The Motor Car: reading answers and analysis
There are 700 million motor vehicles, and people drive ever further, causing pollution, congestion, accidents and cities built around cars. Cars beat public transport for convenience, so people won't give them up, and technology can't keep up with growing use. The writer expects a mix of mass transit, small low-emission city cars, road tolls and integrated transport, at least in rich countries.
Questions 14-26 · 13 marks · 2 question blocks
Where the answers sit
The paragraph matching (14-19) uses six of the eight paragraphs, once each. YES / NO / NOT GIVEN (20-26) runs from B to G.
Questions 14-19
A covers growing vehicle use, and C compares horses and water or rail with motor transport. D is how cities adapted to cars, and E weighs cars against trains and buses. F blames driving habits and car choice. H is the writer's own likely scenario, while G is only 'one solution that has been put forward'.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | C | — |
| 15 | F | — |
| 16 | E | — |
| 17 | H | — |
| 18 | A | — |
| 19 | D | — |
Questions 20-26
Going back to horses isn't possible (NO), and redesigning cities is a long-term solution (NO). European cities were built for older transport (YES). Technology isn't enough because use grows faster and people pick big cars and drive aggressively (YES twice). The passage never ranks pollution by region or says whether UK freight still goes by water.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | NOT GIVEN | — |
| 21 | NO | — |
| 22 | NOT GIVEN | — |
| 23 | YES | — |
| 24 | YES | — |
| 25 | YES | — |
| 26 | NO | — |
The questions most people get wrong
H. The 'more likely scenario' is the writer's own prediction. G describes a solution others have proposed, which the writer thinks few communities can afford.
NOT GIVEN. About 90% of UK inland freight goes by road, which says nothing about whether any still goes by water.
NO. Designing cities so car journeys aren't needed is called 'the long-term solution'.
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The full Cambridge 2 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 2, Test 3, Reading Passage 2. 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.