Blogs 
Leap Digest 
Events 
About Us 
About the Bringing Cinnamon to Europe Reading Passage
This passage covers the history of cinnamon trade — how Arab merchants kept the spice's origins secret for centuries, and how Portuguese and Dutch colonial powers eventually located and controlled its source in Sri Lanka (Ceylon). It is drawn from Cambridge IELTS 9, Academic Test 2, Passage 1.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–14, which are based on the passage below.
The passage contains two question types: True/False/Not Given (Questions 1–7) and Summary Completion (Questions 8–14).
Bringing Cinnamon to Europe — Full Reading Passage
Paragraph A
Cinnamon has been known in the Middle East since ancient times. It was brought to Europe in the early medieval period by Arab traders, but its geographical origins were kept secret. Arab traders had a monopoly on the supply of spice to Europe, and they were determined to maintain it. They deliberately spread false stories about where cinnamon came from in order to mislead their customers. The most important of these myths was about the cinnamon bird, or cinnamologus.
Paragraph B
According to the legend told by Arab traders, cinnamon grew in a deep glen or valley guarded by dangerous winged creatures, like large birds or bats. These creatures built their nests with cinnamon twigs at the top of very tall trees. People who wanted to collect the spice had to leave large pieces of meat near the trees. The birds would fly down and carry the meat back up to their nests. But the nests were so heavily loaded with the weight of meat that they would fall to the ground. The cinnamon collectors would then rush in to gather the fallen twigs. The story was clearly invented to suggest that collecting cinnamon was a difficult and dangerous task, thus justifying its high price in European markets.
Paragraph C
By the fifteenth century, demand for spices in Europe had grown so much that traders looked for alternatives to the overland routes to Asia. The old routes passed through territory controlled by the Ottoman Empire, which made trading difficult and expensive. Portuguese sailors began exploring the west coast of Africa, hoping to find a sea route to Asia and its sources of spice.
Paragraph D
Vasco da Gama was the Portuguese explorer who eventually succeeded in finding a sea route to India in 1497–98. He sailed around the southern tip of Africa and across the Indian Ocean. This allowed the Portuguese to bypass the traditional overland routes controlled by the Ottomans and Arab merchants. The discovery opened direct access to the sources of spice in Asia.
Paragraph E
Having reached India, the Portuguese soon discovered that cinnamon was produced not in Arabia or Africa, but in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). They seized control of the island and established a monopoly on cinnamon production and export. The Portuguese held this monopoly for about a hundred years, from the early sixteenth century, and grew wealthy from the trade.
Paragraph F
In the early seventeenth century, the Dutch replaced the Portuguese as the dominant colonial power in the region. They took control of Ceylon and broke the Portuguese monopoly on cinnamon. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) then managed the cinnamon trade very tightly. They destroyed excess production to keep prices high and prevent competitors from benefiting. The Dutch monopoly on cinnamon continued until the late eighteenth century.
Paragraph G
The end of the Dutch monopoly came when the French managed to smuggle cinnamon plants out of Ceylon. They successfully cultivated cinnamon in their own colonies, particularly in Mauritius, Réunion, and Guyana. Once cultivation spread, the price of cinnamon fell significantly, and the exclusive control once held by colonial powers over this highly valued spice was broken forever.
Bringing Cinnamon to Europe Reading Questions and Answers
True/False/Not Given — Questions 1–7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading 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
- Arab traders were the first people to bring cinnamon to Europe.
- The legend of the cinnamon bird was believed by most European buyers at the time.
- The cinnamologus bird is described in early Chinese texts as well as Arab ones.
- Portuguese explorers looked for a sea route to Asia partly because land routes had become difficult to use.
- Vasco da Gama discovered that cinnamon came from Arabia.
- The Portuguese were more successful traders than the Dutch in Asia.
- The Dutch worked to keep cinnamon prices high by limiting supply.
Summary Completion — Questions 8–14
Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
The Cinnamon Trade: A Summary
For centuries, ……(8)…… traders controlled the supply of cinnamon to Europe. They claimed that collecting cinnamon was ……(9)…… because the spice was guarded by birds. To avoid the ……(10)…… routes that passed through Ottoman-controlled territory, the Portuguese searched for a ……(11)…… to Asia. They eventually seized control of Ceylon and set up a ……(13)……, which was later taken over by the ……(14)…… in the seventeenth century.
(Note: Q12 asks for the nationality of the first colonial power to control Ceylon — answer: Portuguese.)
