International Trade is Growing Fast Pace IELTS Reading Answers - Detailed Explanation Here!

The IELTS Reading passage “International Trade is Growing at Fast Pace” examines the rapid expansion of global trade and the driving forces behind this growth. 

It discusses how advancements in transportation, reduced shipping costs, and improved international logistics are making the world more connected than ever before. This passage is a great resource for the IELTS exam aiming to strengthen their academic reading skills.

In this guide, you’ll get the complete passage, a variety of question types including True/False/Not Given, sentence completion, and matching information, along with detailed answers and explanations. 

By practicing with this material, you can sharpen your comprehension abilities and move closer to achieving a higher IELTS band score.

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IELTS Reading Answers: "International Trade Growth" Passage

The passage below, "International Trade is Growing at Fast Pace," is a very common Reading passage in the IELTS exam. Read the passage to answer questions 1—13, which are given below. 

International Trade is Growing at Fast Pace

The vast expansion in international trade owes much to a revolution in the business of moving freight 

 

1. International trade is growing at a startling pace. While the global economy has been expanding at a bit over 3% a year, the volume of trade has been rising at a compound annual rate of about twice that. Foreign products, from meat to machinery, play a more important role in almost every economy in the world, and foreign markets now tempt businesses that never much worried about sales beyond their nation's borders.
2. What lies behind this explosion in international commerce? The general worldwide decline in trade barriers, such as customs duties and import quotas, is surely one explanation. The economic opening of countries that have traditionally been minor players is another. But one force behind the import-export boom has passed all but unnoticed: the rapidly falling cost of getting goods to market. Theoretically, in the world of trade, shipping costs do not matter. Goods, once they have been made, are assumed to move instantly and at no cost from place to place. The real world, however, is full of frictions. Cheap labour may make Chinese clothing competitive in America, but if delays in shipment lie up working capital and cause winter coats to arrive in spring, trade may lose its advantages.
3. At the turn of the 20th century, agriculture and manufacturing were the two most important sectors almost everywhere, accounting for about 70% of total output in Germany, Italy and France, and 40-50% in America, Britain and Japan. International commerce was therefore dominated by raw materials, such as wheat, wood and iron ore, or processed commodities, such as meat and steel. But these sorts of products are heavy and bulky and the cost of transporting them relatively high.
4. Countries still trade disproportionately with their geographic neighbours. Over time, however, world output has shitted into goods whose worth is unrelated to their size and weight. Today, it is finished manufactured products that dominate the flow of trade, and, thanks to technological advances such as lightweight components, manufactured goods themselves have tended to become lighter and less bulky. As a result, less transportation is required for every dollar's worth of imports or exports.
5. To see how this influences trade, consider the business of making disk drives for computers. Most of the world's disk-drive manufacturing is concentrated in South-east Asia. This is possible only because disk drives, while valuable, are small and light and so cost little to ship.  Computer manufacturers in Japan or Texas will not face hugely bigger freight bills if they import drives from Singapore rather than purchasing them on the domestic market. Distance therefore poses no obstacle to the globalisation of the disk-drive industry.
6. This is even more true of the fast-growing information industries. Films and compact discs cost little to transport, even by aeroplane. Computer software can be 'exported' without ever loading it onto a ship, simply by transmitting it over telephone lines from one country to another, so freight rates and cargo-handling schedules become insignificant factors in deciding where to make the product. Businesses can locate based on other considerations, such as the availability of labour, while worrying less about the cost of delivering their output.
7. In many countries deregulation has helped to drive the process along. But, behind the scenes, a series of technological innovations known broadly as containerisation and intermodal transportation has led to swift productivity improvements in cargo-handling. Forty years ago, the process of exporting or importing involved a great many stages of handling, which risked portions of the shipment being damaged or stolen along the way. The invention of the container crane made it possible to load and unload containers without capsizing the ship and the adoption of standard container sizes allowed almost any box to be transported on any ship. By 1967, dual-purpose ships, carrying loose cargo in the hold* and containers on the deck, were giving way to all-container vessels that moved thousands of boxes at a time.
8. The shipping container transformed ocean shipping into a highly efficient, intensely competitive business. But getting the cargo to and from the dock was a different story. National governments, by and large, kept a much firmer hand on truck and railroad tariffs than on charges for ocean freight. This started changing, however, in the mid-1970s, when America began to deregulate its transportation industry. First airlines, then road hauliers and railways, were freed from restrictions on what they could carry, where they could haul it and what price they could charge. Big productivity gains resulted. Between 1985 and 1996, for example, America's freight railways dramatically reduced their employment, trackage, and their fleets of locomotives - while increasing the amount of cargo they hauled. Europe's railways have also shown marked, albeit smaller, productivity improvements.
9. In America the period of huge productivity gains in transportation may be almost over, but in most countries the process still has far to go. State ownership of railways and airlines, regulation of freight rates and toleration of anti-competitive practices, such as cargo-handling monopolies, all keep the cost of shipping unnecessarily high and deter international trade. Bringing these barriers down would help the world’s economies grow even closer.

* hold: ship's storage area below deck

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International Trade is Growing at Fast Pace IELTS Reading Answers

Question 1-6

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

In boxes 1-6 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

1. Compared to the global economy, the growth of international trade is slower.

2. The key element that ensures effective trading circumstances is inexpensive labor.

3. The majority of nations no longer favor trading with their neighboring countries.  

4. At the beginning of the 20th century, the main economic sectors in the major American and European nations made a considerable contribution to their overall GDP.

5. The past few decades have seen significant improvements in the efficiency of managing shipments.

6. Japan is the world's leading manufacturer of small computer components.

Questions 7-9

Complete the sentences below.

Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORD OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 7-9 on your answer sheet.

7. Minimal _______ is required to move imported or exported goods.

8. Innovations in _______ and multimodal transportation have led to a decrease in the cost of shipping goods.

9. To increase productivity, the USA began deregulating the transportation sector in the _______.

Question 10-13

The Reading Passage has sections A-I.

Which section contains the following information?

Write the correct A-I letter in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.

10. The change in international trade between bulky manufactured items and lightweight raw materials.

11. Reasons for the growth in international trade are removing trade barriers and opening up formerly minor nations.

12. Significant advancements in cargo transportation and handling caused by technological advancements. 

13. The international trade has been about double the size of the world economy.

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IELTS Reading Answers: "International Trade Growth"

Question 1–6: TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN

1. Compared to the global economy, the growth of international trade is slower.

• Answer: FALSE
• Location: Paragraph 1
• Reference: “While the global economy has been expanding at a bit over 3% a year, the volume of trade has been rising at a compound annual rate of about twice that.”
• Explanation: Trade is growing faster, not slower.

2. The key element that ensures effective trading circumstances is inexpensive labor.

• Answer: FALSE
• Location: Paragraph 2
• Reference: “Cheap labour may make Chinese clothing competitive… but if delays… cause winter coats to arrive in spring, trade may lose its advantages.”
• Explanation: Cheap labour helps, but transport efficiency is key.

3. The majority of nations no longer favor trading with their neighboring countries.

• Answer: FALSE
• Location: Paragraph 4
• Reference: “Countries still trade disproportionately with their geographic neighbours.”
• Explanation: Nations still prefer trading with neighbors.

4. At the beginning of the 20th century, the main economic sectors in the major American and European nations made a considerable contribution to their overall GDP.

• Answer: TRUE
• Location: Paragraph 3
• Reference: “...agriculture and manufacturing were the two most important sectors... accounting for about 70%... and 40-50% in America, Britain and Japan.”
• Explanation: These sectors had a significant contribution.

5. The past few decades have seen significant improvements in the efficiency of managing shipments.

• Answer: TRUE
• Location: Paragraphs 7 & 8
• Reference: “...a series of technological innovations... has led to swift productivity improvements in cargo-handling.”
• Explanation: Technology has improved efficiency.

6. Japan is the world's leading manufacturer of small computer components.

• Answer: NOT GIVEN
• Location: Paragraph 5
• Reference: “Computer manufacturers in Japan or Texas…”
• Explanation: Japan is mentioned, but not as the leading manufacturer.

Question 7–9: Sentence Completion

7. Minimal _______ is required to move imported or exported goods.

• Answer: transportation
• Location: Paragraph 4
• Reference: “As a result, less transportation is required for every dollar’s worth of imports or exports.”
• Explanation: Light goods = less transportation needed.

8. Innovations in _______ and multimodal transportation have led to a decrease in the cost of shipping goods.

• Answer: containerisation
• Location: Paragraph 7
• Reference: “...technological innovations known broadly as containerisation and intermodal transportation…”
• Explanation: These innovations helped cut shipping costs.

9. To increase productivity, the USA began deregulating the transportation sector in the _______.

• Answer: 1970s
• Location: Paragraph 8
• Reference: “This started changing, however, in the mid-1970s, when America began to deregulate its transportation industry.”
• Explanation: Deregulation began in the 1970s.

Question 10–13: Matching Information to Paragraphs (A–I)

10. The change in international trade between bulky manufactured items and lightweight raw materials.

• Answer: D
• Location: Section D
• Reference: “...world output has shifted into goods whose worth is unrelated to their size and weight...”
• Explanation: Describes shift from bulky to lightweight manufactured goods.

11. Reasons for the growth in international trade are removing trade barriers and opening up formerly minor nations.

• Answer: B
• Location: Section B
• Reference: “The general worldwide decline in trade barriers... economic opening of countries…”
• Explanation: Talks about barriers and new trade players.

12. Significant advancements in cargo transportation and handling caused by technological advancements.

• Answer: G
• Location: Section G
• Reference: “...containerisation and intermodal transportation has led to swift productivity improvements…”
• Explanation: Highlights technological innovations in handling cargo.

13. The international trade has been about double the size of the world economy.

• Answer: A
• Location: Section A
• Reference: “...global economy has been expanding at... 3%... trade has been rising at... about twice that.”
• Explanation: Confirms trade is growing twice as fast.

Read more about: Tips For Reading in IELTS Exam | IELTS Academic Reading | IELTS Reading Tips And Tricks | IELTS General Reading Test |

Conclusion

The “International Trade is Growing at Fast Pace” passage shows how global trade is surging ahead, outpacing the growth of the world economy, thanks to modern transport innovations and fewer trade restrictions.

To excel in IELTS Reading, it’s important to strengthen skills like identifying key details, analyzing True/False/Not Given questions, and completing summaries with precision.

For expert support, connect with upGrad’s experts, who can guide you through effective strategies to approach any reading passage and help you secure your desired band score.