This General Training IELTS Reading post focuses on solutions to IELTS Cambridge 15 Reading Test 1 Section 3 that has a passage titled ‘The California Gold Rush of 1849’. This is a targeted post for GT IELTS candidates who have big problems finding out and understanding Reading Answers in the GT module. This post can guide you the best to understand every Reading answer without much trouble. Finding out IELTS Reading answers is a steady process, and this post will assist you in this respect.

IELTS Cambridge 15 Test 1: GT Reading Module

Section 3: Question 28-40

The headline of the passage: The California Gold Rush of 1849

Questions 28-31:  Multiple choice questions

[This type of question asks you to choose a suitable answer from the options using the knowledge you gained from the passage. Generally, this question is set found as the last question set in most passages so you should not worry much about it. Finding all the answers to previous questions gives you a good idea about these questions.]

Question 28: The writer suggests that Marshall’s discovery came at a good time for the US because –  

Keywords for this question: Marshall’s discovery, came at a good time, for the US, because,

In section A, the first lines details about the discovery made by Marshall, “On January 24, 1848, James Wilson Marshall, a carpenter, found small flakes of gold in the American River near Coloma, California.  . . .” Then, in lines 4-6, the writer explains the importance of the discovery, “ . .. . As it happens, just days after Marshall’s discovery, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, ending the Mexican-American War and transforming California, with its mineral deposits, into the ownership of the United States. .. ..”

Here, into the ownership of the United States = the region was about to come under the control of the US,   

So, the answer is: D (the region was about to come under the control of the US.)

Question 29: What was the reaction in 1848 to the news of the discovery of gold?

Keywords for this question: reaction, 1848, news of the discovery of gold, 

Section B discusses the initial reaction of the news of the discovery of gold. The author of the text says here, “. . . mid-March 1848 at least one newspaper was reporting that large quantities of gold were being found. Though the initial reaction in San Francisco was disbelief, storekeeper Sam Brannan set off a frenzy when he paraded through town displaying a small bottle containing gold from Sutter’s Creek. .. .” 

Here, ‘the bold-italic lines’ suggest that people had to wait for a physical evidence of the news before they took it seriously.

So, the answer is: C (People needed to see physical evidence before they took it seriously.)

Question 30: What was the result of thousands of people moving to California?

Keywords for this question: the result, thousands of people, moving to California,

Section C contains two paragraphs. The first paragraph discusses why and how many people, mostly men, moved from different parts of the United States to California. In lines 7-10, the author says, “ .. . In pursuit of the kind of wealth they had never dreamed of, they left their families and local areas; in turn, their wives had no option but to shoulder different responsibilities such as running farms or businesses, and many made a real success of them.”

These lines suggest that the female population, who stayed behind, took the unexpected roles of running farms or businesses.

So, the answer is: C (Some of those who stayed behind had to take on unexpected roles.)

Question 31: What does the writer say about using pans and rockers to find gold?

Keywords for this question: using, pans and rockers, to find gold,

The writer talks about using pans in Section D and using rockers in Section E. If you skim both these sections, you’ll find information about a design fault in rockers in Section E. Let’s read that part.

Section E contains two paragraphs. In the second paragraph, the writer says in lines 4-8, “ . .. The primary disadvantage was that the rocker had difficulty in trapping the smallest particles of gold, commonly known as ‘flour’. Some miners added small amounts of mercury to the bottom of the rocker. Due to its chemical composition, it had a facility to trap fine gold. . . ..”

Here, primary disadvantage = main problem/ design fault,

Some miners added small amounts of mercury to the bottom of the rocker = miners had to find a way round a design fault in the rockers,

So, the answer is: D (Miners had to find a way round a design fault in one system.)

Questions 32-36:  Identifying information

[This question asks you to find information from the passage and write the number of the paragraph (A, B, C or D … .. ) in the answer sheet. Now, if the question is given in the very first part of the question set, I’d request you not to answer them. It’s mainly because this question will not follow any sequence, and so it will surely kill your time. Rather, you should answer all the other questions first. And just like List of Headings, only read the first two lines or last two lines of the expected paragraph initially. If you find the answers, you need not read the middle part. If you don’t find answers yet, you can skim the middle part of the paragraph. Keywords will be a useful matter here.]

Question 32: a reference to ways of making money in California other than mining for gold

Keywords for this question: ways of making money, California, other than mining for gold,

In section C, take a look at the second paragraph. The writer says here, in lines 3-5, “ . .. . To accommodate the needs of the ‘49ers, as the gold miners were known, towns had sprung up all over the region, complete with shops and other businesses seeking to make their own Gold Rush fortune. .. .. .”

Here, towns had sprung up all over the region, complete with shops and other businesses = ways of making money in California other than mining for gold,   

So, the answer is: C

Question 33: a suggestion that the gold that was found did not often compensate for the hard work undertaken

Keywords for this question: gold that was found, did not often compensate for, the hard work undertaken,

In section F, have a look at lines 4-5, “ . .. Moreover, the average daily pay for an independent miner had by then dropped sharply from what it had been in 1848. .. .. .”

Here, the average daily pay for an independent miner had by then dropped sharply = the gold that was found did not often compensate for the hard work undertaken,  

So, the answer is: F  

Question 34: a mention of an individual who convinced many of the existence of gold in California

Keywords for this question: individual, who convinced, many of the existence of gold, California,

In Section B, take a close look at lines 4-5, “ . .. . storekeeper Sam Brannan set off a frenzy when he paraded through town displaying a small bottle containing gold from Sutter’s Creek. .. .”

Here, storekeeper Sam Brannan = an individual, paraded through town displaying a small bottle containing gold from Sutter’s Creek = convinced many of the existence of gold in California,

So, the answer is: B

Question 35: details of the pre-Gold Rush population of California

Keywords for this answer: pre-Gold Rush population, California,

In section A, the last few lines provide the population of California just before the Gold Rush, “. . .. At the time, the population of the territory consisted of 6,500 Californios (people of Spanish or Mexican descent); 700 foreigners (primarily Americans); and 150,000 Native Americans.”    

So, the answer is: A

Question 36: a contrast between shrinking revenue and increasing population

Keywords for this question: contrast between, shrinking revenue, increasing population,

Section G is a short section where we find the contrast between shrinking revenue and increasing population. Let’s read lines 3-5, “.. .. . After that year, the total take declined gradually, leveling off to around $45 million per year by 1857. Settlement in California continued, however, and by the end of the decade the state’s population was 380,000.”

These lines suggest that the revenue earned from gold had been shrinking while the population had been increasing.

So, the answer is: G

Questions 37-40:  Summary completion

[In this kind of question candidates are given a summary for one, two, or three paragraphs with some fill in the blanks questions. Candidates need to find out the related paragraphs by correctly studying the keywords from the questions. Then, they should follow the steps of finding answers to fill in the gaps.]

Title of the summary: Basic techniques for extracting gold

Question 37: The most basic method used by many miners began with digging some _______ out of a river and hoping it might contain gold.

Keywords for this question: most basic method, used by many miners, began with, digging some, out of a river, hoping, might contain gold,

Section D talks about the use of pans for extracting gold.

Here, lines 2-4 say, “ . .. . The basic procedure was to place some gold-bearing materials, such as river gravel, into a shallow pan, add some water, and then carefully swirl the mixture around so the water and light material spilled over the side. . .”

Here, gold-bearing materials = hoping it might contain gold, river gravel = gravel out of a river,

So, the answer is: gravel   

Question 38: Gold dust, which weighed more, remained in the pan or, if the miners were very lucky, there might even be some ______ too. It was, however, a very laborious method.  

Keywords for this question: gold dust, weighed more, remained in the pan, miners, very lucky, might even be, some, laborious method,      

In lines 4-5 of Section D, the writer mentions, “ . .. If all went well, the heavier gold nuggets or gold dust would settle to the bottom of the pan. Gold panning was slow even for the most skillful miner. On a good day, one miner could wash about 50 pans in the usual 12-hour workday.”

Here, If all went well = if the miners were very lucky, one miner could wash about 50 pans in the usual 12-hour workday = gold panning was a very laborious method,

So, the answer is: nuggets

Question 39: The rocker was also used. . . .. . . .. .  Larger stones stuck in the ________, while gold dropped to the bottom.  

Keywords for this question: rockers, also used, larger stones, stuck in the, gold, dropped, to the bottom,

Section E, which contains two paragraphs, explains how rockers worked. Here, in lines 5-6 of the first paragraph, the writer mentions, “ . .. .. The big rocks were caught in a sieve at the top, the waste exited the lower end with the water, and the heavy gold fell to the bottom of the box.”

Here, The big rocks = Larger stones, caught in = stuck in, the heavy gold fell to the bottom = gold dropped to the bottom,

So, the answer is: sieve

Question 40: However, a process was introduced involving _________ to ensure no gold was washed out in the water.  

Keywords for this question: However, a process, was introduced, involving, ensure, no gold was washed out, in the water,   

In section E, the second paragraph explains how miners solved a fault in the rockers to trap ‘flour’ of the extracted gold. Here, in lines 5-7, the writer explains, “ … . .. Some miners added small amounts of mercury to the bottom of the rocker. Due to its chemical composition, it had a facility to trap fine gold. .. .”     

Here, Some miners added small amounts of mercury = a process was introduced involving mercury, it had a facility to trap fine gold = ensure no gold was washed out,

So, the answer is: mercury

Click here for solutions to Cambridge 15 GT Reading Test 1 Section 1 

Click here for solutions to Cambridge 15 GT Reading Test 1 Section 2