Building the Skyline: The Birth and Growth of Manhattan's Skyscrapers: reading answers and analysis
Reviewer Allison Shester works through Jason Barr's book on Manhattan chapter by chapter: an engaging aerial and underground tour of 1609 New York, solid chapters on the grid and land use, immigrant neighbourhoods, three kinds of skyscraper height, the 'bedrock myth', the 1920s boom, and impressive land-value data. Her criticisms: one gap in the tenement argument, and some chapters too technical for general readers.
Questions 27-40 · 14 marks · 3 question blocks
Where the answers sit
The multiple choice (27-31) follows the review from start to finish. YES / NO / NOT GIVEN (32-35) covers the chapter one to four paragraphs. The summary (36-40) is the chapter seven paragraph on bedrock.
Questions 27-31
Each question asks about Shester's evaluation. The book combines geology, history, economics and data (a range of factors). The tenement point is a possible weakness in Barr's argument. Chapter six is more technical than general readers would like, and chapter eight's theory may distract some readers. The land-value data work is what impresses her most.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | D | — |
| 28 | B | — |
| 29 | C | — |
| 30 | D | — |
| 31 | C | — |
Questions 32-35
The helicopter tour is called 'fascinating' (so the first statement is NO), and chapters two and three 'set the stage' (YES). The immigrant enclaves sat between the waterfront industries and Central Park, not around the harbour (NO). Nothing says a lack of amenities was their biggest problem.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | NO | — |
| 33 | YES | — |
| 34 | NOT GIVEN | — |
| 35 | NO | — |
Questions 36-40
Barr says deeper bedrock doesn't explain why skyscrapers are missing from specific areas. Foundation costs weren't an excessive expense next to the total expenditure of building. Caissons make deep excavations possible, and Barr also covers their associated risks.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 36 | H | — |
| 37 | D | — |
| 38 | I | — |
| 39 | B | — |
| 40 | F | — |
The questions most people get wrong
B. Barr says slum clearance blocked skyscrapers but deep foundations didn't, even though foundations cost more. Shester points out that this doesn't add up.
NO. Most enclaves sat between the waterfront industries and the wealthy areas near Central Park, which isn't the same as clustering around the harbour.
F (associated risks). Barr discusses 'the dangers involved' in caisson work. 'Impossible tasks' is a trap built on 'considerable distances'.
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 17 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 17, Test 3, Reading Passage 3. The passage name belongs to Cambridge University Press. No passage text or question wording is reproduced on this page. The answers are published for self-marking, and the analysis is our own.