From Bean to Bar: The Making of Chocolate: Reading Answers & Explanations

IELTS Reading practice test · 14 questionsAcademicmedium

Haven't taken this test yet?

Looking at the answers first spoils the practice — you only get one honest first attempt at a passage. Take the test with the 20-minute timer, get an instant score and estimated band, then come back here to study every answer.

Take this test first (timed)

About this passage

The passage opens: “Chocolate begins its life on a tree that refuses to behave like most crops. Theobroma cacao — the 'food of the gods', as the botanist Linnaeus named it — grows only within about twenty degrees of the equator, and even there it is fussy.”

Passage length: about 781 words
Questions: 14
Question types: Flow-Chart Completion, Diagram Label Completion, Multiple Choice, True / False / Not Given

“From Bean to Bar: The Making of Chocolate” is an original IELTS-style practice passage written by IELTS-Bank. It is not taken from an official IELTS or Cambridge test, so these answers only apply to our version.

Answer key at a glance

Show the quick answer list (questions 1–14)

1. six days
2. rakes
3. fans
4. cocoa liquor
5. crystals
6. stalk
7. husk
8. pulp
9. B
10. C
11. FALSE
12. TRUE
13. FALSE
14. NOT GIVEN

From Bean to Bar: The Making of Chocolate answers with explanations

Questions 1–5: Flow-Chart Completion

How chocolate is made

Complete the flow-chart below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

1
Flow-chart gap 1 — Fermentation: the beans and pulp are covered with banana leaves and left for about ______(max 2 words)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: six days (also accepted: 6 days)
Why: Paragraph 2 states the beans and pulp are "covered with banana leaves and left for about six days" while yeasts and bacteria work on the pulp.
Where to find it · Paragraph 2
“On the farm, the beans and their clinging pulp are scooped out of the pods, heaped into wooden boxes or onto mats, covered with banana leaves and left for about six days.”
2
Flow-chart gap 2 — Drying: the beans are turned regularly with wooden ______ so that they dry evenly(max 2 words)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: rakes
Why: Paragraph 3 says workers "turn them regularly with wooden rakes so that they dry evenly and do not grow mould".
Where to find it · Paragraph 3
“Workers turn them regularly with wooden rakes so that they dry evenly and do not grow mould, and the moisture content falls from roughly sixty per cent to about seven.”
3
Flow-chart gap 3 — Winnowing: the roasted beans are cracked open and the loose shells are blown away by ______(max 2 words)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: fans
Why: Paragraph 4 explains that in the winnowing machine the shells, "being far lighter than the kernels, are blown away by fans".
Where to find it · Paragraph 4
“The roasted beans then pass through a winnowing machine: rollers crack them open, and the loose shells, being far lighter than the kernels, are blown away by fans, leaving behind broken fragments of pure bean known as nibs.”
4
Flow-chart gap 4 — Grinding: the nibs are crushed into a thick paste known as ______(max 2 words)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: cocoa liquor (also accepted: liquor)
Why: Paragraph 5 says the heat of grinding melts the cocoa butter so what emerges is "a thick, flowing paste known as cocoa liquor".
Where to find it · Paragraph 5
“More than half of a nib's weight is fat — cocoa butter — and the heat of grinding melts it, so that what emerges is not a powder but a thick, flowing paste known as cocoa liquor.”
5
Flow-chart gap 5 — Tempering: the chocolate is cooled and reheated so that stable ______ of cocoa butter form(max 2 words)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: crystals
Why: Paragraph 5 states the chocolate is "carefully cooled and then gently reheated so that stable crystals of cocoa butter form throughout it".
Where to find it · Paragraph 5
“Finally the liquid chocolate is tempered: it is carefully cooled and then gently reheated so that stable crystals of cocoa butter form throughout it.”

Questions 6–8: Diagram Label Completion

Cross-section of a cacao pod

Label the diagram below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

6
Diagram label 1 — the short woody part that joins the pod to the trunk: ______(max 2 words)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: stalk (also accepted: woody stalk)
Why: Paragraph 1 says the pod "hangs from the trunk on a short woody stalk".
Where to find it · Paragraph 1
“It has a thick, ridged husk that turns from green to yellow, orange or crimson as it ripens, and it hangs from the trunk on a short woody stalk.”
7
Diagram label 2 — the thick, ridged outer covering of the pod: ______(max 2 words)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: husk (also accepted: ridged husk)
Why: Paragraph 1 describes "a thick, ridged husk that turns from green to yellow, orange or crimson as it ripens".
Where to find it · Paragraph 1
“It has a thick, ridged husk that turns from green to yellow, orange or crimson as it ripens, and it hangs from the trunk on a short woody stalk.”
8
Diagram label 3 — the sweet white material in which the beans are embedded: ______(max 2 words)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: pulp (also accepted: white pulp)
Why: Paragraph 1 says the seeds are "embedded in a layer of sweet white pulp".
Where to find it · Paragraph 1
“Split one open and you will find thirty to fifty seeds — the cocoa beans — embedded in a layer of sweet white pulp.”

Question 9: Multiple Choice

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Options

A. Ripe pods drop from the tree before they can be collected.
B. Machines would damage the parts of the tree that produce new flowers.
C. The husks are too tough for machines to cut open.
D. Picking by hand improves the flavour of the beans.

9
Why are cacao pods harvested by hand?
Show answerHide answer
Answer: B — Machines would damage the parts of the tree that produce new flowers.
Why: Paragraph 1 explains pods must be cut by hand because a careless blow from a machine "would destroy the cushions of tissue on the trunk from which new flowers, and therefore future harvests, grow".
Where to find it · Paragraph 1
“Ripe pods never fall from the tree of their own accord, and they must be cut by hand, usually with a machete or a curved knife on a pole, because a careless blow from a machine would destroy the cushions of tissue on the trunk from which new flowers, and therefore future harvests, grow.”

Question 10: Multiple Choice

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Options

A. to remove the shells from the beans
B. to melt the cocoa butter inside the nibs
C. to make the texture of the chocolate smooth
D. to give the finished bar a glossy surface

10
According to the passage, what is the purpose of conching?
Show answerHide answer
Answer: C — to make the texture of the chocolate smooth
Why: Paragraph 5 states directly that "the purpose of conching, in short, is to make the chocolate smooth"; the glossy surface comes from tempering, not conching.
Where to find it · Paragraph 5
“Invented by Rodolphe Lindt in 1879, the conche kneads and aerates the warm chocolate, in some factories for as long as three days, until the gritty particles are ground too small for the tongue to detect and the last harsh flavours evaporate; the purpose of conching, in short, is to make the chocolate smooth.”

Questions 11–14: True / False / Not Given

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?

Write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information, FALSE if the statement contradicts the information, NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

11
The cacao tree grows best in full, direct sunlight.
Show answerHide answer
Answer: FALSE
Why: Paragraph 1 says the opposite: it is "a delicate understorey tree that prefers the shade of taller neighbours to full, direct sunlight".
Where to find it · Paragraph 1
“It is a delicate understorey tree that prefers the shade of taller neighbours to full, direct sunlight, and it produces its fruit in a way botanists call cauliflory: the flowers, and later the pods, sprout directly from the trunk and the thickest branches rather than from young twigs.”
12
Cocoa beans that have not been fermented are too bitter to eat.
Show answerHide answer
Answer: TRUE
Why: Paragraph 2 says a raw bean fresh from the pod is "astringent and so bitter as to be inedible".
Where to find it · Paragraph 2
“A raw cocoa bean is a disappointment: fresh from the pod it is astringent and so bitter as to be inedible, with none of the flavour we associate with chocolate.”
13
Most of the world's cocoa is produced on large plantations.
Show answerHide answer
Answer: FALSE
Why: Paragraph 6 states the great majority of cocoa is grown "not on large plantations but on family smallholdings of a few hectares".
Where to find it · Paragraph 6
“The great majority of the world's cocoa is grown not on large plantations but on family smallholdings of a few hectares, and two West African countries, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, together supply well over half of the global harvest.”
14
Chocolate was first sold as a solid bar in Europe.
Show answerHide answer
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Why: The passage mentions Lindt inventing the conche in 1879, but says nothing about where or when chocolate was first sold as a solid bar.
Closest related text · Paragraph 5
“Invented by Rodolphe Lindt in 1879, the conche kneads and aerates the warm chocolate, in some factories for as long as three days, until the gritty particles are ground too small for the tongue to detect and the last harsh flavours evaporate; the purpose of conching, in short, is to make the chocolate smooth.”

Estimated band score for this test

Your raw score out of 14 scaled to the 40-question IELTS Reading (Academic) conversion table. This is the same estimate the practice page shows after you submit. A single passage is a small sample, so treat it as a guide.

Correct answers	Estimated band
14 / 14	9.0
13 / 14	8.5
12 / 14	7.5
11 / 14	7.0
10 / 14	6.5
8–9 / 14	6.0
7 / 14	5.5
6 / 14	5.0
5 / 14	4.5
4 / 14	4.0
3 / 14	3.5
2 / 14	3.0
1 / 14	2.0
0 / 14	0.0

Full-test score? Use the IELTS band calculator.

Tips for the question types in this test

Flow-Chart Completion

Read the chart title and skim every box before searching the passage, so you know what process is being described and which details are missing.
Note the word limit and, if there is a lettered word bank, whether options can be reused.

Common trap: Filling a box with a detail from the wrong stage — neighbouring steps often mention similar objects or actions.

Full Flow-Chart Completion strategy

Diagram Label Completion

Study the diagram first: read its title, the labels already printed, and where each empty label’s arrow points — printed labels are your anchors in the text.
Note the word limit before writing anything.

Common trap: Labelling a nearby part instead of the one indicated — arrows are precise, and the examiner places similar components close together.

Full Diagram Label Completion strategy

Multiple Choice

Read the question stem carefully before the options so you know exactly what is being asked.
Because multiple-choice questions follow passage order, locate the relevant section and read it in full — the answer usually depends on more than one sentence.

Common trap: Distractors that use exact words from the passage but distort the meaning.

Full Multiple Choice strategy

True / False / Not Given

Read the statement first and underline the key idea, especially any qualifiers like "all", "only", "never", "always", "more than" or dates and numbers.
Because the questions follow the order of the passage, scan for the paragraph that deals with the same topic rather than re-reading everything.

Common trap: Confusing "False" with "Not Given": choose False only when the passage actively contradicts the statement; if the passage is silent, it is Not Given.

Full True / False / Not Given strategy

Practise “From Bean to Bar: The Making of Chocolate” under exam conditions

Free, auto-marked, with the 20-minute timer and an instant band estimate.