# The Hollywood Film Industry: answers and explanations

The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS, Test 8, Reading Passage 2

Source: Passage, questions and answer key from The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS, Test 8, Reading Passage 2. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 14 | iv | inspecting the growth of the studio system may offer clues regarding the kinds of struggles that accompany the growth of any new medium. |
| 15 | ii | the power of cinematic sound to both move audiences and enhance the story persuaded studios that talkies were worth investing in. |
| 16 | vii | The major studios realized they could increase their profits by handling each stage of a film's life ... essentially running the entire market. |
| 17 | i | Actors were bound up in seven-year contracts to a single studio, and the studio boss generally held all the options. |
| 18 | v | They also had to create product differentiation. |
| 19 | vi | This, coupled with the advent of television in the 1950s, seriously compromised the studio system's influence and profits. |
| 20 | FALSE | made the studios hesitant to invest at first. |
| 21 | TRUE | In addition, actors struggled, having to direct their speech to awkwardly-hidden microphones |
| 22 | NOT GIVEN | Actors were bound up in seven-year contracts to a single studio |
| 23 | TRUE | manipulate every single detail of stars' images with their mammoth in-house publicity departments. |
| 24 | vertical integration | Five studios, 'The Big Five', worked to achieve vertical integration through the late 1940s |
| 25 | movie moguls | the infamous 'movie moguls' who ruled their kingdoms with iron fists. |
| 26 | divestiture | the studios were ordered to give up their theaters in what is commonly referred to as 'divestiture' |

## Why these answers are right

**14. iv.** Paragraph A introduces the chapter and argues that examining the studio system has historical interest and may offer clues about struggles in new media such as online film. That is the value of studying the Golden Age, heading iv.

**15. ii.** Paragraph B traces the shift from silent films to sound: studios hesitated over the cost, then invested, and cameras and actors had to adjust to the new microphones. This is the industry adapting to an innovation, so heading ii fits.

**16. vii.** Paragraph C explains vertical integration, in which the Big Five handled production, distribution and exhibition, and says the eight companies essentially ran the entire market as an oligopoly. Taking over every stage and the whole market matches heading vii.

The why and the trap for questions 17 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/the-hollywood-film-industry/answers).

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