IELTS Reading - Cork

Cork - the thick bark of the cork oak tree (Quercus suber) - is a remarkable material.

QUESTION: Is the statement below true, false, or not given?

" The cork oak has the thickest bark of any living tree."

• TRUE

• FALSE

• NOT GIVEN

Developed most probably as a defence against forest fires, the bark of the cork oak has a particular cellular structure - with about 40 million cells per cubic centimetre - that technology has never succeeded in replicating.

QUESTION: Is the statement below true, false, or not given?

"Scientists have developed a synthetic cork with the same cellular structure as natural cork."

• TRUE

• FALSE

• NOT GIVEN

From the planting of a cork sapling to the first harvest takes 25 years, and a gap of approximately a decade must separate harvests from an individual tree.

QUESTION: Is the statement below true, false, or not given?

"Individual cork oak trees must be left for 25 years between the first and second harvest."

• TRUE

• FALSE

• NOT GIVEN

You even have to wait for the right kind of summer’s day to harvest cork. If the bark is stripped on a day when it’s too cold - or when the air is damp - the tree will be damaged.

QUESTION: Is the stament below true, false, or not given?

"Cork bark should be stripped in dry atmospheric conditions."

• TRUE

• FALSE

• NOT GIVEN

No mechanical means of stripping cork bark has been invented, so the job is done by teams of highly skilled workers.

QUESTION: Is the statement below true, false, or not given?

"The only way to remove the bark from cork oak trees is by hand."

• TRUE

• FALSE

• NOT GIVEN