Magy's English Edu. Club
Cambridge 13 Academic Reading Test Four Passage One
Cutty Sark: the fastest sailing ship of all time
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
Write TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN.
1. Clippers were originally intended to be used as passenger ships.
The answer is FALSE.
In paragraph two, the fastest commercial sailing vessels of all time were clippers, three-masted ships built to transport goods around the world, although some also took passengers.
2. Cutty Sark was given the name of a character in a poem.
The answer is FALSE.
In paragraph three, Cutty Sark’s unusual name comes from the poem Tam O’Shanter by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Tam, a farmer, is chased by a witch called Nannie, who is wearing a ‘cutty sark’ – an old Scottish name for a short nightdress.
3. The contract between John Willis and Scot & Linton favored Willis.
The answer is TRUE.
In paragraph four, to carry out the construction, Willis chose a new shipbuilding firm, Scott & Linton, and ensured that the contract with them put him in a very strong position.
4. John Willis wanted Cutty Sark to be the fastest tea clipper traveling between the UK and China.
The answer is TRUE.
In paragraph five, Willis’s company was active in the tea trade between China and Britain, where speed could bring shipowners both profits and prestige, so Cutty Sark was designed to make the journey more quickly than any other ship.
5. Despite storm damage, Cutty Sark beat Thermopylae back to London.
The answer is FALSE.
In paragraph five, Cutty Sark reached London a week after Thermopylae.
6.. The opening of the Suez Canal meant that steam ships could travel between Britain and China faster than clippers.
The answer is TRUE.
In paragraph six, steam ships reduced the journey time between Britain and China by approximately two months.
7. Steam ships sometimes used the ocean route to travel between London and China.
The answer is NOT GIVEN.
In paragraph six, while steam ships could make use of the quick, direct route between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, the canal was of no use to sailing ships, which needed the much stronger winds of the oceans, and so had to sail a far greater distance.
8. Captain Woodget put Cutty Sark at risk of hitting an iceberg.
The answer is TRUE.
In paragraph eight, Cutty Sark depended on the strong trade winds of the southern hemisphere, and Woodget took her further south than any previous captain, bringing her dangerously close to icebergs off the southern tip of South America.
Complete the sentences.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
9. After 1880, Cutty Sark carried …. as its main cargo during its most successful time.
The answer is WOOL.
In paragraph seven, this marked a turnaround and the beginning of the most successful period in Cutty Sark’s working life, transporting wool from Australia to Britain.
10. As a captain and ….., Woodget was very skilled.
The answer is NAVIGATOR.
In paragraph eight, the ship’s captain, Richard Woodget, was an excellent navigator, who got the best out of both his ship and his crew.
11. Ferreira went to Falmouth to repair damage that a ….. had caused.
The answer is GALE.
In paragraph ten, badly damaged in a gale in 1922, she was put into Falmouth harbor in southwest England, for repairs.
12. Between 1923 and 1954, Cutty Sark was used for ……. .
The answer is TRAINING.
In paragraph eleven, Dowman used Cutty Sark as a training ship, and she continued in this role after his death.
13. Cutty Sark has twice been damaged by …. in the 21st century.
The answer is FIRE.
In paragraph eleven, the ship suffered from fire in 2007, and again, less seriously, in 2014, but now Cutty Sark attracts a quarter of a million visitors a year.