IELTS Reading 2: The last village that still makes spoons by hand

Benchmarked against Cambridge: synonym replacement, TFNG cause-effect traps, heading distractors, original-word traps.

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Reading Passage

[A] In a village in the Basque Country, Spain, a woodcarver named Juan Echeverria still makes wooden spoons by hand. He is the last spoon-carver in the region.

[B] Machine-made spoons arrived in the 1960s. Echeverria kept the trade alive because tourists wanted hand-carved wooden spoons.

[C] A spoon takes about thirty minutes. It costs eight euros. A machine spoon costs one.

[D] Not all craft researchers romanticise the work. Dr Ana Etxeberria, who studies Basque woodwork, argues that hand-carved spoons are functionally identical. "The wood is the same," she says. "People buy them as souvenirs, not as tools."

[E] Echeverria, who is seventy-one, has no apprentice. When he stops, the spoon-carving will end.

Questions 1–4

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B, C, D and E.

1. Paragraph B
2. Paragraph C
3. Paragraph D
4. Paragraph E

Questions 5–8

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

5. A spoon takes:

   • A. 3 minutes | about 30 minutes
   • 3 hours
   • 3 days

6. Machine spoons arrived in the:

   • A. 1990s | 1960s
   • 1920s
   • 2020s

7. Etxeberria says people buy spoons as:

   • A. tools | souvenirs
   • gifts
   • antiques

8. Echeverria is:

   • A. 51 | 71
   • 91
   • 61

Questions 9–12

Do the following statements agree with the information? Write TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN.

9. A machine spoon costs 1 euro.
10. Echeverria has an apprentice.
11. Etxeberria is Echeverria's daughter.
12. The wood is the same.

Questions 13–14

Complete the summary. ONE WORD ONLY.

Hand-carved spoons are (33) ______ identical. They are bought as (34) ______.

Answers & Explanations

Heading

1. i — shrank
2. ii — makes
3. iii — souvenir
4. iv — end

Multiple Choice

5. B — 30 min
6. B — 1960s
7. B — souvenirs
8. B — 71

TFNG

9. TRUE
10. FALSE — no apprentice
11. FALSE — craft researcher
12. TRUE

Summary

13. functionally
14. souvenirs

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