Questions –13 The correct answer is false

5 The correct answer is ‘weight’: 
In the second paragraph, the text says, ‘Romans hung a 
plumb line from a rod placed across the top of each shaft and made sure that the weight at the 
end of it hung in the center of the shaft.’ The diagram shows a weight hanging in the centre of 
the shaft at the end of the plumb line. 
‘Rod’ is incorrect:
The text says that the rod was at the 
top of the shaft, and the diagram shows this.
6 The correct answer is ‘climbing’: 
In the second paragraph, the text describes Roman qanat 
tunnels, saying, ‘The shafts were equipped with handholds and footholds to help those climbing 
in and out of them’. This explains the purpose of the handholds and footholds: it tells us what 
they were used for.
7 The correct answer is FALSE: 
In the third paragraph, the text describes the ‘
counter-
excavation
method’ and then says, ‘It was used to cut through high mountains when the 
qanat
method was not a practical alternative.’ This means that the counter-excavation method did not 
completely replace the qanat method; it was used as an alternative in situations where it would 
have been too difficult to use the qanat method. 

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IELTS 16 Academic, Test 4 answer key with extra explanations, Reading
© Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment 2021
8 The correct answer is NOT GIVEN: 
Although the text does describe the tasks of the builders, 
it does not describe their levels of experience, nor does the text mention that only builders with 
experience were employed.
9 The correct answer is FALSE: 
In the third paragraph, the text says, ‘An inscription written 
on the side of a 428-meter tunnel, built by the Romans as part of the Saldae aqueduct system 
in modern-day Algeria, describes how the two teams of builders missed each other in the 
mountain and how the later construction of a lateral link between both corridors corrected the 
initial error.’ This means that the information about the problem was recorded on an inscription 
in the tunnel, not in a book.