Why pagodas don't fall down: reading answers and analysis
Japan's tall wooden pagodas have survived typhoons and earthquakes for centuries. The writer compares them with Chinese pagodas and explains the tricks: wide, heavy eaves that act like a balancing pole, loosely stacked storeys that sway, and a central pillar that carries no weight but stops the floors moving too far.
The YES / NO / NOT GIVEN statements (1-4) cover the first three paragraphs. The classification (5-10) jumps between paragraphs 4, 5 and 8. The multiple choice (11-13) follows paragraphs 6 to 8 in order.
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: The first two depend on the opening facts about collapses and the 1995 earthquake. The third mentions the other buildings near Toji, but the passage only says some were levelled, not when they were built. The last one is a paraphrase of the carpenters' tricks for working with nature's forces.
Question 1
Answer: YESParagraph 1, second sentence
Does the writer say just two pagodas have collapsed in 1400 years?
Records show that only two have collapsed during the past 1400 years.
Question says → Passage says
Only two Japanese pagodasonly two
in 1400 yearsduring the past 1400 years
Why: The statement repeats the record almost word for word: two collapses in 1400 years. YES.
The trap: The next sentence mentions pagodas that 'disappeared' through fire. Those were destroyed, not collapsed, so they don't change the count.
Question 2
Answer: NOParagraph 1, last sentence
Did the 1995 earthquake destroy the Toji pagoda?
Yet it left the magnificent five-storey pagoda at the Toji temple in nearby Kyoto unscathed
Question says → Passage says
destroyedleft… unscathed
the pagoda at the Toji templethe magnificent five-storey pagoda at the Toji temple
Why: 'Unscathed' means completely undamaged, the opposite of 'destroyed'. NO.
The trap: The earthquake did level buildings nearby, so if you skim the damage list you may think the pagoda fell too.
Question 3
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 1, last sentence; Paragraph 2
Were the buildings near the Toji pagoda less than 30 years old?
though it levelled a number of buildings in the neighbourhood
Question says → Passage says
The other buildings near the Toji pagodaa number of buildings in the neighbourhood
in the last 30 yearsIt was only thirty years ago
Why: We learn that neighbouring buildings were levelled, but never when they were built. The 'thirty years' in the next paragraph is about Japan's first tall office blocks in general. NOT GIVEN.
The trap: The 30-year figure is right there in the next paragraph, which tempts you to link it to the neighbourhood buildings. The passage never makes that link.
Question 4
Answer: YESParagraph 3, second sentence
Did pagoda builders know how to cope with the force of bad weather?
Japanese carpenters of the day knew a few tricks about allowing a building to sway and settle itself rather than fight nature's forces
Question says → Passage says
The builders of pagodas knew howJapanese carpenters of the day knew a few tricks
absorb some of the powerallowing a building to sway and settle itself
severe weather conditionsnature's forces / typhoons
Why: Letting the building sway rather than resist is a way of absorbing force, and the passage's 'nature's forces' include the typhoons named in Paragraph 1. YES.
The trap: You might think 'weather' needs a direct mention and choose NOT GIVEN. 'Nature's forces' in a land 'swept by typhoons' covers it.
Matching features (A-C)
Questions 5-10
How to attack this block: Paragraph 4 does most of the work: it lists what the Chinese built (brick, stairs, watchtowers) and what Japan changed. Features shared by both are the religious origin and tiled eaves, which differ only in the type of tile. The eaves overhang and the stacked floors are Japanese only.
Question 5
Answer: BParagraph 4, third and fourth sentences
Which pagodas had an easy way to get up inside to the top?
The Chinese built their pagodas in brick or stone, with inner staircases… the staircase was dispensed with
Question says → Passage says
easy interior access to topwith inner staircases
only Chinese pagodasThe Chinese built their pagodas
Why: Chinese pagodas had inner staircases; Japan 'dispensed with' the staircase because their pagodas had no practical use. So only Chinese pagodas, B.
The trap: 'As in China' at the start of the paragraph might make you think everything is shared. The staircase is one of the differences.
Question 6
Answer: AParagraph 5, last sentence
Which pagodas had tiles on their eaves?
not with the porcelain tiles of many Chinese pagodas but with much heavier earthenware tiles
Question says → Passage says
tiles on eavesto cover these extended eaves… with much heavier earthenware tiles
both Chinese and Japaneseporcelain tiles of many Chinese pagodas
Why: The difference is the type of tile, not whether there are tiles. Chinese pagodas used porcelain, Japanese ones earthenware, so both had tiled eaves. A.
The trap: C (only Japanese) is the common mistake, because the sentence is about the Japanese builders' choice. Read 'not with… but with': both options are tiles.
Question 7
Answer: BParagraph 4, third sentence
Which pagodas were used for keeping watch?
used them in later centuries mainly as watchtowers
Question says → Passage says
use as observation postmainly as watchtowers
Why: A watchtower is an observation post. This is said of the Chinese pagodas; Japanese ones had 'no practical use'. B.
Question 8
Answer: CParagraph 5, first sentence; Paragraph 4, last sentence
Which pagodas have eaves stretching out by up to half the building's width?
The roof of a Japanese temple building can be made to overhang the sides of the structure by fifty per cent or more of the building's overall width.
Question says → Passage says
size of eavesoverhang the sides of the structure
up to half the widthby fifty per cent or more of the building's overall width
only JapanesePagodas in China and Korea have nothing like the overhang
Why: Fifty per cent is half, and the overhang is described for Japanese buildings. The sentence just before confirms Chinese pagodas have nothing like it. C.
The trap: A (both) looks possible because Chinese pagodas have eaves too. The point is the size: only the Japanese ones extend this far.
Question 9
Answer: AParagraph 4, second sentence
Which pagodas were originally linked to religion?
As in China, they were first introduced with Buddhism and were attached to important temples.
Question says → Passage says
original religious purposefirst introduced with Buddhism… attached to important temples
bothAs in China
Why: 'As in China' tells you the Japanese pagodas shared this with the Chinese ones: both came with Buddhism and belonged to temples. A.
The trap: B is tempting if you link the Chinese watchtowers to this. Watchtowers were a later use; the original purpose was religious in both.
Question 10
Answer: CParagraph 8, third and fourth sentences
Which pagodas have floors that just sit loosely on each other?
the individual storeys of a Japanese pagoda, unlike their counterparts elsewhere, are not actually connected to each other. They are simply stacked one on top of another like a pile of hats.
Question says → Passage says
floors fitting loosely over each othersimply stacked one on top of another like a pile of hats
only Japaneseunlike their counterparts elsewhere
Why: 'Unlike their counterparts elsewhere' rules out China, and 'stacked like a pile of hats' is the loose fit. C.
Multiple choice
Questions 11-13
How to attack this block: Each question has a distractor that repeats an idea the passage rejects. The shinbashira carries no load and doesn't simply bend like a tree. Ishida's models are for understanding pagodas, not designing skyscrapers. The storeys are not fastened at all, just stacked.
Question 11
Answer: DParagraph 7, last sentence
What does the central pillar actually do?
The shinbashira, running up through a hole in the centre of the building, constrained individual storeys from moving too far
Question says → Passage says
stops the floors moving too farconstrained individual storeys from moving too far
Why: The floors slide about, hit the pillar after a certain distance, and pass energy along it. 'Constrained' = 'stops', so D.
The trap: B (bends like a tree) was the old belief, which the passage calls 'not so simple'. A is directly wrong: the pillar 'carries no load at all'. C is wrong too, since in some designs it doesn't even touch the ground.
Question 12
Answer: CParagraph 7, third sentence
Why does Shuzo Ishida carry out his experiments?
because of his passion to understand the pagoda, has built a series of models and tested them on a 'shake-table' in his laboratory
Question says → Passage says
learn about the dynamics of pagodashis passion to understand the pagoda
performs experimentsbuilt a series of models and tested them
Why: His models and shake-table tests come from wanting to understand how pagodas behave, which is their dynamics. C.
The trap: A (improve skyscraper design) uses the link to Japan's first skyscraper, but that's the writer's comparison, not Ishida's aim. D picks up 'advanced mathematics', which the craftsmen managed without.
Question 13
Answer: CParagraph 8, third and fourth sentences
How are the storeys of a Japanese pagoda put together?
are not actually connected to each other. They are simply stacked one on top of another like a pile of hats.
Question says → Passage says
fitted loosely on top of each othersimply stacked one on top of another
Why: Not connected, just stacked: that is C. The 'loose stack of floors' in Paragraph 7 says the same thing.
The trap: A (linked only by wood) and B (fastened to the pillar) both assume some connection, but the storeys aren't joined at all. The pillar sits in a hole and the floors only bump into it.
NOT GIVEN. The earthquake levelled buildings near Toji, and the passage mentions modern office blocks elsewhere, but it never dates the neighbouring buildings.
B is the old belief, that the pillar flexes like a pine tree, which the passage says is too simple. The pillar's job is to stop the floors moving too far.
Words from this passage worth keeping
unscathed(Paragraph 1)
not harmed at all
mystified(Paragraph 2)
completely puzzled
dampen(Paragraph 2)
reduce the strength of
dispensed with(Paragraph 4)
got rid of because not needed
resilience(Paragraph 6)
ability to survive damage and recover
trial and error(Paragraph 7)
testing different ways until one works
tapers(Paragraph 8)
gets gradually narrower towards the top
anticipated(Paragraph 9)
came up with something before others did
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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 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 7 Test 2
Passage 1 · Questions 1-13 · You're hereWhy pagodas don't fall down
