Cambridge 3 Reading Test 1 - Answers With Explanation

1. Paragraph B explains that despite the intellectual breakthrough, rockets "remained a relatively minor artefact of civilisation until the twentieth century" — matching heading iv, "Undeveloped for centuries".

2. Paragraph C uses an analogy — a rocket working "much like a machine gun mounted on the rear of a boat" — to explain the physics, which is heading i, "How the reaction principle works".

3. Paragraph D traces the invention of black powder to the early Chinese fire arrows that became common by the thirteenth century, describing the earliest rockets, so heading v, "The first rockets", fits.

4. Paragraph E opens by saying Europe only became "seriously interested in the possibilities of using the rocket itself as a weapon of war" in the eighteenth century, matching heading vii, "Rockets for military use".

5. Paragraph A calls the reaction principle "the key to space travel" and says it "opened the door to exploration of the universe", so the greatest outcome was that space travel became a reality (B), not just that a problem was solved.

6. Paragraph F states that "since then", i.e. after the mid-nineteenth-century American rockets described earlier, "there have been huge developments in rocket technology" leading to modern space programs, so the greatest progress spans the late nineteenth century to the present (D).

7. The text says "most historians of technology credit the Chinese with" the discovery of black powder, so the Chinese (A) were first.

8. Paragraph D describes the Chinese "basket of fire", firing rocket-propelled arrows "like flying leopards" to repel enemies, showing the Chinese (A) first used rocket-propelled arrows for fighting.

9. The text says the more aggressive use of rockets as war weapons "came not from within the European continent but from far-away India, whose leaders had built up a corps of rocketeers", so the Indians (B) were first.

10. The passage states "the Americans developed a rocket, complete with its own launcher", so the Americans (E) were first to use a rocket launcher.

11. The Chinese "basket of fire" is described as an "octagonal-shaped basket" that fired several arrows "at the same time", matching drawing B, which shows an octagonal container launching four arrows.

12. The Arab "egg which moves and burns" was "fired using two rockets attached to either side of" its stabilising tail, matching drawing E, which shows an egg-shaped body with two upward rocket arrows either side.

13. The Indian rocket is described as "an iron envelope ... with sharp points at the top and a 3m-long bamboo guiding stick", matching drawing F, a pointed projectile on a long guide stick.

14. The British barrage rocket is described as "completely encased in a stout, iron cylinder, terminating in a conical head, measuring one metre in diameter", matching drawing G, the largest, wide conical-headed rocket.

15. The text links leukaemia to smoking directly, since it "is thought to cause about 14 per cent of leukemia", and pneumonia is named among the causes of the 84,000 smoking-related deaths in 1990, so both are "strongly linked to cigarette smoking" (B).

16. Carbon monoxide "competes with oxygen in red blood cells and interferes with the blood's ability to deliver life-giving oxygen to the heart", matching option A, that it inhibits the flow of oxygen to the heart.

17. Nicotine and other toxins "activate small blood cells called platelets, which increases the likelihood of blood clots", matching option C.

18. The text says smoking is "responsible for 30 per cent of all deaths from cancer", which is about cancer deaths specifically, not all US deaths, so whether 30 per cent of all deaths are smoking-related is NOT GIVEN.

19. The passage discusses health risks to a non-smoking spouse but never says a non-smoking partner is likely to start smoking themselves, so this is NOT GIVEN.

20. The text states "17 per cent of cases of lung cancer can be attributed to high levels of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke during childhood and adolescence", supporting that such teenagers are at risk of lung cancer later, so YES.

21. The passage never states who paid for the UCSF study, so this is NOT GIVEN.

22. The UCSF study "has shown that second-hand cigarette smoke does more harm to non-smokers than to smokers", matching option E.

23. The passage details that smoking causes cancers of "the mouth, stomach and kidneys" besides most lung cancers, so compared with a non-smoker, a smoker "is more likely to be at risk of contracting various cancers" (G).

24. The American Medical Association "is a strong opponent of smoking" and published the UCSF researchers' report in its journal, matching option H, that it "opposes smoking and publishes research on the subject".

25. The study reports that smokers' "cardiovascular system ... adapts in order to compensate for the effects of smoking" as a direct research result, making it a finding of the UCSF study (A).

26. The comment that there is a "philosophical question of whether anyone should have to breathe someone else's cigarette smoke" is presented as a reflection rather than a measured result, making it an opinion of the UCSF study (B).

27. The researchers "maintain that the simplest and most cost-effective action is to establish smoke-free work places, schools and public places", which is their recommendation rather than a measured result, so it is an opinion of the UCSF study (B).

28. The EPA report states that side-stream smoke "contains more, smaller particles and is therefore more likely to be deposited deep in the lungs", which is a finding of the EPA report (C).

29. Paragraph C sets out "the myth of scientific method" as being inductive, starting from "simple, unbiased, unprejudiced observation", which is exactly an explanation of the inductive method, heading iv.

30. Paragraph D argues that "hypotheses provide the initiative and incentive for the inquiry and influence the method", discussing the role hypotheses play in research, matching heading vii.

31. Paragraph E explains that once formulated, hypotheses "can and must be tested rigorously, using the appropriate methodology", matching heading iii, "The testing of hypotheses".

32. Paragraph F reassures the reader not to "worry if you have some idea of what your results will tell you before you even begin to collect data", which is precisely heading v, anticipating results before data is collected.

33. Paragraph G contrasts the tidy, "serial, logical order" of published papers with the messier real process, concluding scientific method is more "a way of writing up research rather than ... carrying it out" — heading vi, how research is done and how it is reported.

34. Paragraph B speaks directly to the reader, telling "you, as an intending researcher" to understand the two interpretations of research so you don't feel you are "cheating".

35. Paragraph F also addresses the reader directly, saying "don't worry if you have some idea of what your results will tell you before you even begin to collect data".

36. Paragraph A states Medawar was "arguing in favour of the position taken by Karl Popper ... that the nature of scientific method is hypothetico-deductive", so this reflects the writer's view — YES.

37. Paragraph E says a confirmed prediction means the hypothesis "has been supported and may be retained until such time as some further test shows it not to be correct" — it is not proved true, only provisionally kept, so the statement is contradicted — NO.

38. The text argues that the common description of scientific method (as inductive) is a myth, but it never claims that many researchers actually carry out their research incorrectly, so this is NOT GIVEN.

39. Paragraph G concludes that "'scientific method' may more usefully be thought of as a way of writing up research rather than as a way of carrying it out", directly matching the statement — YES.

40. Paragraph B makes clear the writer's aim is for "an intending researcher" to understand the two different interpretations of the research process, matching option D.