The first dig on Obi, an Indonesian island, shows people living there about 18,000 years ago. They made axes from clam shell and later stone, hunted a possum-like animal, and traded with other islands. The caves were abandoned around 8,000 years ago and reused about 1,000 years ago by people linked to the spice trade.
Both blocks follow the passage from start to finish. The TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN statements (1-7) run from the first paragraph to the last, and the notes (8-13) go back through the same ground in the same order.
TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN
Questions 1-7
How to attack this block: Three FALSE answers each contradict a precise word in the text: Shipton's team were the 'first' to explore Obi, clam-shell axes had been found 'previously' elsewhere, and the shelters were empty for thousands of years, not used 'continuously'. The two NOT GIVEN statements add a comparison (other islands) and a feeling (surprise) that the passage never mentions.
Question 1
Answer: FALSEParagraph 1, first sentence
Had archaeologists already worked on Obi before Shipton's team arrived?
Dr Ceri Shipton and his colleagues from Australian National University became the first archaeologists to explore Obi
Question says → Passage says
before the arrival of Ceri Shipton and his colleaguesbecame the first archaeologists to explore Obi
Why: If Shipton's team were the first archaeologists to explore Obi, nobody did archaeological research there before them. The statement says the opposite, so FALSE.
The trap: Paragraph 2 mentions the team's 'earlier research', which can make you think Obi had been studied before. That research was about the wider region and migration routes, not digging on Obi.
Question 2
Answer: FALSEParagraph 3, second half
Were the Kelo clam shell axes the first of their kind found in the region?
Axes made from clam shells from roughly the same time had also previously been found elsewhere in this region, including on the nearby island of Gebe
Question says → Passage says
the first clam shell axes ever to be discovered in the regionhad also previously been found elsewhere in this region
Why: Similar clam shell axes had 'previously been found elsewhere in this region', including on Gebe. So Kelo's weren't the first, which contradicts the statement.
The trap: The sentence before says 'The earliest axes at Kelo were made using clam shells'. 'Earliest at Kelo' only means the oldest ones on that site, not the first ever found in the region.
Question 3
Answer: TRUEParagraph 4, last sentence
Is Obi smaller now than it was 18,000 years ago?
Sea levels were about 120 metres lower, meaning Obi was a much larger island, encompassing what is today the separate island of Bisa
Question says → Passage says
18,000 years agodating back around 18,000 years. At this time
The size of Obi today is lessObi was a much larger island
Why: 'At this time' refers back to 18,000 years ago, when lower sea levels made Obi much larger and joined it to Bisa. If it was larger then, it's smaller now, so TRUE.
The trap: The statement reverses the direction ('today is less' rather than 'then was larger'), which makes some people think it's FALSE. It's the same fact from the other side.
Question 4
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 5, first sentence
Did the climate change 11,700 years ago affect Obi more than nearby islands?
Roughly 11,700 years ago, as the most recent ice age ended, the climate became significantly warmer and wetter, no doubt making Obi's jungle much thicker.
Question says → Passage says
A change in the climate around 11,700 years agoRoughly 11,700 years ago… the climate became significantly warmer and wetter
Why: The passage says the warmer, wetter climate thickened Obi's jungle. It says nothing about the surrounding islands, so there's no comparison to check.
The trap: 'Significantly' and 'no doubt' make the impact on Obi sound big, but 'big' isn't 'bigger than elsewhere'. Without the other islands, it's NOT GIVEN.
Question 5
Answer: TRUEParagraph 5, second sentence
Do the researchers link the wetter, warmer climate to a new axe material?
According to the researchers, it is no coincidence that around this time the first axes crafted from stone rather than seashells appear
Question says → Passage says
The researchers believeAccording to the researchers
there is a connectionit is no coincidence
a change in the material used to make axescrafted from stone rather than seashells
Why: 'No coincidence' means the researchers think the two things are linked: the jungle got thicker in the warmer, wetter climate, and stone axes appeared to clear it. That's the connection in the statement.
The trap: Students sometimes miss that 'no coincidence' is a positive claim of a link. Read the double negative carefully: it means 'connected'.
Question 6
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 6
Were the researchers surprised by what they learned about hunting on Obi?
Judging by the bones which the researchers unearthed in the Kelo caves, people living there mainly hunted the Rothschild's cuscus
Question says → Passage says
evidence of Obi islanders' hunting practicesJudging by the bones… people living there mainly hunted
Why: The passage reports what the bones showed about hunting, but never says how the team felt about it. Surprise isn't mentioned.
The trap: The first paragraph says the discoveries suggest people were skilled hunters, which sounds impressive. Impressive isn't the same as surprising, and the team's reaction is never given.
Question 7
Answer: FALSEParagraphs 8 and 9
Were the Kelo shelters lived in without a break until about 1,000 years ago?
But then, about 8,000 years ago, both were abandoned.… there is no evidence for use of the Kelo shelters after this time, until about 1,000 years ago
Question says → Passage says
occupied continuouslysuccessfully lived in the two Kelo shelters for about 10,000 years
until about 1,000 years agountil about 1,000 years ago, when they were re-occupied
Why: The shelters were abandoned about 8,000 years ago and only re-occupied about 1,000 years ago. A 7,000-year gap is the opposite of continuous use, so FALSE.
The trap: 'Until about 1,000 years ago' is copied straight from the passage, so the statement looks right at a glance. In the passage it marks the end of the empty period, not the end of continuous use.
Note completion (ONE WORD ONLY)
Questions 8-13
How to attack this block: The notes list the finds in the order the passage reports them: where the shelters were, the newer axe material, the animal remains, the second travel clue after obsidian, and what the later occupants owned and traded. All six answers are plain nouns lifted from the text.
Question 8
Answer: cavesParagraph 3, first sentence
What were the rock shelters near Kelo inside?
Just inland from the village of Kelo on Obi's northern coast, Shipton and his colleagues found two caves containing prehistoric rock shelters
Question says → Passage says
rock shelters insidecontaining prehistoric rock shelters
near the village of KeloJust inland from the village of Kelo
Why: The caves contained the shelters, so the shelters were inside the caves. The gap needs a plural noun after 'inside': 'caves'.
The trap: 'Village' and 'coast' are also nearby places, but the notes already use 'village', and the shelters weren't inside the coast.
Question 9
Answer: stoneParagraph 5
What were the axes from about 11,700 years ago made of?
the first axes crafted from stone rather than seashells appear
Question says → Passage says
axes made out ofaxes crafted from
around 11,700 years agoRoughly 11,700 years ago… around this time
Why: 'Crafted from' = 'made out of', and the date matches. The new material was stone.
The trap: 'Seashells' or 'shell' is the old material that stone replaced. The 14,000-year-old axes in the first bullet were the shell ones.
Question 10
Answer: bonesParagraph 6
What remains of an animal showed what the islanders ate?
Judging by the bones which the researchers unearthed in the Kelo caves
Question says → Passage says
evidence of what ancient islanders ateJudging by… people living there mainly hunted the Rothschild's cuscus
Why: The bones were the evidence of hunting, so they're the gap. It's plural: 'bones of an animal'.
The trap: Don't write 'cuscus': that's the animal, and the note already says 'of an animal'. The gap is what was found.
Question 11
Answer: beadsParagraph 7, second sentence
What items looked like ones found on other islands?
It also revealed particular types of beads, similar to those previously found on islands in southern Wallacea.
Question says → Passage says
resembled onessimilar to those
found on other islandspreviously found on islands in southern Wallacea
Why: 'Similar to' = 'resembled', and the items were beads. The verb 'resembled' (not 'resembles') and 'ones' tell you the gap is plural.
The trap: 'Obsidian' is in the same paragraph, but it's already in the notes as the first bullet, and it was brought from another island rather than resembling items found there.
Question 12
Answer: potteryParagraph 9, first sentence
Besides metal items, what did the later occupants of the shelters have?
re-occupied by people who owned pottery as well as items made out of gold and silver
Question says → Passage says
hadowned
as well as items made of metalas well as items made out of gold and silver
Why: The note copies the passage's pattern: 'owned ___ as well as items made out of gold and silver'. Gold and silver are metals, so the gap is 'pottery'.
The trap: 'Gold' or 'silver' are the metals the note has already summed up. The gap is the other thing they owned.
Question 13
Answer: spicesParagraph 9, last sentence
What trade did the islanders probably take part in?
used by people involved in the historic trade in spices between the Maluku islands and the rest of the world
Question says → Passage says
probably took part inIt seems likely… people involved in
the production and sale ofthe historic trade in
Why: 'Involved in' = 'took part in', and 'trade in ___' becomes 'production and sale of ___'. The goods traded were spices, plural.
The trap: 'Gold' and 'silver' come in the sentence just before, but they were things people owned, not traded goods. Keep the s on 'spices'.
FALSE. The Kelo axes are among the oldest found, but the passage says clam-shell axes from roughly the same period had already been found on Gebe and elsewhere, so they weren't the first.
The last paragraph links the later occupants to the trade in spices, so the answer is 'spices'. Gold and silver are the metal items from question 12's line.
Words from this passage worth keeping
adept(Paragraph 1)
very skilled
foraging(Paragraph 1)
searching for food in the wild
dispersed(Paragraph 2)
spread out over a wide area
archipelago(Paragraph 2)
a group of islands
excavation(Paragraph 3)
a dig to uncover remains in the ground
impenetrable(Paragraph 4)
impossible to get through
encompassing(Paragraph 4)
including within its area
unearthed(Paragraph 6)
dug up from the ground
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The full Cambridge 19 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 19, 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.
The rest of Cambridge 19 Test 3
Passage 1 · Questions 1-13 · You're hereArchaeologists discover evidence of prehistoric island settlers
