The Story of Coffee Reading Answers

Dec 20, 2022

The Story of Coffee Reading Answers contains 12 questions that have to be answered in 20 minutes. The Story of Coffee Reading Answers comprises question types, namely- Write the appropriate number in boxes, Complete the labels on the diagram, and Complete the flowchart. The IELTS Reading topic The Story of Coffee Reading Answers is taken from Target Band 7: IELTS Academic Module. For writing the appropriate number in boxes, candidates must read the passage and understand the statement provided. The IELTS Reading tests students' reading, accessing, and answering skills. Candidates must read the IELTS reading passage, identify keywords, and recognize synonyms to answer the question. Students can access The Story of Coffee Reading Answers and practice them at IELTS Reading Practice papers.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

The Story of Coffee Reading Answers

Coffee was first discovered in Eastern Africa in an area we know today as Ethiopia. A popular legend refers to a goat herder by the name of Kaldi, who observed his goats acting unusually friskily after eating berries from a bush. Curious about this phenomenon, Kaldi tried eating the berries himself. He found that these berries gave him renewed energy.
The news of this energy laden fruit quickly moved throughout the region. Coffee berries were transported from Ethiopia to the Arabian Peninsula, and were first cultivated in what today is the country of Yemen. Coffee remained a secret in Arabia before spreading to Turkey and then to the European continent by means of Venetian trade merchants.
Coffee was first eaten as a food though later people in Arabia would make a drink out of boiling the beans for its narcotic effects and medicinal value. Coffee for a time was known as Arabian wine to Muslims who were banned from alcohol by Islam. It was not until after coffee had been eaten as a food product, a wine and a medicine that it was discovered, probably by complete accident in Turkey, that by roasting the beans a delicious drink could be made. The roasted beans were first crushed, and then boiled in water, creating a crude version of the beverage we enjoy today. The first coffee houses were opened in Europe in the 17th Century and in 1675, the Viennese established the habit of refining the brew by filtering out the grounds, sweetening it, and adding a dash of milk.
If you were to explore the planet for coffee, you would find about 60 species of coffee plants growing wild in Africa, Malaysia, and other regions. But only about ten of them are actually cultivated. Of these ten, two species are responsible for almost all the coffee produced in the world: Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora (usually known as Robusta). Because of ecological differences existing among the various coffee producing countries, both types have undergone many mutations and now exist in many subspecies.
Although wild plants can reach 10 – 12 meters in height, the plantation one reaches a height of around four meters. This makes the harvest and flowering easier, and cultivation more economical. The flowers are white and sweet-scented like the Spanish jasmine. Flowers give way to a red, darkish berry. At first sight, the fruit is like a big cherry both in size and in colour. The berry is coated with a thin, red film (epicarp) containing a white, sugary mucilaginous flesh (mesocarp).

Inside the pulp there are the seeds in the form of two beans coupled at their flat surface. Beans are in turn coated with a kind of resistant, golden yellow parchment, (called endocarp). When peeled, the real bean appears with another very thin silvery film. The bean is bluish green verging on bronze, and is at most 11 millimeters long and 8 millimeters wide.

Coffee plants need special conditions to give a satisfactory crop. The climate needs to be hot-wet or hot temperature, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, with frequent rains and temperatures varying from 15 to 25 Degrees C. The soil should be deep, hard, permeable, well irrigated, with well-drained subsoil. The best lands are the hilly ones or from just-tilled woods. The perfect altitude is between 600 and 1200 meters, though some varieties thrive at 2000-2200 meters. Cultivation aimed at protecting the plants at every stage of growth is needed. Sowing should be in sheltered nurseries from which, after about six months, the seedlings should be moved to plantations in the rainy season where they are usually alternated with other plants to shield them from wind and excessive sunlight. Only when the plant is five years old can it be counted upon to give a regular yield. This is between 400 grams and two kilos of arabica beans for each plant, and 600 grams and two kilos for robusta beans.
Harvesting time depends on the geographic situation and it can vary greatly therefore according to the various producing countries. First the ripe beans are picked from the branches. Pickers can selectively pick approximately 250 to 300 pounds of coffee cherry a day. At the end of the day, the pickers bring their heavy burlap bags to pulping mills where the cherry coffee can be pulped (or wet milled). The pulped beans then rest, covered in pure rainwater to ferment overnight. The next day the wet beans are hand-distributed upon the drying floor to be sun dried. This drying process takes from one to two weeks depending on the amount of sunny days available. To make sure they dry evenly, the beans need to be raked many times during this drying time. Two weeks later the sun dried beans, now called parchment, are scooped up, bagged and taken to be milled. Huge milling machines then remove the parchment and silver skin, which renders a green bean suitable for roasting. The green beans are roasted according to the customers’ specifications and, after cooling, the beans are then packaged and mailed to customers.

Solution with Explanation
Questions 28-33:
The reading passage has 7 paragraphs A – G.
From the list of headings below choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs B – G.
Write the appropriate number (i – xi) in boxes 28-33 on your answer sheet.
NB. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use them all.

Growing Coffee Problems with Manufacture Processing the Bean First Contact Arabian Coffee Coffee Varieties Modern Coffee The Spread of Coffee Consuming Coffee Climates for Coffee The Coffee Plant

Example- Answer
Paragraph A iv

Paragraph B

Answer: (viii) The spread of coffee
Supporting Sentence: Coffee remained a secret in Arabia before spreading to Turkey and then to the European continent by means of Venetian trade merchants.
Keywords: transported, Ethiopia, Arabian Peninsula, Yemen, Turkey, the European continent
Keyword location: Paragraph B, 2nd and 3rd line.
Explanation: The reason for this answer may be seen in paragraph B, which outlines how the region's understanding of this energy-dense fruit, coffee, spread quickly. Coffee berries were first grown in Yemen after being transported from Ethiopia to the Arabian Peninsula. Coffee remained a well held secret in Arabia before making its way to Turkey and, finally, Europe via Venetian traders.

Paragraph C

Answer: (ix) Consuming coffee
Supporting Sentence: Coffee was first eaten as food though later people in Arabia would make a drink out of boiling the beans for its narcotic effects and medicinal value.
Keywords: food, drink, narcotic effects, medicinal value, coffee houses, filtering, grounds, milk, brew
Keyword location: Paragraph C, 1st and 5th line
Explanation: It is thought that coffee was first consumed as a meal, but that people in Arabia eventually boiled the beans to make a drink for its narcotic and medicinal effects. The first coffee shops arrived in Europe in the 17th century, and in 1675, the Viennese began to enhance the beverage by filtering out the grounds, flavouring it, and adding a dash of milk. It wasn't until after coffee had been used as a meal, wine, and medicine that it was discovered, most likely by accident in Turkey, that roasting the beans created a delicious drink.

Paragraph D

Answer: (vi) Coffee varieties
Supporting Sentence: If you were to explore the planet for coffee; you would find about 60 species of coffee plants growing wild in Africa, Malaysia, and other regions.
Keywords: 60 species, Africa, Malaysia, ten, two, Coffea Arabica, Coffea Canephora
Keyword location: Paragraph D, 1st and 2nd line.
Explanation: The first and second lines of paragraph d contain our explanation of the answer, which states that there are around 60 different species of coffee plants that grow wild in Africa, Malaysia, and other regions of the world. Only around 10 of them are truly grown. Almost all coffee produced on the earth is generated by two species, Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora (usually known as Robusta).

Paragraph E

Answer: (xi) The coffee plant
Supporting Sentence: The flowers are white and sweet-scented like the Spanish jasmine.
Keywords: Flower, fruit, cherry, berry, seeds, pulp, beans
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, 3rd, 4th and 5th line.
Explanation: As shown in paragraph E, the blossoms of the coffee plant are white and sweet-scented, comparable to Spanish jasmine. The blooms are followed by a reddish-brown fruit. The fruit seems to be a giant cherry in both size and colour at first look. The fruit is covered in a thin, scarlet film (epicarp), which contains a white, delicious mucilaginous flesh (mesocarp). Inside the pulp lie the seeds, which are shaped like two beans with a flat surface.

Paragraph F

Answer: (i) Growing coffee
Supporting Sentence: The climate needs to be hot-wet or hot temperature, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, with frequent rains and temperatures varying from 15 to 25 Degrees C.
Keywords: Coffee plants, climate, hot temperature, frequent rains
Keyword location: Paragraph F, 1st and 2nd line.
Explanation: paragraph F covers the method of producing coffee and the specific environmental conditions that it requires. Coffee plants require specific conditions in order to generate a good yield. Between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, the climate must be hot-wet or hot, with regular showers and temperatures ranging from 15 to 25 degrees Celsius.

Paragraph G

Answer: (iii) Processing the Bean
Supporting Sentence: Harvesting time depends on the geographic situation and it can vary greatly therefore according to the various producing countries
Keywords: Harvesting
Keyword Location: Paragraph G, 1st line
Explanation: This paragraph describes how employees pick and process coffee beans. The entire procedure is discussed, from picking up from trees through packing and shipping to clients. As a result, processing the bean is the correct response.

Questions 34-36:
Complete the labels on the diagram of a coffee bean below.
Choose your answers from the text and write them in boxes 07 - 09 on your answer sheet.

Question 34:

Answer: Epicarp
Supporting Sentence: The berry is coated with a thin, red film (epicarp) containing a white, sugary mucilaginous flesh (mesocarp).
Keywords: berry, coated, thin, red film, mesocarp
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, 6th line
Explanation: The solution may be found in paragraph E's sixth sentence, which states that the berry is covered with a thin, scarlet film (epicarp) containing a white, delicious mucilaginous pulp (mesocarp).

Question 35:

Answer: Mesocarp
Supporting Sentence: The berry is coated with a thin, red film (epicarp) containing a white, sugary mucilaginous flesh (mesocarp).
Keywords: Epicarp, sugary mucilaginous flesh.
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, 6th line,
Explanation: In the sixth and seventh lines of paragraph E, indicating that the berry is covered with a thin, crimson film (epicarp) that holds a white, delicious mucilaginous pulp (mesocarp). Inside the pulp lie the seeds, which are shaped like two beans with a flat surface.

Question 36:

Answer: Endocarp
Supporting Sentence: Beans are in turn coated with a kind of resistant, golden yellow parchment, (called endocarp). When peeled, the real bean appears with another very thin silvery film.
Keywords: beans, coated, resistant, golden yellow parchment
Keyword location: Paragraph E, 7th and 8th line
Explanation: It is stated that the beans are then covered with a type of long-lasting golden yellow paper (called endocarp). The actual bean is exposed behind a thin silvery covering when peeled.

Questions 37 – 40:
Using the information in the passage, complete the flowchart below.
Write your answers in boxes 37 – 40 on your answer sheet.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Question 37:

Answer: Wet – milled
Supporting Sentence: At the end of the day, the pickers bring their heavy burlap bags to pulping mills where the cherry coffee can be pulped (or wet-milled).
Keywords: heavy burlap, pulping mills, cherry coffee, pulped
Keyword location: Paragraph G, 6th and 7th line
Explanation: Paragraph G, where the 6th and 7th lines state that at the conclusion of the day, the pickers transport their heavy burlap bags to pulping mills, where the cherry coffee can be pulped (or wet-milled).

Question 38:

Answer: Overnight
Supporting Sentence: The pulped beans then rest, covered in pure rainwater to ferment overnight.
Keywords: pulped beans, rainwater, ferment
Keyword location: Paragraph G, 7th and 8th line
Explanation: The seventh and eighth sentences of paragraph G, which explain that the pulped beans are then left to ferment overnight in pure rainwater. The wet beans are hand-distributed on the drying floor the next day to be sun-dried.

Question 39:

Answer: Raked (many times)
Supporting Sentence: To make sure they dry evenly, the beans need to be raked many times during this drying time.
Keywords: dry evenly, beans, drying time
Keyword location: Paragraph G, 10th line
Explanation: The tenth line of paragraph G has our response, which states that in order to ensure equal drying, the beans must be scraped many times.

Question 40:

Answer: Customers’ Specifications
Supporting Sentence: The green beans are roasted according to the customers’ specifications and, after cooling, the beans are then packaged and mailed to customers.
Keywords: green beans, cooling, roasted
Keyword location: Paragraph G, last line.
Explanation: The solution is in the last line of paragraph G, which indicates that the green beans are roasted to the buyers' specifications, then packed and given to them after they have cooled.

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