# A spark, a flint: How fire leapt to life: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 1, Test 1, Reading Passage 1

Source: Passage, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 1, Test 1, Reading Passage 1. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | E | the earliest peoples probably stored fire by keeping slow burning logs alight or by carrying charcoal in pots |
| 2 | M | Unable to make flame for themselves |
| 3 | K | It was probably a secondary invention, accidentally made during tool-making operations with wood or stone. |
| 4 | L | the earliest method of making fire was through friction |
| 5 | C | insert a wooden drill in a round hole and rotate it briskly between their palms |
| 6 | J | Percussion methods of fire-lighting date back to Paleolithic times |
| 7 | Q | the Eskimos produced a slow-burning spark by striking quartz against iron pyrites |
| 8 | D | the combination of steel, flint and tinder remained the main method of fire-lighting until the mid 19th century ... isolated in 1669 by a German alchemist |
| 9 | F | Lundstrom's safety matches were safe because the red phosphorus was non-toxic |
| 10 | D | three years later it was copied by a Samuel Jones, who marketed his product as Lucifers |
| 11 | E | match-makers exposed to its fumes succumbed to necrosis, a disease that eats away jaw-bones |
| 12 | C | The first matches resembling those used today were made in 1827 by John Walker |
| 13 | G | a brewery had the novel idea of advertising its product in match books |
| 14 | A | a sealed glass tube containing a twist of paper tipped with phosphorus |
| 15 | C | who borrowed the formula from a military rocket-maker called Congreve |

## Why these answers are right

**1. E.** The gap needs a verb for what early people did with burning logs or charcoal. Paragraph A says they stored fire by keeping slow burning logs alight or carrying charcoal in pots. Storing fire and keeping it alive means to preserve it, E.

**2. M.** This gap describes what early people knew about creating fire, and it must be followed by 'that'. The passage says they were unable to make flame for themselves, so they kept fire going without knowing they could produce it. Unaware, M, completes the sentence.

**3. K.** The summary says the first man-made flames were produced by something. The writer suggests flame-making was probably a secondary invention, accidentally made during tool-making with wood or stone. An accident is a chance event, so chance, K, is the answer.

The why and the trap for questions 4 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/a-spark-a-flint-how-fire-leapt-to-life/answers).

[Practice A spark, a flint: How fire leapt to life](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/a-spark-a-flint-how-fire-leapt-to-life)