Magy's English Edu. Club
Cambridge 15 Academic Reading Test One Passage One
Nutmeg: a valuable spice
Complete the notes.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
1. the leaves of the tree are …. in shape
The answer is OVAL.
In paragraph one, the tree is thickly branched with dense foliage of tough, dark green oval leaves, and produces small, yell, bell-shaped flowers and pale yellow pear-shaped fruits.
2. the ……. surrounds the fruit and breaks open when the fruit is ripe
The answer is HUSK.
In paragraph one, the fruit is encased in a fleshy husk.
3. the …. is used to produce the spice nutmeg
The answer is SEED.
In paragraph one, inside is a purple-brown shiny seed, 2–3 cm long by about 2 cm across, surrounded by a lacy red or crimson covering called an ‘aril’.
4. the covering known as the aril is used to produce …….
The answer is MACE.
In paragraph one, these are sources of the two spices nutmeg and mace, the former being produced from the dried seed and the latter from the aril.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
Write TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN.
5. In the Middle Ages, most Europeans knew where nutmeg was grown.
The answer is FALSE.
In paragraph two, they sold nutmeg for high prices to merchants based in Venice, but they never revealed the exact location of the source of this extremely valuable commodity.
6. The VOC was the world’s first major trading company.
The answer is NOT GIVEN.
In paragraph four, in 1602, Dutch merchants founded the VOC, a trading corporation better known as the Dutch East India Company. By 1617, the VOC was the richest commercial operation in the world.
7. Following the Treaty of Breda, the Dutch had control of all the islands where nutmeg grew.
The answer is TRUE.
In paragraph five, the Dutch now had a monopoly over the nutmeg trade which would last for another century.
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Middle Ages
8. Nutmeg was brought to Europe by the ….
The answer is ARABS.
In paragraph two, throughout this period, the Arabs were the exclusive importers of the spice to Europe.
17th Century
9. Demand for nutmeg grew, as it was believed to be effective against the disease known as the ….
The answer is PLAGUE.
In paragraph four, at the same time, thousands of people across Europe were dying of the plague, a highly contagious and deadly disease.
The Dutch
10. put ….. on nutmeg to avoid it being cultivated outside the islands
The answer is LIME.
In paragraph five, in addition, all exported nutmeg was covered with lime to make sure there was no chance a fertile seed which could be grown elsewhere would leave the islands.
11. finally obtained the island of …. from the British
The answer is RUN.
In paragraph five, one of the Banda Islands, a sliver of land called Run, only 3 km long by less than 1 km wide, was under the control of the British.
Late 18th Century
12. 1770, nutmeg plants were secretly taken to …..
The answer is MAURATIUS.
In paragraph six, then, in 1770, a Frenchman named Pierre Poivre successfully smuggled nutmeg plants to safety in Mauritius, an island off the coast of Africa.
13. 1778, half the Banda Islands’ nutmeg plantations were destroyed by a ….
The answer is TSUNAMI.
In paragraph six, next, in 1778, a volcanic eruption in the Banda region caused a tsunami that wiped out half the nutmeg groves.