Reading answers with explanations
Multilevel · Part 5 · CEFR Mock Test 08
THE HISTORY OF PENCIL: Reading answers
Answers to questions 30–35 (6 in all), each with why it is right.
Sit it first, then check
Read the whole passage and answer in the exam interface, timed as on the day.
The passage opens
THE HISTORY OF PENCIL
A. The beginning of the story of pencils started with lightning. Graphite, the main material for producing a pencil, was discovered in 1564 in Borrowdale in England when lightning struck a local tree during a thunder. Local people found out that the black substance spotted at the root of the unlucky tree was different from burning ash of wood. It was soft, thus left marks everywhere. The chemistry was barely out of its infancy at the time, so people mistook it for lead, equally black but much heavier. It was soon put to use by locals in marking their sheep for signs of ownership and calculation.
B. Britain turns out to be the major country where mines of graphite can…
Answers 30–35
- 30
tree Note completion
- 31
sheep Note completion
- 32
government Note completion
- 33
grease Note completion
- 34
Which statement is FALSE according to the passage?
D: Graphite makes a pencil harder and sharper. Multiple choice
- 35
What is the writer's conclusion in the reading passage?
C: Using pencil is becoming more common than anytime now Multiple choice
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