Delivering the goods: reading answers and analysis
International trade is growing about twice as fast as the world economy, and the writer argues that cheaper transport is the overlooked reason. Goods have become lighter and more valuable, software travels down phone lines, and containerisation plus deregulation cut cargo costs, although many countries still keep shipping costs artificially high.
The paragraph matching (14-17) runs backwards through the text, from I to D. The TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN statements (18-22) go in order from A to E. The summary (23-26) follows the argument from B to H.
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 14-17 · Matching information (paragraphs A-I)
How to attack this block: Only four of nine paragraphs are used, so spot the signal for each item. A suggestion uses 'would', electronic delivery means sending something without shipping it, and the abroad-versus-local comparison is a single sentence. The value-versus-cost link is the general point that the example after it illustrates.
Question 14
Answer: IParagraph I, last sentence
Which paragraph suggests how trade could get better from now on?
Bringing these barriers down would help the world's economies grow even closer.
Question says → Passage says
a suggestionBringing these barriers down would help
improving trade in the futurethe process still has far to go / grow even closer
Why: I lists what still keeps shipping costs high (state ownership, regulated rates, cargo-handling monopolies) and then says removing them 'would help'. A conditional like 'would help' is how a writer makes a suggestion.
The trap: Paragraph H describes deregulation improving productivity, but that's what America already did in the past. It reports, it doesn't suggest.
Question 15
Answer: FParagraph F
Which paragraph describes what changes when products can be sent electronically?
Computer software can be 'exported' without ever loading it onto a ship, simply by transmitting it over telephone lines from one country to another
Question says → Passage says
electronic deliverytransmitting it over telephone lines
the effectsfreight rates and cargo-handling schedules become insignificant factors / Businesses can locate based on other considerations
Why: Software sent down a phone line is electronic delivery. The effects follow: freight costs stop mattering, and firms choose where to work based on things like labour.
The trap: Paragraph E's disk drives are high-tech and cheap to ship, but they're still physical objects that travel. Only F has goods that never get loaded onto anything.
Question 16
Answer: EParagraph E, fourth sentence
Which paragraph says buying from abroad costs about the same as buying at home?
Computer manufacturers in Japan or Texas will not face hugely bigger freight bills if they import drives from Singapore rather than purchasing them on the domestic market.
Question says → Passage says
the similar costwill not face hugely bigger freight bills
from abroadimport drives from Singapore
from a local supplierpurchasing them on the domestic market
Why: 'Not hugely bigger' means roughly the same. The sentence compares importing from Singapore with buying locally, which is exactly the two options in the statement.
The trap: Paragraph F says films and CDs 'cost little to transport', but it never compares that cost with buying locally.
Question 17
Answer: DParagraph D, second and last sentences
Which paragraph says what goods are worth is becoming less tied to what they cost to deliver?
world output has shifted into goods whose worth is unrelated to their size and weight
Question says → Passage says
the value of goodsworth / every dollar's worth
weakening relationshipunrelated to their size and weight / less transportation is required
Why: Heavy goods cost more to move. Once goods are valuable but light, value and shipping cost go their separate ways, so 'less transportation is required for every dollar's worth'. That's the weakening link.
The trap: Paragraph C is about delivery costs too, but it describes the old situation where bulky goods were expensive to move. That's the link at its strongest, not weakening.
TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN
Questions 18-22
How to attack this block: Two NOT GIVENs use names from the passage (Japan, France, Germany) in claims the text never makes. The FALSE hangs on the word 'guarantees' against the passage's 'may lose its advantages'. Don't let a 'however' in D trick you into thinking a trend has ended.
Question 18
Answer: TRUEParagraph A, second sentence
Is trade growing faster than the world economy?
While the global economy has been expanding at a bit over 3% a year, the volume of trade has been rising at a compound annual rate of about twice that.
Question says → Passage says
increasingrising
at a greater rate than the world economyabout twice that
Why: The economy grows at just over 3%, trade at about twice that. Twice the rate is a greater rate, so TRUE.
Question 19
Answer: FALSEParagraph B, last sentence
Does cheap labour guarantee that trade will go well?
Cheap labour may make Chinese clothing competitive in America, but if delays in shipment tie up working capital and cause winter coats to arrive in spring, trade may lose its advantages.
Question says → Passage says
Cheap labourCheap labour
guaranteesmay… but… may lose its advantages
Why: A guarantee means it always works. The passage says cheap labour helps, but shipping delays can wipe out the advantage. If it can fail, it isn't guaranteed, so FALSE.
The trap: Some people pick NOT GIVEN because the word 'guarantee' isn't there. But the 'but… may lose' clause directly contradicts it.
Question 20
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph C
Does Japan import more meat and steel than France?
accounting for about 70% of total output in Germany, Italy and France, and 40-50% in America, Britain and Japan
Question says → Passage says
Japan… FranceGermany, Italy and France… America, Britain and Japan
meat and steelprocessed commodities, such as meat and steel
Why: Paragraph C names Japan, France, meat and steel, but the percentages are about agriculture and manufacturing as a share of each country's output. Nothing says who imports how much meat or steel, so NOT GIVEN.
The trap: Japan's lower figure (40-50% against 70%) tempts you to work out an answer. That's a share of what a country produces, not what it imports, and you can't compare imports from it.
Question 21
Answer: TRUEParagraph D, first sentence
Do most countries still trade mainly with countries close to them?
Countries still trade disproportionately with their geographic neighbours.
Question says → Passage says
continue tostill
prefer to trade with nearby nationstrade disproportionately with their geographic neighbours
Why: 'Disproportionately' means more than you'd expect, so neighbours get a bigger share of trade. 'Still' matches 'continue', so TRUE.
The trap: The next sentence starts 'Over time, however', which makes people think the preference has ended. It hasn't. The 'however' is about what kind of goods are traded.
Question 22
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph E, second sentence
Are small computer parts made in Germany?
Most of the world's disk-drive manufacturing is concentrated in South-east Asia.
Question says → Passage says
Small computer componentsdisk drives, while valuable, are small and light
manufactureddisk-drive manufacturing
Why: The passage says where most disk drives are made, South-east Asia, and never mentions Germany in this context. Germany only appears in C, in the farming and manufacturing figures. NOT GIVEN.
The trap: FALSE is the usual mistake. 'Most' are made in South-east Asia, which leaves room for some to be made elsewhere, so the passage doesn't contradict the statement. It just doesn't cover it.
Summary completion (word list A-K)
Questions 23-26
How to attack this block: The box has near-misses for each gap: freight vs trade, software vs components, standards vs container ships, fares vs tariffs. Pick the word that names the right thing, then check the grammar. The last gap is about domestic transport charges, the passage's own word for them.
Question 23
Answer: GParagraph B, middle
What have modern cargo-handling methods had a big effect on?
But one force behind the import-export boom has passed all but unnoticed: the rapidly falling cost of getting goods to market.
Question says → Passage says
significant effect onone force behind the import-export boom
Modern cargo-handling methodsswift productivity improvements in cargo-handling
Why: The whole passage argues that cheaper, faster shipping is a hidden cause of booming international trade. So the effect is on trade, option G.
The trap: 'Freight' (H) is what gets moved, so it sounds right after 'cargo-handling'. But the gap needs the thing that changed as a result, and that's trade.
Question 24
Answer: BParagraph E
What can computer makers bring in from overseas?
Computer manufacturers in Japan or Texas will not face hugely bigger freight bills if they import drives from Singapore
Question says → Passage says
Manufacturers of computersComputer manufacturers
import… from overseasimport drives from Singapore
Why: The computer makers import disk drives, which are parts that go into a computer. The word list's general term for that is 'components', option B.
The trap: 'Software' (J) is also a computer product from F, but software is sent over phone lines, not imported as cargo, and it isn't what the computer makers buy in E.
Question 25
Answer: CParagraph G, last sentence
What allowed bulk cargo to travel safely and efficiently over long distances?
were giving way to all-container vessels that moved thousands of boxes at a time
Question says → Passage says
safelyrisked portions of the shipment being damaged or stolen
The introduction ofgiving way to
efficiently movedmoved thousands of boxes at a time
Why: The old many-stage handling risked damage and theft. All-container vessels carried thousands of sealed boxes, solving both problems. 'All-container vessels' are container ships, option C.
The trap: 'International standards' (K) is tempting because G mentions 'standard container sizes'. Standard sizes helped, but they don't move anything. The gap needs the thing that carries the cargo.
Question 26
Answer: AParagraph H, third sentence
What do governments still need to cut to free up the domestic cargo sector?
National governments, by and large, kept a much firmer hand on truck and railroad tariffs than on charges for ocean freight.
Question says → Passage says
international shipping is now efficientThe shipping container transformed ocean shipping into a highly efficient… business
the domestic cargo sectorgetting the cargo to and from the dock / truck and railroad
Why: Ocean shipping got efficient, but governments kept control of truck and rail charges, the domestic part of the journey. Those charges are tariffs, option A.
The trap: 'Fares' (I) also means a price for transport, but fares are what passengers pay. Freight charges for trucks and trains are 'tariffs', the passage's own word.
D. Goods whose worth no longer depends on size and weight. C describes the old, strong link, not a weakening one.
Words from this passage worth keeping
startling(A)
very surprising
frictions(B)
practical difficulties that slow things down
bulky(C)
large and taking up a lot of space
disproportionately(D)
to a greater degree than you would expect
capsizing(G)
turning a boat over in the water
deregulate(H)
remove government controls from an industry
albeit(H)
although
deter(I)
discourage
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The full Cambridge 6 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 6, 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.
