The Search for Color Reading Answers

Dec 20, 2022

The Search for Color Reading Answers has 13 questions that need to be answered in 20 minutes. The Search for Color Reading Answers is about the colours and their importance. The IELTS topic named The Search for Color Reading Answers comprises three types of questions- complete the sentences, write true/false/not given and complete the summary. Candidates are required to complete the sentences with no more than two words from the reading passage. Candidates are required to decide whether the given statement is true, false or not given based on the IELTS Reading passage. To complete the summary, candidates are required to choose one word for each answer from the passage. Undertaking IELTS Reading practice papers can help candidates practise and prepare on different topics.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

The Search for Color Reading Answers

We seldom reflect on the artificial color of modern merchandise. A blue car is blue; a red chair, red; a green bicycle, green. But why does it have color? Answer, because its surface contains pigment. If this was originally dissolved in a carrier liquid to transfer the color, it is known as a dye, but whatever the case, since color is the most visible element in all objects we desire, pigments can be said to be the basis of customer choice, and therefore of almost all hard trade and transactions. Consequently, production of this substance is big business, now accounting for over twenty billion dollars annually in global sales—yet there was a time when none of it existed.
Going back into the mists of prehistory, objects, tools, and clothing were all earthen and bland, without anything except their natural colors. The first pigments used were of mineral origin — from natural clays tinted by the presence of iron-oxides. The best known examples are the gold color of ochre, the brown of umber, and the yellow of sienna. These were ground up and mixed with fat to create paint, used, for example, in the earliest European cave paintings. Ash, as well as charcoal (derived from heating wood in the absence of oxygen), were also used to provide black, but in the search for color, it was soon discovered that biological matter, such as plants, animal waste, mollusks, and insects, could yield more interesting results.
Crimson —a bright red color—is a good example. It was extracted from kermes, a small insect found on Southern-European oak trees. The pigment is a constituent of the carminic acid produced inside the creature’s body, used to discourage predation by birds or other insects. However, with the trees being large and bushy, and the sap-feeding insects few and far between, pigment production was a meticulous and time-consuming process. This increased the price of the product, the end result being that, in Northern Europe, pure crimson long remained a luxury color for clothing and textiles.
Interestingly, across the Pacific Ocean, people were producing the same color from the same chemical within another insect. They were called cochineals: small scaly creatures which breed in abundant clusters on the fleshy leaves of a commonly occurring cactus. These insects have many advantages over kermes. Being so prolific and so easily seen by predators, they need to produce higher concentrations of carminic acid for protection, up to a quarter of their body weight. The pigment which results is also stronger and longer-lasting. Finally, the insects are far more easily obtained, being simply scrapped or knocked off the cactus leaves, Thus, after the Spanish conquest of Mexico, cochineals replaced kermes almost completely, becoming a lucrative Central American export for the next few centuries.
The lure of crimson was only exceeded by the vivid ‘Tyrian purple’ — a color which had ranked in highest favor since antiquity. Its source was the medium-sized Murex sea snail. With a range around the coastal Mediterranean, early civilisations there soon realized that the mucus the snail secretes when poked and prodded could be treated to produce a purplish-blue dye which did not fade with time. However, by needing thousands of sea snails and using a complicated (and still little known) process, all for the production of only small amounts of pigment, the color was so expensive it could only be afforded by the ruling classes. This led to purple becoming associated with royalty. Roman emperors traditionally wore clothing of this color.
For a less durable blue, suitable for dyeing clothes, the indigo plant was discovered. Its leaves were fermented, and then left to age, and the sediment eventually produced was dried, treated, then reduced to a blue powder. This pigment can, in fact, be said to be the oldest used to color fabric. It is one reason jeans were originally blue, and remain so to this day, indigo being the dye used to color them. However, it was not suitable for painting or artistic purposes. For that, European artists used a mixture derived from the grinding up of lapis lazuli, a semi-precious stone, whose only known source was in far Afghanistan. Consequently, this color was very costly, and many artists avoided it altogether. Others, however, were deliberately extravagant in its use, producing proportionally more expensive paintings.
The cost of this paint resulted in much experimentation during the Industrial Revolution in search of chemical-based alternatives. This eventually led to the first modern synthetic pigment, Prussian Blue. Discovered in Germany in the early 18th century, it was put into rapid production and exportation, giving artists around the world the first cheap, yet stable, blue pigment. Other chemists were making similar breakthroughs. The vivid purple of the Murex snail was accidentally produced by an English chemist, William Perkins, who soon put ‘mauveine’ into commercial production. With such efforts, affordable pigments were soon found in all colors.
Mass production followed, bringing industrial prosperity to Northern Europe, but decline in many parts of the world where traditional organic pigments were still under production. In the Americas, for example, the crimson of cochineals, having long been a Spanish monopoly and rich source of export income, went into steady decline. However, all was not lost. In this modern age, there has been a shift back towards naturalness, even in pigments, and this has seen a resurgence in the popularity of cochineals. The pigment is now commercially produced in several countries, with Peru being the largest exporter.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Questions 1-4:
Complete the sentences.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Ultimately, pigments are important because they are so

Answer: Visible
Supporting Sentence: The first pigments used were of mineral origin — from natural clays tinted by the presence of iron-oxides
Keyword: Color, visible, all elements
Keyword Location: Para A, lines 6-8
Explanation: The first six to eight sentences of Paragraph A make it quite obvious that colour is what people notice the most about all things. Therefore, we hope that pigments may be considered the foundation of client preference. Additionally, surface pigments are the basis for client choice because they provide all contemporary goods colour.

Umber and sienna are examples of

Answer: Natural Clays
Supporting Sentence: The first pigments used were of mineral origin — from natural clays tinted by the presence of iron-oxides. The best known examples are the gold color of ochre, the brown of umber, and the yellow of sienna.
Keyword: tinted, clays, iron-oxide
Keyword Location: Para B, Lines 3-6
Explanation: The third to sixth lines of paragraph B provide a comprehensive explanation of how iron-oxides enable natural clays to be coloured. Such as the brown of umber, the yellow of sienna, and the gold hue of ochre

Originally, more unusual colors were derived from

Answer: Biological Matter
Supporting Sentence: Ash, as well as charcoal (derived from heating wood in the absence of oxygen), were also used to provide black, but in the search for color, it was soon discovered that biological matter, such as plants, animal waste, mollusks, and insects, could yield more interesting results.
Keyword: Biological matter, interesting results
Keyword Location: Para B, lines 7-9
Explanation: It is made explicit in lines 7 to 9 of paragraph B that living stuff including plants, animal excrement, insects, and molluscs can produce more odd hues. Black colour was created using charcoal and ash. However, crimson, a vivid red hue, was created using kermes, a tiny insect that can be found on Southern European oak trees.

Generally, predators of insects do not like the taste of

Answer: Carminic acid
Supporting Sentence: These insects have many advantages over kermes. Being so prolific and so easily seen by predators, they need to produce higher concentrations of carminic acid for protection, up to a quarter of their body weight.
Keyword: Carminic acid, predation, birds, insects
Keyword Location: Para C, lines 4-5
Explanation: The scarlet colour comes from kermes, a tiny insect prevalent in South European oak trees, according to the fourth to fifth lines of paragraph C. The red colour, which is a component of the carminic acid produced inside kermes, helps the plant avoid being eaten by animals like birds or insects.

Questions 5-8:
Show Notepad
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage One?
Write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

Kermes were easy to collect.

Answer: False
Supporting Sentence: After the Spanish conquest of Mexico, cochineals replaced kermes almost completely, becoming a lucrative Central American export for the next few centuries.
Keyword: meticulous, time-consuming
Keyword Location: Para C, lines 7-8
Explanation: It was challenging to gather Kermes, as mentioned in lines 7 to 8 of paragraph C. Due to the huge, bushy trees and the scarcity of insects that feed on sap, the creation of pigment was painstaking and time-consuming.

Kermes produce better pigment than cochineals.

Answer: False
Supporting Sentence: However, all was not lost. In this modern age, there has been a shift back towards naturalness, even in pigments, and this has seen a resurgence in the popularity of cochineals.
Keyword: higher concentrations, carminic acid, advantages over kermes
Keyword Location: Para D, lines 5-8
Explanation: The first 5 to 8 lines of Paragraph D make it obvious that people on the other side of the Pacific Ocean were using the same chemical found in cochineals. It is an insect used to create the same hue. Small, scaly organisms known as cochineals reproduce in large clusters on the leaf sheaths of a common cactus. Compared to kermes, these insects offer many advantages.

Kermes are bigger than cochineals.

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: The passage doesn't provide any relevant details on the question.

Cochineals are still a valuable crop.

Answer: True
Supporting Sentence: In the Americas, for example, the crimson of cochineals, having long been a Spanish monopoly and rich source of export income, went into steady decline.
Keyword: cochineals, replaced, lucrative, Central american export
Keyword Location: Para D, lines
Explanation: The final sentence of paragraph D indicates unequivocally that cochineals nearly entirely replaced kermes following the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Consequently, it continued to be a successful export from Central America for several centuries.

Questions 9-13:
Complete the summary of the second half of the passage.
Choose ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.

The best purple originally came from the

Answer: Mucus
Supporting Sentence: The lure of crimson was only exceeded by the vivid ‘Tyrian purple’ — a color which had ranked in highest favor since antiquity. With a range around the coastal Mediterranean the mucus the snail secretes when poked and prodded could be treated to produce a purplish-blue dye which did not fade with time.
Keyword: mucus, snail secretes, purplish-blue dye
Keyword Location: Para E, lines 5-6
Explanation: The fifth and sixth line of Paragraph E indicate that early civilisations found that the mucus secreted by the snail could be used to make a purplish-blue dye. Especially when poked and pushed. It was in the range centred on the Mediterranean coast. It also didn't deplete with time.

of sea snails, although the oldest pigment for clothing was from the

Answer: leaves
Supporting Sentence: For a less durable blue, suitable for dyeing clothes, the indigo plant was discovered. Its leaves were fermented.
Keyword: indigo plant, leaves, blue powder
Keyword Location: Para F, lines 1-4
Explanation: The discovery of an indigo plant is made crystal apparent in the opening sentences of Paragraph F. Its leaves were fermented, allowed to age, and the sediment that resulted from that process was eventually dried, processed, and ground into a blue powder. In fact, this pigment is the one that has been used to dye fabrics the longest.

of indigo. The blue for picture-painting originated from a

Answer: Stone
Supporting Sentence: lapis lazuli, a semi-precious stone, whose only known source was in far Afghanistan
Keyword: European artists, semi-precious stone
Keyword Location: Para F, lines 8-9
Explanation: As per the lines 8 and 9 of paragraph F, indigo was the dye used to colour jeans. It is one of the reasons why they were originally and continue to be blue today. However, it wasn't appropriate for painting or other artistic endeavours. For that, European artists employed a mixture made from lapis lazuli, a semi-precious stone with a single known source in remote Afghanistan, it was ground up.

costing so much that an artificial replacement. Prussian Blue, was eventually produced, being not only inexpensive but also

Answer: Stable
Supporting Sentence: Prussian Blue was the world's first cheap, yet stable, blue pigment.
Keyword: first cheap, yet stable.
Keyword Location: Para G, lines 4-6
Explanation: In lines 4 to 6 of paragraph G, it is stated unequivocally that Prussian Blue was found in Germany during the beginning of the 18th century. And it was quickly produced and exported, providing artists everywhere access to the first affordable yet stable blue pigment.

Ironically, the prized purple color was discovered

Answer: accidently
Supporting Sentence: The vivid purple of the Murex snail was accidentally produced by an English chemist, William Perkins, who soon put ‘mauveine’ into commercial production. With such efforts, affordable pigments were soon found in all colors.
Keyword: vivid, purple, Murex, English chemist
Keyword Location: Para G, lines 7-8
Explanation: In the first seven to eight lines of paragraph G, it is made clear that the vibrant purple of the Murex snail was casually created by an English scientist. William Perkins quickly started the commercial manufacturing of "mauveine." With similar efforts, all-colour pigments at reasonable prices were soon discovered.

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