Answers for When the Tulip Bubble Burst

The passage of the When the Tulip Burst Reading Answers is one of the frequently asked passages in the actual IELTS reading test. The reading passage comes with three different question types that include locating information, True/False or Not given and summary completion. Practice by skimming the given passage and answer all the questions. Also you can check your answers immediately with our provided answer key.

Solution for When the Tulip Bubble Burst

We have provided When the Tulip Bubble Burst reading answers for the 14 questions of the reading passage in the table given below for self-evaluation.

Answer Table 

1. I	5. F	9. Not Given	13. Estates
2. D	6. True	10. False	14. Flower lovers
3. B	7. False	11. Fighting
4. G	8. True	12. Commerce

When the Tulip Bubble Burst Reading Passage 

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You should spend 20 minutes reading the When the Tulip Bubble Burst reading passage below and answering (1–14) questions.

When the Tulip Bubble Burst 

Tulips are spring-blooming perennials that grow from bulbs. Depending on the species, tulip plants can grow as short as 4 inches (10 cm) or as high as 28 inches (71 cm). The tulip’s large flowers usually bloom on scapes or sub-scapose stems that lack bracts. Most tulips produce only one flower per stem, but a few species bear multiple flowers on their scapes (e.g. Tulipa turkestanica). The showy, generally cup or star-shaped tulip flower has three petals and three sepals, which are often termed tepals because they are nearly identical. These six tepals are often marked on the interior surface near the bases with darker colorings. Tulip flowers come in a wide variety of colours, except pure blue (several tulips with “blue” in the name have a faint violet hue)

A. Long before anyone ever heard of Qualcomm, CMGI, Cisco Systems, or the other high-tech stocks that have soared during the current bull market, there was Semper Augustus. Both more prosaic and more sublime than any stock or bond, it was a tulip of extraordinary beauty, its midnight-blue petals topped by a band of pure white and accented with crimson flares. To denizens of 17th century Holland, little was as desirable.

B. Around 1624, the Amsterdam man who owned the only dozen specimens was offered 3,000 guilders for one bulb. While there’s no accurate way to render that in today’s greenbacks, the sum was roughly equal to the annual income of a wealthy merchant. (A few years later, Rembrandt received about half that amount for painting The Night Watch.) Yet the bulb’s owner, whose name is now lost to history, nixed the offer.

C. Who was crazier, the tulip lover who refused to sell for a small fortune or the one who was willing to splurge. That’s a question that springs to mind after reading Tulip mania: The Story of the World’s Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused by British journalist Mike Dash. In recent years, as investors have intentionally forgotten everything they learned in Investing 101 in order to load up on unproved, unprofitable dot- com issues, tulip mania has been invoked frequently. In this concise, artfully written account, Dash tells the real history behind the buzzword and in doing so, offers a cautionary tale for our times.

D. The Dutch were not the first to go gaga over the tulip. Long before the first tulip bloomed in Europe-in Bavaria, it turns out, in 1559-the flower had enchanted the Persians and bewitched the rulers of the Ottoman Empire. It was in Holland, however, that the passion for tulips found its most fertile ground, for reasons that had little to do with horticulture.

E. Holland in the early 17th century was embarking on its Golden Age. Resources that had just a few years earlier gone toward fighting for independence from Spain now flowed into commerce. Amsterdam merchants were at the centre of the lucrative East Indies trade, where a single voyage could yield profits of 400%. They displayed their success by erecting grand estates surrounded by flower gardens. The Dutch population seemed to have two contradictory impulses: a horror of living beyond one’s means and the love of a long shot.

F. Enter the tulip. “It is impossible to comprehend the tulip mania without understanding just how different tulips were from every other flower known to horticulturists in the 17th century,” says Dash. “The colours they exhibited were more intense and more concentrated than those of ordinary plants.” Despite the outlandish prices commanded by rare bulbs, ordinary tulips were sold by the pound. Around 1630, however, a new type of tulip fancier appeared, lured by tales of fat profits. These “florists,” or professional tulip traders, sought out flower lovers and speculators alike. But if the supply of tulip buyers grew quickly, the supply of bulbs did not. The tulip was a conspirator in the supply squeeze: It takes seven years to grow one from seed. And while bulbs can produce two or three clones, or “offsets,” annually, the mother bulb only lasts a few years.

G. Bulb prices rose steadily throughout the 1630s, as ever more speculators entered the market. Weavers and farmers mortgaged whatever they could to raise cash to begin trading. In 1633, a farmhouse in Hoorn changed hands for three rare bulbs. By 1636 any tulip-even bulbs recently considered garbage-could be sold off, often for hundreds of guilders. A futures market for bulbs existed, and tulip traders could be found conducting their business in hundreds of Dutch taverns. Tulip mania reached its peak during the winter of 1636-37, when some bulbs were changing hands ten times in a day. The zenith came early that winter, at an auction to benefit seven orphans whose only asset was 70 fine tulips left by their father. One, a rare Violetten Admirael van Enkhuizen bulb that was about to split in two, sold for 5,200 guilders, the all-time record. All told, the flowers brought in nearly 53,000 guilders.

H. Soon after, the tulip market crashed utterly, spectacularly. It began in Haarlem, at a routine bulb auction when, for the first time, the greater fool refused to show up and pay. Within days, the panic had spread across the country. Despite the efforts of traders to prop up demand, the market for tulips evaporated. Flowers that had commanded 5,000 guilders a few weeks before now fetched one-hundredth that amount. Tulip mania is not without flaws. Dash dwells too long on the tulip’s migration from Asia to Holland. But he does a service with this illuminating, accessible account of incredible financial folly.

I. Tulip mania differed in one crucial aspect from the dot-com craze that grips our attention today: Even at its height, the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, well- established in 1630, wouldn’t touch tulips. “The speculation in tulip bulbs always existed at the margins of Dutch economic life,” Dash writes. After the market crashed, a compromise was brokered that let most traders settle the debts for a fraction of then liability. The overall fallout on the Dutch economy was negligible. Will we say the same when Wall Street’s current obsession finally runs its course?

When the Tulip Bubble Burst Questions 

Questions 1-5

The Reading Passage has nine paragraphs A-I.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-I, in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

1. Difference between bubble burst impacts by tulip and by high-tech shares.
2. Spread of tulips before the 17th century.
3. Indication of money offered for the rare bulb in the 17th century.
4. Tulip was treated as money in Holland.
5. The comparison made between a tulip and other plants.

Questions 6-10

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?

In boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet, 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

6. In 1624, all the tulip collections belonged to a man in Amsterdam.

7. Tulip was first planted in Holland according to this passage.

8. The popularity of Tulip in Holland was much higher than in any other country in the 17th century.

9. Holland was the most wealthy country in the world in the 17th century.

10. From 1630, Amsterdam Stock Exchange started to regulate the Tulips exchange market.

Questions 11-14

Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet.

The Dutch concentrated on gaining independence by 11. ___________ against Spain in the early 17th century; consequently, spare resources entered the area of 12. ______________
Prosperous traders demonstrated their status by building great 13. ____________and with gardens in the surroundings. Attracted by the success of profit on tulips, traders kept looking for 14. ____________ and speculators for sale.

When the Tulip Bubble Burst Reading Answers with Explanations

When the Tulip Bubble Burst reading answers with explanations given below. It will be useful to rectify the errors in your answering process.

(Note: The text in italics is from the reading passage and shows the location from where the answer is taken or inferred. The text in the regular font explains the answer in detail.)

Question 1: Difference between bubble burst impacts by tulip and by high-tech shares

Answer: I

Keywords: brokered, fraction, tulip

Keyword location: Paragraph I, line 2 -3

Explanation: In the initial lines of Paragraph I, it is clearly stated the difference  between bubble burst impacts by tulip and by high-tech shares. “The speculation in tulip bulbs always existed at the margins of Dutch economic life,” Dash writes. After the market crashed, a compromise was brokered that let most traders settle the debts for a fraction of then liability.” Therefore, the appropriate paragraph is I.

Question 2: Spread of tulip before 17th century

Answer: D

Keywords: Bavaria, persians, bewitched

Keyword location: Paragraph D, line 2

Explanation: Paragraph D, According to paragraph D, the allure of the tulip captivated the Persians, and by 1959, when the first tulip bloomed in Bavaria, Europe, it had already seized the interest of the Ottoman Empire's rulers, making paragraph D the fitting answer. “Long before the first tulip bloomed in Europe-in Bavaria, it turns out, in 1559-the flower had enchanted the Persians and bewitched the rulers of the Ottoman Empire.”

Question 3: Indication of money offered for the rare bulb in the 17th century

Answer: B

Keywords: bulb, dozen, specimens

Keyword location: Paragraph B, line 1

Explanation: Paragraph B, Initial Line, discusses that around 1624, the Amsterdam man who owned the only dozen specimens was offered 3,000 guilders for one bulb. “Around 1624, the Amsterdam man who owned the only dozen specimens was offered 3,000 guilders for one bulb.”

Question 4: Tulip was treated as money in Holland

Answer: G

Keywords: bulb, dozen, specimens

Keyword location: Paragraph G, line 3

Explanation: In Paragraph G, Line 3, it has been mentioned that in 1633, a farmhouse in Hoorn changed hands for three rare bulbs.”Tulip mania reached its peak during the winter of 1636-37, when some bulbs were changing hands ten times in a day.” Thus, the G paragraph is the correct answer.

Question 5: Comparison made between tulip and other plants

Answer: F

Keywords: exhibited, concentrated, ordinary plants

Keyword location: Paragraph F, line 3

Explanation: In the line 3 of paragraph F, It states that “The colours they exhibited were more intense and more concentrated than those of ordinary plants.” Here, a comparison is made between a tulip and other plants. Thereby, paragraph F is the correct answer.

Question 6: In 1624, all the tulip collection belonged to a man in Amsterdam

Answer: True

Keywords: Amsterdam, guilders, belonged

Keyword location: Paragraph B, line 1

Explanation: Paragraph B, Line 1, clearly illustrates that “around 1624, the Amsterdam man who owned the only dozen specimens was offered 3,000 guilders for one bulb”. This proves that a man in Amsterdam was the only one who had traded tulips for guilders (or any other kind of currency) in 1624 and that he owned all of the tulip collections. On this account, the statement that in 1624, all the tulip collections belonged to a man in Amsterdam is true.

Question 7: Tulip was first planted in Holland according to this passage

Answer: False

Keywords: Bavaria, Ottoman Empire,      

Keyword location: Paragraph D, line 2

Explanation: It is discussed in paragraph D that the tulip did not immediately capture the attention of the Dutch. The flower had charmed the Persians and entranced the sultans of the Ottoman Empire long before the first tulip bloomed in Europe—in Bavaria, it turns out—in 1559. The statement is false.

Question 8: Popularity of Tulip in Holland was much higher than in any other country in the 17th century

Answer: True

Keywords: Golden Age, Spain, 

Keyword location: Paragraph E, line 1-2

Explanation: Paragraph E narrates that “Holland in the early 17th century was embarking on its Golden Age”. Nevertheless, the statement that the popularity of tulips in Holland was much higher than in any other country in the 17th century is correct.

Question 9: Holland was the most wealthy country in the world in the 17th century.

Answer: Not Given

Explanation: The relevant information is not given in the passage.

Question 10: From 1630, Amsterdam Stock Exchange started to regulate the Tulips exchange market.

Answer: False

Keywords: fancier, professional, appeared

Keyword location: Paragraph F, line 5

Explanation: In Paragraph F, “Around 1630, however, a new type of tulip fancier appeared, lured by tales of fat profits. These “florists,” or professional tulip traders, sought out flower lovers and speculators alike”. Hence, the answer is false.

Question 11: Dutch concentrated on gaining independence by ____________

Answer: Fighting

Keywords: Resources, independence, Spain

Keyword location: Paragraph E, line 2

Explanation: In Paragraph E, Initial Lines, it is said that "Holland in the early 17th century was embarking on its Golden Age. “Resources that had just a few years earlier gone towards fighting for independence from Spain now flowed into commerce”. This implies that the Dutch concentrated on gaining independence by fighting against Spain in the early 17th century.

Question 12: against Spain in the early 17th century; consequently, spare resources entered the area of ____________

Answer: Commerce

Keywords: Indies trade, voyage, flowed

Keyword location: Paragraph E, line 2

Explanation: In Paragraph E, Line 2, it is pointed out that “Resources that had just a few years earlier gone towards fighting for independence from Spain now flowed into commerce”. This confirms indisputably that the Dutch expended a sizable amount of their overall resources on their fight for independence from Spain while using the remainder for trade and commerce.

Question 13: Prosperous traders demonstrated their status by building great __________ and with gardens in their surroundings.

Answer: Estates

Keywords: estates, erecting, flower gardens

Keyword location: Paragraph E, line 4

Explanation: Paragraph E, Line 4, narrates that “Amsterdam merchants were at the centre of the lucrative East Indies trade, where a single voyage could yield profits of 400%. They displayed their success by erecting grand estates surrounded by flower gardens.” It is apparent that prosperous traders demonstrated their status by building great estates and gardens in the surroundings.

Question 14: Attracted by the success of profit on tulips, traders kept looking for _________  and speculators for sale.

Answer: Flower Lovers

Keywords: florists, speculators, 

Keyword location: Paragraph F, line 6

Explanation: The sentence is evidently represented in Paragraph F, Line 60. “Around 1630, however, a new type of tulip fancier appeared, lured by tales of fat profits. These “florists,” or professional tulip traders, sought out flower lovers and speculators alike.” This sentence infers that tulip fanciers, attracted by the success of profit on tulips, kept looking for flower lovers and speculators for sale.

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