The Romans learned shipbuilding from the Greeks and Egyptians. They first built hulls from sewn, then interlocking, planks, and later switched to building the frame first. Light, fast warships with bronze rams stayed near the coast, while deep, wide merchant ships carried grain and stone to Ostia and Pozzuoli. Navigation relied on landmarks, stars, the sun and the wind.
TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN (1-5) covers the first four paragraphs. The summary (6-13) goes back to the warship paragraph and runs to the last paragraph, in order.
TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN
Questions 1-5
How to attack this block: Two FALSEs reverse the direction of the text: the Romans learned from the Greeks and Egyptians (not the other way round), and the later method built the frame before the hull. The passage never says what skills mortise and tenon needed.
Question 1
Answer: FALSEParagraph 1, last sentence
Did the Romans teach shipbuilding to the Greeks and Egyptians?
The Romans were not traditionally sailors but mostly land-based people, who learned to build ships from the people that they conquered, namely the Greeks and the Egyptians.
Question says → Passage says
shipbuilding skillsto build ships
passed on to the Greeks and the Egyptianslearned… from the people that they conquered, namely the Greeks and the Egyptians
Why: The skills went the other way: the Romans learned from the Greeks and Egyptians. The statement reverses the direction, so it's FALSE.
The trap: All the same names appear in one sentence, which makes it look like a match. With 'from' and 'to' statements, always check which way the knowledge travelled.
Question 2
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 2, fifth sentence
Did the mortise and tenon method need skilled craftsmen?
Starting from the 6th century BCE, they were fixed using a method called mortise and tenon, whereby one plank locked into another without the need for stitching.
Question says → Passage says
method of fixing planksthey were fixed using a method called mortise and tenon
Why: The passage explains what the method was (planks locking together, no stitching) and when it started, but says nothing about who did it or what skill it needed. NOT GIVEN.
The trap: Paragraph 1 says Roman shipbuilding relied on 'inherited techniques and personal experience', which sounds like skilled craftsmen. That's about shipbuilding in general, not this method, and it doesn't say craftsmen were needed for it.
Question 3
Answer: FALSEParagraph 2, sixth sentence
Did the later Mediterranean method build the hull before the frame?
Mediterranean shipbuilders shifted to another shipbuilding method, still in use today, which consisted of building the frame first and then proceeding with the hull
Question says → Passage says
The later practicein the first centuries of the current era… shifted to another shipbuilding method
the hull before the framebuilding the frame first and then proceeding with the hull
Why: The later method was frame first, then hull. The statement puts them the other way round, so it's FALSE.
The trap: Hull-first is in the passage, but it was the earlier Roman method ('built the outer hull first, then proceeded with the frame'). The question asks about the later practice.
Question 4
Answer: TRUEParagraph 3, last sentence
Did the Romans name the Mediterranean 'our sea' because they controlled it?
Rome's navy became the largest and most powerful in the Mediterranean, and the Romans had control over what they therefore called Mare Nostrum meaning 'our sea'.
Question says → Passage says
they dominated its usethe largest and most powerful / had control over
becausetherefore
Why: 'Therefore' links the name to Rome's control of the sea. Having the largest, most powerful navy and controlling the sea = dominating its use. TRUE.
The trap: Some students choose NOT GIVEN because 'because' isn't written. 'Therefore' gives you the same cause-and-effect link, just from the other side.
Question 5
Answer: TRUEParagraph 4, fourth sentence
Were most rowers from the Roman army?
contrary to popular perception, rowers were not slaves but mostly Roman citizens enrolled in the military
Question says → Passage says
Most rowersmostly
people from the Roman armyRoman citizens enrolled in the military
Why: Citizens 'enrolled in the military' were in the army, and 'mostly' = 'most'. TRUE.
The trap: 'Contrary to popular perception' and 'not slaves' can make you think the passage is denying something, so you lean to FALSE. It denies the slave idea and confirms the army one.
Summary completion (ONE WORD ONLY)
Questions 6-13
How to attack this block: The summary splits into warships, merchant ships and cargo, in passage order. Watch the forms: an adjective for the design goal, the metal of the ram, the word for the trireme's three tiers of rowers, the hull shape, the small sail's shape, what kept rowers in time, one farm product, and what pulled ships to the quay.
Question 6
Answer: lightweightParagraph 3, first sentence
Besides fast, what were warships designed to be?
Warships were built to be lightweight and very speedy.
Question says → Passage says
designed so that they werebuilt to be
moved quicklyvery speedy
Why: 'Moved quickly' covers 'very speedy', so the gap is the other adjective: lightweight. It's one word in the passage, so it fits the limit.
The trap: 'Narrow' (the hull) or 'fast' are nearby, but 'fast' just repeats 'moved quickly' and 'narrow' describes the hull, not the ship's design goal. Don't split 'lightweight' into two words.
Question 7
Answer: bronzeParagraph 3, fourth sentence
What was the battering ram made of?
They had a bronze battering ram, which was used to pierce the timber hulls or break the oars of enemy vessels.
Question says → Passage says
attacking and damagingpierce… or break
the timber and oars of enemy shipsthe timber hulls or break the oars of enemy vessels
Why: 'Made of' needs a material, and the passage describes a 'bronze' ram. The rest of the summary sentence matches the 'pierce… or break' part exactly.
The trap: 'Timber' is a material too, but it's what the enemy hulls were made of, and it's already in the summary sentence.
Question 8
Answer: levelsParagraph 4, third sentence
What did the trireme have rowers on three of?
It had rowers in the top, middle and lower levels, and approximately 50 rowers in each bank.
Question says → Passage says
three differentthe top, middle and lower
Why: 'Three different ___' counts top, middle and lower, and the noun after them is 'levels'. The gap needs a plural noun.
The trap: 'Bank' is in the same sentence, but it's singular and refers to the 50 rowers in each row. The passage says 'levels' for the three tiers, so use that word.
Question 9
Answer: hullParagraph 5, second and third sentences
What part of the merchant ship was broad and lay deep below the surface?
They had a wider hull, double planking and a solid interior for added stability. Unlike warships, their V-shaped hull was deep underwater
Question says → Passage says
broada wider
lay far below the surface of the seawas deep underwater
Unlike warshipsUnlike warships
Why: 'A broad ___' needs a singular noun, and the passage gives 'wider hull' and 'hull was deep underwater'. Both point to hull.
The trap: 'Planking' sits right next to 'wider hull', but the planking wasn't described as broad or deep. 'Interior' is solid, not below the sea.
Question 10
Answer: triangularParagraph 5, fifth sentence
What other sail shape did merchant ships have besides square?
They had from one to three masts with large square sails and a small triangular sail at the bow.
Question says → Passage says
both square andlarge square sails and a small
Why: The gap is an adjective that pairs with 'square', so it's a shape: triangular. Watch the spelling.
The trap: 'Small' or 'large' are adjectives in the sentence too, but 'square and small sails' mixes shape with size. The summary is pairing two shapes.
Question 11
Answer: musicParagraph 5, last sentence
What kept rowers moving their oars together?
In order to assist them, music would be played on an instrument, and oars would then keep time with this.
Question says → Passage says
at the same timekeep time with
On merchant ships and warshipsin both types of ship
Why: The oars kept time with the music, so music is what synchronised them. There's no 'a' or 'an' before the gap, so you need an uncountable noun: music.
The trap: 'Instrument' is the obvious alternative, but it would need 'an' before it, and the oars kept time with what was played, not with the instrument itself.
Question 12
Answer: grainParagraph 6, first sentence
Which farm product did merchant ships carry?
agricultural products, such as grain from Egypt's Nile valley
Question says → Passage says
agricultural goods such asagricultural products, such as
Why: The summary copies 'agricultural… such as', and the only example given is grain.
The trap: Iron, copper, marble and granite are in the same sentence, but they're 'raw materials', not agricultural goods.
Question 13
Answer: towboatsParagraph 6, last sentence
What pulled the ships to the shore?
be intercepted by a number of towboats that would drag them to the quay
Question says → Passage says
were pulledwould drag them
to the shoreto the quay
Why: 'Pulled' = 'drag', and the things doing the dragging were towboats. Write it as one plural word, exactly as in the passage.
The trap: 'Quay' is where they were pulled to, not what pulled them. Don't write 'tugs' or 'tow boats': only the passage's spelling is safe.
Ships were dragged to the quay by 'towboats', one word. 'Tugs' isn't in the passage.
Words from this passage worth keeping
sophisticated(Paragraph 1)
advanced and complex
unequalled(Paragraph 2)
better than anything else of its kind
ballast(Paragraph 3)
heavy material carried low in a ship to keep it steady
crippled(Paragraph 3)
so badly damaged it can't work properly
superseded(Paragraph 4)
replaced by something newer or better
intercepted(Paragraph 6)
met and stopped on the way somewhere
facilitated(Paragraph 7)
made easier
succession(Paragraph 7)
a series of things coming one after another
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The full Cambridge 16 Test 3 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 16, Test 3, 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.
