Cork — IELTS Reading Answers

The cork oak has the thickest bark of any living tree.

“Its bark grows up to 20 cm in thickness”

The passage says the bark grows up to 20 cm in thickness but never compares it with other trees, so thickest bark is unverified.

Scientists have developed a synthetic cork with the same cellular structures as natural cork.

“the bark of the cork oak has a particular cellular structure – with about 40 million cells per cubic centimetre – that technology has never succeeded in replicating”

The cork's 40-million-cells-per-cubic-centimetre structure is one technology has never succeeded in replicating, so no synthetic match exists.

Individual cork oak trees must be left for 25 years between the first and second harvest.

“a gap of approximately a decade must separate harvests from an individual tree”

The passage says a gap of approximately a decade must separate harvests from an individual tree, about ten years, not twenty-five.

Cork bark should be stripped in dry atmospheric conditions.

“You even have to wait for the right kind of summer’s day to harvest cork. If the bark is stripped on a day when it’s too cold – or when the air is damp – the tree will be damaged.”

Damp air damages the tree, so stripping must wait for a dry summer's day and the right conditions, supporting the statement.

The only way to remove the bark from cork oak trees is by hand.

“No mechanical means of stripping cork bark has been invented, so the job is done by teams of highly skilled workers”

Since no mechanical means of stripping cork bark has been invented, teams of highly skilled workers must do the job by hand.

“The tiniest concentrations – as little as three or four parts to a trillion – can spoil the taste of the product contained in the bottle. The result has been a gradual yet steady move first towards plastic stoppers and, more recently, to aluminium screw caps.”

The gap is what the tiniest concentrations spoil; the passage says they can spoil the taste of the product contained in the bottle.

“These substitutes are cheaper to manufacture”

The gap is a comparative describing manufacturing cost; the passage says these substitutes are cheaper to manufacture.

“in the case of screw caps, more convenient for the user”

The gap is the advantage screw caps offer users; the text calls them more convenient for the user.

“its traditional image is more in keeping with that of the type of high quality goods with which it has long been associated”

The gap is what cork's tradition matches; the passage cites its traditional image as fitting the high quality goods it is associated with.

“cork is a sustainable product”

The gap is an adjective describing cork's environmental quality; the passage calls cork a sustainable product.

“can be recycled without difficulty”

The gap is what can be done to cork without difficulty; the text says it can be recycled without difficulty.

“cork forests are a resource which support local biodiversity”

The gap is what cork forests support; the passage calls them a resource which supports local biodiversity.

“prevent desertification in the regions where they are planted”

The gap is the land degradation cork forests prevent; the passage says they prevent desertification where they are planted.