The Pearl Reading Answers

Dec 13, 2022

The Pearl Reading Answers has 13 questions to answer in 20 minutes. This reading passage, the Pearl Reading Answers comprises questions like choosing the correct letter, true/false/not given and no more than two words. In order to solve choose the correct letter, a thorough skimming is necessary as keywords are required to be identified. Further, to solve true/false/not given, candidates are required identify the keywords and understand the sentences and questions posed. Thus, candidates need to read the IELTS passage efficiently. For no more than two words, candidates must read the passage and understand questions asked to answer them appropriately. Test-takers must make a note that they must strictly maintain the word limit.

Check: Get 10 Free IELTS Sample Papers
Check: Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for Free Trial Class Now

Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

The Pearl Reading Answers

Throughout history, pearls have held a unique presence within the wealthy and powerful. For instance, the pearl was the favoured gem of the wealthy during the Roman Empire. This gift from the sea had been brought back from the orient by the Roman conquests. Roman women wore pearls to bed so they could be reminded of their wealth immediately upon waking up. Before jewellers learned to cut gems, the pearl was of greater value than the diamond. In the Orient and Persia Empire, pearls were ground into powders to cure anything from heart disease to epilepsy, with possible aphrodisiac uses as well. Pearls were once considered an exclusive privilege for royalty. A law in 1612 drawn up by the Duke of Saxony prohibited the wearing of pearls by the nobility, professors, doctors or their wives in an effort to further distinguish royal appearance. American Indians also used freshwater pearls from the Mississippi River as decorations and jewellery.
There are essentially three types of pearls: natural, cultured and imitation. A natural pearl (often called an Oriental pearl) forms when an irritant, such as a piece of sand, works its way into a particular species of oyster, mussel, or clam. As a defense mechanism, the mollusk secretes a fluid to coat the irritant. The layer upon layer of this coating is deposited on the irritant until a lustrous pearl is formed.
The only difference between natural pearls and cultured pearls is that the irritant is a surgically implanted bead or piece of shell called Mother of Pearl. Often, these shells are ground oyster shells that are worth significant amounts of money in their own right as irritant-catalysts for quality pearls. The resulting core is, therefore, much larger than in a natural pearl. Yet, as long as there are enough layers of nacre (the secreted fluid covering the irritant) to result in a beautiful, gem-quality pearl, the size of the nucleus is of no consequence to beauty or durability.
Pearls can come from either salt or freshwater sources. Typically, saltwater pearls tend to be higher quality, although there are several types of freshwater pearls that are considered high in quality as well. Freshwater pearls tend to be very irregular in shape, with a puffed rice appearance, the most prevalent. Nevertheless, it is each individual pearl’s merits that determines value more than the source of the pearl. Saltwater pearl oysters are usually cultivated in protected lagoons or volcanic atolls. However, most freshwater cultured pearls sold today come from China. Cultured pearls are the response of the shell to a tissue implant. A tiny piece of mantle tissue from a donor shell is transplanted into a recipient shell. This graft will form a pearl sac and the tissue will precipitate calcium carbonate into this pocket. There are a number of options for producing cultured pearls: use freshwater or seawater shells, transplant the graft into the mantle or the gonad, add a spherical bead or do it non-beaded. The majority of saltwater cultured pearls are grown with beads.
Regardless of the method used to acquire a pearl, the process usually takes several years. Mussels must reach a mature age, which can take up to 3 years, and then be implanted or naturally receive an irritant. Once the irritant is in place, it can take up to another 3 years for the pearl to reach its full size. Often, the irritant may be rejected, the pearl will terrifically misshapen, or the oyster may simply die from disease or countless other complications. By the end of a 5 to 10-year cycle, only 50% of the oysters will have survived. And of the pearls produced, only approximately 5% are of substantial quality for top jewellery makers. From the outset, a pearl farmer can figure on spending over $100 for every oyster that is farmed, of which many will produce nothing or die.
Imitation pearls are a different story altogether. In most cases, a glass bead is dipped into a solution made from fish scales. This coating is thin and may eventually wear off. One can usually tell an imitation by biting on it. Fake pearls glide across your teeth, while the layers of nacre on real pearls feel gritty. The Island of Mallorca (in Spain) is known for its imitation pearl industry. Quality natural pearls are very rare jewels. The actual value of a natural pearl is determined in the same way as it would be for other “precious” gems. The valuation factors include size, shape, and colour, quality of surface, orient, and lustre. In general, cultured pearls are less valuable than natural pearls, whereas imitation pearls almost have no value. One way that jewellers can determine whether a pearl is cultured or natural is to have a gem lab perform an x-ray of the pearl. If the x-ray reveals a nucleus, the pearl is likely a bead-nucleated saltwater pearl. If no nucleus is present, but irregular and small dark inner spots indicating a cavity are visible, combined with concentric rings of organic substance, the pearl is likely a cultured freshwater. Cultured freshwater pearls can often be confused for natural pearls which present as homogeneous pictures that continuously darken toward the surface of the pearl. Natural pearls will often show larger cavities where organic matter has dried out and decomposed. Although imitation pearls look the part, they do not have the same weight or smoothness as real pearls, and their luster will also dim greatly. Among cultured pearls, Akoya pearls from Japan are some of the most lustrous. A good quality necklace of 40 Akoya pearls measuring 7 mm in diameter sells for about $1,500, while a super- high-quality strand sells for about $4,500. Size, on the other hand, has to do with the age of the oyster that created the pearl (the more mature oysters produce larger pearls) and the location in which the pearl was cultured. The South Sea waters of Australia tend to produce the larger pearls; probably because the water along the coastline is supplied with rich nutrients from the ocean floor. Also, the type of mussel common to the area seems to possess a predilection for producing comparatively large pearls
Historically, the world’s best pearls came from the Persian Gulf, especially around what is now Bahrain. The pearls of the Persian Gulf were naturally created and collected by breath-hold divers. The secret to the special lustre of Gulf pearls probably derived from the unique mixture of sweet and saltwater around the island. Unfortunately, the natural pearl industry of the Persian Gulf ended abruptly in the early 1930s with the discovery of large deposits of oil. Those who once dove for pearls sought prosperity in the economic boom ushered in by the oil industry. The water pollution resulting from spilt oil and indiscriminate over-fishing of oysters essentially ruined the once pristine pearl-producing waters of the Gulf. Today, pearl diving is practised only as a hobby. Still, Bahrain remains one of the foremost trading centres for high-quality pearls. In fact, cultured pearls are banned from the Bahrain pearl market, in an effort to preserve the location’s heritage. Nowadays, the largest stock of natural pearls probably resides in India. Ironically, much of India’s stock of natural pearls came originally from Bahrain. Unlike Bahrain, which has essentially lost its pearl resource, traditional pearl fishing is still practised on a small scale in India.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 1-4:
Choose the paragraph that contains the following information.
Write the correct letter of the paragraph in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

Question 1: Past stories about the pearls and its users

Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: The pearl has always had a special status in the rich and powerful all through history. For instance, women from ancient Rome went to bed with pearls on them, so that they could remind themselves how wealthy they were after waking up. Pearls used to have more commercial value than diamonds until jewellers learnt to cut gems. In the eastern countries like Persia, ground pearl powders could be used as a medicine to cure anything including heart diseases and epilepsy.
Keyword: Pearl, special status, history
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, Line 1
Explanation: It is given in paragraph A that the people of ancient Rome and Persia found pearls very valuable and useful. So, it tells the stories about the pearls and its users.

Question 2: Difficulties in producing pearls

Answer: E
Supporting Sentence: No matter which method is used to get pearls, the process usually takes several years. Mussels must reach a mature age, which may take up almost three years, and then be transplanted an irritant. When the irritant is put in place, it takes approximately another three years for a pearl to reach its full size. Sometimes, the irritant may be rejected. As a result, the pearl may be seriously deformed, or the oyster may directly die from such numerous complications as diseases. At the end of a 5- to 10-year circle, only half of the oysters may have made it through.
Keyword: Several years, seriously deformed, numerous complications
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, Lines 1-6
Explanation: It is given in paragraph E that the production of pearls takes several years. There is also a risk of diseases which results in the damage of a lot of pearls. So, it shows how difficult it is to produce pearls.

Question 3: Ways to check the value of natural pearls

Answer: G
Supporting Sentence: For jewellers, one way to tell whether a pearl is natural or cultured is to send it to a gem lab and perform an X-ray on it.
Keyword: Gem lab, X-ray
Keyword Location: Paragraph G, Line 5
Explanation: It is given in paragraph G that the natural pearls are checked in some ways like sending them to a gem lab and performing X-rays.

Question 4: Process to differentiate cultural pearls from natural pearls

Answer: C
Supporting Sentence: There is only one difference between cultured pearls and natural ones: in cultured pearls, the irritant is a head called ‘mother of pearl’ and is placed in the oyster through surgical implantation. This results in much larger cores in cultivated pearls than those in natural pearls.
Keyword: Surgical implantation, much larger cores
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, Lines 1-4
Explanation: It is given in paragraph C that the irritant in cultured pearls is placed in oysters through surgical implantation. This makes much larger cores than those in natural pearls.

Questions 5-10:
Complete the summary with a maximum of two words for each answer.
Write the correct answer in boxes 5-10 on your answer sheet.

In the historical period, pearls were of great importance among powerful and wealthy men and were used as precious stones for women in (5)………….. Pearls were also used as a remedy by the people of (6)………….. The pearls are categorized into three types namely: imitation pearls, cultured pearls, and natural pearls. China is known for the freshwater cultured pearls and the imitation pearl industry is situated in (7)………….. Island. Good quality natural pearls are very rare. Some of the shiniest pearls are manufactured in (8)………….. while (9)………….. produces large-size pearls because of the favorable environmental conditions near the shore. In ancient times, the best quality pearls were produced in (10)………….. in the Persian Gulf. These days, India has the highest amount of natural pearls.

Question 5:

Answer : Ancient Rome
Supporting Sentence: For instance, women from ancient Rome went to bed with pearls on them, so that they could remind themselves how wealthy they were after waking up.
Keyword: Women from ancient Rome, how wealthy
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, Lines 2-3
Explanation: It is given in paragraph A that the women of ancient Rome kept pearls with themselves to feel wealthy.

Question 6:

Answer : Persia
Supporting Sentence: In the eastern countries like Persia, ground pearl powders could be used as a medicine to cure anything including heart diseases and epilepsy.
Keyword: Ground pearl powders, cure anything
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, Line 5
Explanation: It is given in paragraph A that the Persian people used ground pearl powders as medicine.

Question 7:

Answer : Mallorca
Supporting Sentence: The Island of Mallorca in Spain is renowned for its imitation pearl industry.
Keyword: Island of Mallorca, renowned, imitation pearl industry
Keyword Location: Paragraph F, Lines 1-2
Explanation: It is given in paragraph F that Mallorca Island is famous for the imitation pearl industry.

Question 8:

Answer : Japan
Supporting Sentence: Japan’s Akoya pearls are one of the glossiest pearls out there, while the’ south sea water of Australia is a cradle to bigger pearls.
Keyword: Japan’s Akoya, glossiest pearls
Keyword Location: Paragraph G, Lines 5-6
Explanation: It is given in paragraph G that Japan produces the shiniest pearls.

Question 9:

Answer : Australia
Supporting Sentence: Japan’s Akoya pearls are one of the glossiest pearls out there, while the’ south sea water of Australia is a cradle to bigger pearls.
Keyword: Australia, cradle to bigger pearls
Keyword Location: Paragraph G, last two lines
Explanation: It is given in paragraph G that Australia produces large pearls.

Question 10:

Answer : Bahrain
Supporting Sentence: Historically, the pearls with the highest quality around the globe are found in the Persian Gulf, particularly around Bahrain.
Keyword: Highest quality, Bahrain
Keyword Location: Paragraph H, Lines 1-2
Explanation: It is given in paragraph H that the highest quality pearls were found in Bahrain.

Questions 11-13:
Check whether or not the below statements agree with the passage.
Write True/ False/ Not Given in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.

Question 11: In general, cultured pearls have a larger center than natural pearls.

Answer: True
Supporting Sentence: The only difference between natural pearls and cultured pearls is that the irritant is a surgically implanted bead or piece of shell called Mother of Pearl. Often, these shells are ground oyster shells that are worth significant amounts of money in their own right as irritant-catalysts for quality pearls. The resulting core is, therefore, much larger than in a natural pearl.
Keyword: natural pearls, cultured pearls, Mother of Pearl
Explanation: It can be concluded from the above paragraph excerpt that cultured pearls comprise a larger centre when compared to natural pearls.

Question 12: At times, real pearls can be less expensive than fake ones.

Answer: Not Given
Explanation: The relevant information was not found in the reading passage.

Question 13: The pearls of Japan are smaller than those of Australia.

Answer: True
Supporting Sentence: Japan’s Akoya pearls are one of the glossiest pearls out there, while the’ south sea water of Australia is a cradle to bigger pearls.
Keyword: Australia, bigger pearls
Keyword Location: Paragraph G, last two lines
Explanation: It is given in paragraph G that Australia has bigger pearls. It proves that Japan’s pearls are smaller than Australian pearls.

Suggested IELTS Reading Sample