# The Phoenicians: an almost forgotten people: answers and explanations

The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS, Test 8, Reading Passage 1

Source: Passage, questions and answer key from The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS, Test 8, 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 | seafaring | Both of these activities were based on seafaring |
| 2 | merchant | a Phoenician merchant living at Tanis in Egypt's Nile delta. |
| 3 | temple | For Solomon's temple in Jerusalem |
| 4 | craftsmen | Hiram provided craftsmen with particular skills that were needed for this major construction project. |
| 5 | timber | He also supplied materials - particularly timber, including cedar from the forests of Lebanon. |
| 6 | partnership | And the two kings went into trade in partnership. |
| 7 | ivory | and the same skill was adapted to even more precious work in ivory. |
| 8 | commission | they took a commission on a much greater range of precious goods that they transported from elsewhere. |
| 9 | TRUE | when pressure from Assyria to the east disrupted the patterns of trade on the Phoenician coast. |
| 10 | FALSE | Carthage was the largest of the towns founded by the Phoenicians on the north African coast |
| 11 | TRUE | and even out to the Atlantic coasts of Africa and Spain |
| 12 | TRUE | many of the coastal cities of Phoenicia came under the control of a succession of imperial powers |
| 13 | NOT GIVEN | In 64 BC, the area of Phoenicia became part of the Roman province of Syria. |

## Why these answers are right

**1. seafaring.** The sentence asks which Phoenician skill supported their trade. Paragraph A says that trading and colonizing were both based on seafaring, an ability learned from the Minoans of Crete, so seafaring is the single word that completes skill at.

**2. merchant.** You need the word for the Phoenician in the Egyptian story who lived in Egypt and ran 50 ships. Paragraph B describes Wereket-El as a Phoenician merchant living at Tanis in the Nile delta, so merchant is the answer.

**3. temple.** The sentence asks what a king of Israel built with Phoenician supplies. Paragraph C says Hiram provided craftsmen and materials for Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, a major construction project, so temple is the building in question.

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

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