# Cork: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 12, Test 1, Reading Passage 1

Source: Passage, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 12, 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 | NOT GIVEN | Its bark grows up to 20 cm in thickness |
| 2 | FALSE | that technology has never succeeded in replicating. |
| 3 | FALSE | From the planting of a cork sapling to the first harvest takes 25 years, and a gap of approximately a decade must separate harvests from an individual tree. |
| 4 | TRUE | If the bark is stripped on a day when it's too cold - or when the air is damp - the tree will be damaged. |
| 5 | TRUE | No mechanical means of stripping cork bark has been invented, so the job is done by teams of highly skilled workers. |
| 6 | taste | can spoil the taste of the product contained in the bottle. |
| 7 | cheaper | These substitutes are cheaper to manufacture |
| 8 | convenient | in the case of screw caps, more convenient for the user. |
| 9 | image | its traditional image is more in keeping with that of the type of high quality goods with which it has long been associated. |
| 10 | sustainable | cork is a sustainable product |
| 11 | recycled | can be recycled without difficulty. |
| 12 | biodiversity | cork forests are a resource which support local biodiversity |
| 13 | desertification | and prevent desertification in the regions where they are planted. |

## Why these answers are right

**1. NOT GIVEN.** The statement compares the cork oak's bark with every other living tree. Paragraph B gives the bark's thickness, up to 20 cm, but never compares it with other trees, so you cannot tell whether it is the thickest. The answer is NOT GIVEN.

**2. FALSE.** The statement claims a synthetic copy of cork's cell structure exists. Paragraph B says this cellular structure is something technology has never succeeded in replicating, which directly contradicts the idea that scientists have developed one, so the answer is FALSE.

**3. FALSE.** The statement says 25 years must pass between the first and second harvest. Paragraph D gives 25 years from planting to the first harvest, and only about a decade between harvests from one tree, so the statement mixes up the two periods: FALSE.

The why and the trap for questions 4 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/cork/answers).

[Practice Cork](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/cork)