Cambridge IELTS 18 · General Training · Test 2 · Section 1
Choosing The Best Sleeping Bag & The Spread The Word Life Writing Prize — IELTS Reading Answers
All 14 answers for Choosing The Best Sleeping Bag & The Spread The Word Life Writing Prize, Cambridge IELTS 18 General Training Reading Test 2 Section 1, with the passage evidence and an explanation for each.
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Choosing The Best Sleeping Bag & The Spread The Word Life Writing Prize answer key at a glance
Questions 1–14. Tap an answer to see the evidence.
What this section tests
This section is tested with Matching Information (Q1–8), True / False / Not Given (Q9–14). Each section below gives the strategy for that question type, the answers, and the sentence that proves them.
Questions 1–8: Matching Information
Strategy: Scan for the idea, not the exact words. The answer is a paragraph letter, and one paragraph may be used more than once unless the instructions say otherwise.
This sleeping bag is not very easy to pack up.
“Give yourself a bit of time to fit it back in the bag, though.”
Option D needs time 'to fit it back in the bag', so packing it away is not easy.
People can use this sleeping bag in any season.
“This all-year-round sleeping bag combines natural duck down and a new synthetic fibre.”
Option A is 'this all-year-round sleeping bag', so it can be used in every season of the year.
This sleeping bag has been designed to ensure certain parts of the body are warm.
“We like the extra insulation in this sleeping bag around the areas that tend to feel the cold (head, chest and feet).”
Option E adds 'extra insulation... around the areas that tend to feel the cold (head, chest and feet)'.
This sleeping bag contains a useful storage area.
“This double sleeping bag – which is suitable for all seasons except winter – is soft and cosy, and there's a handy pocket for essentials, located inside near the top.”
Option B has 'a handy pocket for essentials, located inside near the top', a useful storage space.
People who do not want to spend much on a sleeping bag will find this one suits their needs.
“If you want a no-frills, budget sleeping bag that will last more than one summer, opt for this.”
Option D is 'a no-frills, budget sleeping bag that will last more than one summer', suiting low spenders.
This sleeping bag can also keep the user warm during the daytime.
“This innovative, high-quality kids' sleeping bag enables you to undo some zips and turn it into a fun, animal-themed coat.”
Option F can be worn in the day: you undo zips and 'turn it into a fun, animal-themed coat'.
People who wish to avoid carrying heavy weights should try this sleeping bag.
“At just 350g, this sleeping bag is remarkably light”
Option C is 'remarkably light' at 'just 350g', so it adds almost nothing to a pack.
This sleeping bag contains two different types of material.
“This all-year-round sleeping bag combines natural duck down and a new synthetic fibre.”
Option A 'combines natural duck down and a new synthetic fibre', two different materials.
Questions 9–14: True / False / Not Given
Strategy: Judge the whole statement against the text. FALSE contradicts the passage; NOT GIVEN means the passage never addresses that specific claim.
Writers can submit an entry of fewer than 5,000 words for the Life Writing Prize.
“There is no minimum word count.”
TRUE: 'there is no minimum word count', so an entry shorter than 5,000 words can be submitted.
Writers can choose to write about the life of a person they know.
“Traditional biographies, where the piece is only about the experience of someone else, are excluded.”
FALSE: 'traditional biographies... only about the experience of someone else, are excluded', so another person's life is not allowed.
People who have entered an earlier Life Writing competition without achieving any success may enter again.
“Writers who have previously won or been highly commended in the Life Writing Prize are excluded from entering; otherwise, previous entrants may submit.”
TRUE: only previous winners or highly commended writers are barred; 'otherwise, previous entrants may submit'.
Writers who are between 19 and 25 years old and in full-time education have won the prize in previous years.
“The Life Writing Prize is open to writers aged over 18 and resident in the UK who are emerging writers, which means they have not previously published in print a full-length work.”
NOT GIVEN: entry is 'open to writers aged over 18' who are emerging writers, but past winners' ages are never given.
Only one prize is awarded at the end of the Life Writing competition.
“The winner will receive £1,500, publication on Spread the Word’s website, two years’ membership of the Royal Society of Literature, and a development meeting with an editor and an agent. Two highly commended entries will receive £500”
FALSE: besides the £1,500 winner's prize, 'two highly commended entries will receive £500', so several prizes exist.
Previous winners of the Life Writing Prize have gone on to become successful published writers.
“Writers who have previously won or been highly commended in the Life Writing Prize are excluded from entering”
NOT GIVEN: previous winners are 'excluded from entering', but whether they later became successful published writers is never discussed.
Learn the question types in this section
Frequently asked questions
Where does the Choosing The Best Sleeping Bag & The Spread The Word Life Writing Prize passage come from?
It is Section 1 of Cambridge IELTS 18 General Training Reading Test 2, and it covers Questions 1–14.
What question types appear in Choosing The Best Sleeping Bag & The Spread The Word Life Writing Prize?
The section is tested with Matching Information, True / False / Not Given. Each type is explained on this page, alongside the answers.
Are these reading answers reliable?
Every answer is paired with the sentence that proves it, so you can check each one against the passage yourself. Use the page after a timed attempt, not instead of one.
Cambridge IELTS is published by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Band9Prep is not affiliated with Cambridge. This page is an independent study aid: it gives the answer key, the passage evidence and an explanation so you can review an attempt you have already made.