to use the white bikes.
Question says → Passage says
handed outdistributed
condemned the use of carsdescribing the dangers of cars
Why: 'Handed out' is 'distributed', and what they distributed was leaflets. The gap needs a plural noun after 'handed out', so write 'leaflets'.
The trap: 'Bikes' were also put out around the city, but bikes don't condemn anything. The leaflets did.
Question 26
Answer: policeParagraph B
Who took the bikes away almost immediately?
The police were opposed to Provo's initiatives and almost as soon as the white bikes were distributed around the city, they removed them.
Question says → Passage says
almost as quickly as Provo left the bikes around the cityalmost as soon as the white bikes were distributed around the city
took them awayremoved them
Why: The summary copies the time phrase almost word for word, and 'took them away' is 'removed them'. 'They' refers back to the police.
The trap: 'Council' comes up later in B, but that's two years on and it's about rejecting a new plan, not removing bikes.
A looks plausible because a ministry is mentioned, but the Ministry of Transport was interested, not opposed. B is the business partner losing interest after the chip card went.
E, not B. The police removing bikes in B is not misuse by the public; the theft and vandalism in E is.
Words from this passage worth keeping
consumerism(A)
a culture focused on buying more and more goods
get off the ground(B)
start working successfully
elaborate(C)
detailed and carefully planned
unanimously(C)
with everyone agreeing
conspicuous(D)
easy to notice; standing out
prone to(E)
likely to suffer from something bad
pivotal(E)
central; everything else depends on it
file for a patent(F)
officially apply for legal ownership of an invention
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The full Cambridge 14 Test 1 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 14, Test 1, Reading Passage 2. 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.
