Makete Integrated Rural Transport Project: reading answers and analysis
A report on a 1980s project in the remote Makete District of Tanzania. Research found households spent hours a day carrying water, firewood and grain, mostly on foot. The project improved roads and hillside paths and promoted donkeys and cheap wheelbarrows, with mixed success, and became a model for rural transport in Tanzania.
The headings (27-30) cover B, C, E and F, with A and D as examples. The YES / NO / NOT GIVEN statements (31-35) sit in B to D. The sentence endings (36-39) jump between B, C and D, and Question 40 is about the whole passage.
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.
How to attack this block: Use the phases as your guide: B is the research phase, C the first round of improvements. E is short and about working through district authorities rather than villagers. F looks to the future. Decoys borrow words from the text (wheelbarrows, donkeys, northern part, authorities' instructions).
Question 27
Answer: iiSection B, middle
Which heading fits Section B?
Before solutions could be proposed, the problems had to be understood. Little was known about the transport demands of the rural households, so Phase I, between December 1985 and December 1987, focused on research.
Question says → Passage says
Identifyingthe problems had to be understood / focused on research
the main transport problemsthe transport demands of the rural households
Why: B describes Makete's isolation and then the Phase I survey that found out how people actually travelled. Its job is to pin down the problems, heading ii.
The trap: vii (northern part of the district) uses the line about donkeys in the north. That's a single detail about the situation, not an improvement and not the paragraph's point.
Question 28
Answer: vSection C, second sentence
Which heading fits Section C?
a number of approaches were implemented in an effort to improve mobility and access to transport
Question says → Passage says
Initial improvementsa number of approaches were implemented
mobility and transport modesimprove mobility and access to transport / the promotion of donkeys… a locally manufacturable wheelbarrow
Why: C is Phase II: improving roads and paths, and choosing donkeys and wheelbarrows as new ways to carry things. That's the first round of improvements in mobility and transport, v.
The trap: xi (role of wheelbarrows and donkeys) fits only the last sentence of C. iii (preference for motorised vehicles) is the opposite of C's choice of cheap, low-tech transport.
Question 29
Answer: xSection E, second sentence
Which heading fits Section E?
It would have been difficult to respond to the requests of villagers and other rural inhabitants without the support and understanding of district authorities.
Question says → Passage says
Co-operationthe support and understanding
district officialsdistrict authorities / the governmental authorities of the district
Why: E defends starting the project with the district authorities, because their support was needed before helping villagers. That's co-operation of district officials, x.
The trap: iv (government authorities' instructions) borrows 'authorities' and the 'top-down' idea. But E is about needing their support, not about following their orders.
Question 30
Answer: iSection F, last two sentences
Which heading fits Section F?
The experiences from Makete will help in this initiative, and Makete District will act as a reference for future work.
Question says → Passage says
MIRTP as a future modelwill act as a reference for future work
Why: F ends the story by saying Tanzania's new national programme will learn from Makete. 'A reference for future work' is a future model, i.
The trap: ix (effects of initial measures) could fit the first line about everyone accepting paths and cheap transport, but the paragraph builds to the future, and ix is already Section D's example.
YES / NO / NOT GIVEN
Questions 31-35
How to attack this block: Count the phases carefully (there are three). The survey measured time spent on transport, not money. The 80% figure is the key to the one-fifth statement. The capital city is never mentioned, so that one is NOT GIVEN.
Question 31
Answer: NOSections B, C and D
Did MIRTP have five phases?
Phase I, between December 1985 and December 1987… During Phase II… Phase III, from March 1991 to March 1993
Question says → Passage says
divided into five phasesPhase I / Phase II / Phase III
Why: The passage describes Phase I (research), Phase II (implementation) and Phase III (refinement), and no more. Three phases contradicts five, so NO.
The trap: There are six sections, A-F, which some people mistake for phases. Count the 'Phase' labels.
Question 32
Answer: YESSection B, first sentence
Was Makete nearly cut off in the rainy season before the project?
When the project began, Makete District was virtually totally isolated during the rainy season.
Question says → Passage says
Prior to the start of MIRTPWhen the project began
almost inaccessiblevirtually totally isolated
Why: 'Virtually' = 'almost', and 'totally isolated' = 'inaccessible'. YES.
Question 33
Answer: NOSection B, sixth sentence
Did Phase I survey how much money households spent on transport?
a household in Makete spent, on average, seven hours a day on transporting themselves and their goods
Question says → Passage says
Phase I… consisted of a surveyPhase I… focused on research / The socio-economic survey
household expenditure on transportspent, on average, seven hours a day on transporting
Why: The survey measured time (seven hours a day), not money. 'Expenditure' means money spent, which contradicts what the survey looked at, so NO.
The trap: The verb 'spent' appears in the passage, which makes 'expenditure' look like a match. Check what was spent: hours, not shillings.
Question 34
Answer: YESSection B, last sentence
Did the survey find one-fifth of transport needs were outside the local area?
95% was on foot; 80% was within the locality
Question says → Passage says
outside the local areawithin the locality
one-fifth or 20%80%
Why: If 80% was within the locality, the other 20% was outside it. One-fifth is 20%, so YES. You have to do the subtraction yourself.
The trap: Because 20% isn't written anywhere, people choose NOT GIVEN. The figure follows directly from the 80%.
Question 35
Answer: NOT GIVENSection C, third sentence
Did MIRTP aim to move more goods from Makete to the capital?
An improvement of the road network was considered necessary to ensure the import and export of goods to the district.
Question says → Passage says
improve the movement of goodsthe import and export of goods
from Makete districtto the district
Why: Moving goods in and out of the district is mentioned, but the country's capital never is. We don't know where the goods were going, so NOT GIVEN.
The trap: Section B mentions 'access to the main towns', which can feel like the capital. No capital city is named or implied.
Sentence endings (A-J)
Questions 36-39
How to attack this block: Each beginning names a fact from the passage, so find it first and then read what the passage says it caused or how it happened. Several endings swap in a detail from a nearby sentence, such as donkeys costing less than bicycles, or wheelbarrows being affordable.
Question 36
Answer: DSection C, middle
What did building footbridges, steps and handrails do?
Most goods were transported along the paths that provide short-cuts up and down the hillsides… It made sense to improve the paths by building steps, handrails and footbridges.
Question says → Passage says
Construction of footbridges, steps and handrailsbuilding steps, handrails and footbridges
improved paths used for transport up and down hillsidesimprove the paths / the paths that provide short-cuts up and down the hillsides
Why: The steps, handrails and footbridges were how the hillside paths were improved. D links the two.
The trap: G is also about paths, but it's about when they were improved (only on request), which is the answer to Question 38.
Question 37
Answer: ISection D, middle
What effect did frequent vehicle breakdowns have?
The efforts to improve the efficiency of the existing transport services were not very successful because most of the motorised vehicles in the district broke down
Question says → Passage says
Frequent breakdown of buses and trucksmost of the motorised vehicles in the district broke down
hindered attempts to make the existing transport services more efficientThe efforts to improve the efficiency of the existing transport services were not very successful
Why: The breakdowns are the reason the efficiency efforts failed. 'Hindered' = 'were not very successful because of'. I.
The trap: A mentions bus and truck services too, but that's about training given in Phase II. The breakdowns didn't provide experience; they blocked progress.
Question 38
Answer: GSection D, fourth sentence
On what condition were secondary roads and paths improved?
Paths and secondary roads were improved only at the request of communities who were willing to participate in construction and maintenance.
Question says → Passage says
The improvement of secondary roads and pathsPaths and secondary roads were improved
only at the request of local peopleonly at the request of communities
willing to lend a handwilling to participate in construction and maintenance
Why: The ending G is a near-direct paraphrase: 'lend a hand' = 'participate in construction and maintenance'.
The trap: D (improved paths up and down hillsides) is also about paths, but it describes what the footbridges did. Question 36 already uses D.
Question 39
Answer: ESection D, third sentence
What happened to Makete's isolation once the roads were better?
The road improvements and accompanying maintenance system had helped make the district centre accessible throughout the year.
Question says → Passage says
The isolation of Makete for part of the yearvirtually totally isolated during the rainy season
was no longer a problem once the roads had been improvedThe road improvements… had helped make the district centre accessible throughout the year
Why: Before, Makete was cut off in the rainy season. After the road work, it was accessible all year. So the isolation stopped being a problem: E.
The trap: J (most important objective of Phase III) sounds plausible, but Phase III focused on refining and institutionalising activities, not specifically on isolation.
Multiple choice (writer's purpose)
Question 40
How to attack this block: Ask what most of the passage does: it walks through each phase and reports what worked and what didn't. Options about donkeys, other countries or warnings describe single parts or misread the tone.
Question 40
Answer: BWhole passage
What is the main aim of the whole passage?
At the end of Phase II, it was clear that the selected approaches to Makete's transport problems had had different degrees of success.
Question says → Passage says
how MIRTP was implementedPhase I… Phase II… Phase III
how successful it washad had different degrees of success
Why: The passage goes through the project phase by phase and reports what worked and what didn't. That's B: how it was carried out and how successful it was.
The trap: A (needed in other countries) stretches F, which only mentions Tanzania's own national programme. C (donkeys) is one detail. D (warning about problems) misreads the generally positive tone.
Section E defends starting with district authorities, which is co-operation of district officials (x). Heading iv, 'Government authorities' instructions', sounds similar but E is about support, not orders.
The isolation of Makete ended when road improvements made the district centre accessible all year, so the ending is E. Many people pick an ending about Phase III objectives instead.
Words from this passage worth keeping
underlying assumption(A)
a belief the plan was based on
virtually(B)
almost completely
arduous(C)
difficult and tiring
constrained(C)
limited or held back
fluctuate(D)
go up and down
institutionalisation(D)
making something a permanent, official system
supplementary(D)
extra, added to support something
top-down(E)
decided by those in charge and passed down
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The full Cambridge 7 Test 2 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 7, Test 2, Reading Passage 3. 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.
