Practice test

---

READING PASSAGE-1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
You should spend about 20 minutes on 
Questions 1-13,
 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
 
New Zealand’s early crafts and traditions 
 
The first groups of people to discover New Zealand come from Polynesia. 
Exactly when these explorers arrived has often been a matter of debate, but today 
the general understanding is that it was during the 13
th
century that their canoes 
eventually landed on New Zealand’s shores. In some ways the new country must 
have seemed like an ideal place to settle: the land was fertile, and thick forests 
provided firewood, shelter and building materials. Still, life would have been 
challenging for the different Polynesian tribes, who had to adapt to a new 
environment. The tribes only began to refer themselves as 
Māori
, meaning 
‘ordinary people’, when Europeans in search of new opportunities began arriving in 
the 18
th
century. To the Maori, of course, the European settlers and sailors were not 
‘ordinary’, but very strange.
It was not only a knowledge of canoe-building and navigation that the 
Polynesians brought to New Zealand. They were also skilled craftsmen. There is 
archaeological evidence that the tools they produced were of high quality and 
would have enabled tribes to plant and harvest crops. Craftsmen were also 
occupied with making weapons such as knives and axes, which were used for both 
construction and fighting. Interestingly, some crafts that had once been popular in 
Polynesian islands were no longer done in New Zealand, although researches are 
unsure why. Pottery is an example of this, despite that fact the clay needed to make 
pots and bowls could easily be found in the country. 
The Maori word 
whakairo 
can be translated as ‘decorative work’ – this can 
refer to bone, wood and greenstone carving. Although Maori carvers were 
influenced by their Polynesian heritage, they developed their own style, including 
the curved patterns and spirals inspired by New Zealand plants. The same term can 
also apply to weaving; the crafting of, for example, woven baskets and mats all 
required knowledge and skill. Carving greenstone, or 
pounamu
as it is called in 
Maori, was a long process, requiring great patience. Further, because of this 
mineral’s rarity, any greenstone object, such as a piece of jewellery or cutting blade, 
was a prized possession. For that reason, it was the few people of high status rather 
than low-ranking members of a tribe who would possess such objects.
As New Zealand had no native mammals except for bats, dolphins and whales, 
Maori largely had to depend on plants to provide material for their clothing, 
including their cloaks. Weavers experimented with the inner bark of the 
houhere
, 
the lacebark tree, but found it unsuitable. But the dried-out leaves and fibres of the 
flax plant provided a solution. Once a cloak had been woven from flax, it could be 
decorated. Borders might be dyed black or red, for example. In the case of superior 
ones made for chiefs or the more important members of a tribe, feathers from kiwi, 
pigeons or other native birds might be attached. All flax cloaks were rectangular in 
shape, so had no sleeves, and neither was a hood a feature of this garment. Short 
cloaks were fastened around a person’s neck, and came only to the waist. Pins 
made of bone, wood or greenstone allowed longer cloaks to be secured at the 
shoulder; these were a type that were often used for ceremonial occasions. Of 
course, the construction of cloaks was influenced by the plant material available to 
Maori weavers. This meant that cloaks were loose-fitting, and while they protected 
wearers from New Zealand’s strong sunshine, they were not useful during the 
winter months. A cloak made from fur or wool could provide insulation from the 
cold, but not so a cloak made of flax. 
The warriors of a tribe required a different kind of cloak to help protect 
them. To create these special cloaks, the tough fibres of the mountain cabbage tree 
were used instead. It is not clear to researchers what the entire process involved, 
but they believe the fibres were left to soak in water over a period of time in order 
to soften them and make them easier to weave together. Later, once the whole 
cloak had been constructed, it would be dyed black. To do this, Maori weaves 
covered it in a special kind of mud they had collected from riverbeds. This was rich 
in iron due to New Zealand’s volcanic landscape. The particular advantage of these 
cloaks was that the tough cabbage tree fibres they were woven from could reduce 
the impact of spear tips during a fight with enemy tribes. It is fortunate that some 
cloaks from the 1800s still survive and can provide us with further insight into the 
materials and construction techniques that Maori craftsmen used.