CAMBRIDGE 15 - TEST 1

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend time on Questions 5-7 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
NUTMEG – A VALUABLE SPICE

The nutmeg tree, Myristica fragrans, is a large evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia. Until the
late 18th century, it only grew in one place in the world: a small group of islands in the Banda
Sea, part of the Moluccas – or Spice Islands – in northeastern Indonesia. The tree is thickly
branched with dense foliage of tough, dark green oval leaves, and produces small, yellow, bell-
shaped flowers and pale yellow pear-shaped fruits. The fruit is encased in a flesh husk. When
the fruit is ripe, this husk splits into two halves along a ridge running the length of the fruit. Inside
is a purple-brown shiny seed, 2-3 cm long by about 2 cm across, surrounded by a lacy red or
crimson covering called an ‘aril’. These are the sources of the two spices nutmeg and mace, the
former being produced from the dried seed and the latter from the aril.
Nutmeg was a highly prized and costly ingredient in European cuisine in the Middle Ages, and
was used as a flavouring, medicinal, and preservative agent. Throughout this period, the Arabs
were the exclusive importers of the spice to Europe. They sold nutmeg for high prices to
merchants based in Venice, but they never revealed the exact location of the source of this
extremely valuable commodity. The Arab-Venetian dominance of the trade finally ended in
1512, when the Portuguese reached the Banda Islands and began exploiting its precious
resources.
Always in danger of competition from neighbouring Spain, the Portuguese began subcontracting
their spice distribution to Dutch traders. Profits began to flow into the Netherlands, and the
Dutch commercial fleet swiftly grew into one of the largest in the world. The Dutch quietly gained
control of most of the shipping and trading of spices in Northern Europe. Then, in 1580, Portugal
fell under Spanish rule, and by the end of the 16th century the Dutch found themselves locked
out of the market. As prices for pepper, nutmeg, and other spices soared across Europe, they
decided to fight back.
In 1602, Dutch merchants founded the VOC, a trading corporation better known as the Dutch
East India Company. By 1617, the VOC was the richest commercial operation in the world. The
company had 50,000 employees worldwide, with a private army of 30,000 men and a fleet of
200 ships. At the same time, thousands of people across Europe were dying of the plague, a
highly contagious and deadly disease. Doctors were desperate for a way to stop the spread of
this disease, and they decided nutmeg held the cure. Everybody wanted nutmeg, and many
were willing to spare no expense to have it. Nutmeg bought for a few pennies in Indonesia could
be sold for 68,000 times its original cost on the streets of London. The only problem was the
short supply. And that’s where the Dutch found their opportunity.
The Banda Islands were ruled by local sultans who insisted on maintaining a neutral trading
policy towards foreign powers. This allowed them to avoid the presence of Portuguese or
Spanish troops on their soil, but it also left them unprotected from other invaders. In 1621, the
Dutch arrived and took over. Once securely in control of the Bandas, the Dutch went to work
protecting their new investment. They concentrated all nutmeg production into a few easily
guarded areas, uprooting and destroying any trees outside the plantation zones. Anyone caught
growing a nutmeg seedling or carrying seeds without the proper authority was severely
punished. In addition, all exported nutmeg was covered with lime to make sure there was no
chance a fertile seed which could be grown elsewhere would leave the islands. There was only
one obstacle to Dutch domination. One of the Banda Islands, a sliver of land called Run, only 3
km long by less than 1 km wide, was under the control of the British. After decades of fighting
for control of this tiny island, the Dutch and British arrived at a compromise settlement, the
Treaty of Breda, in 1667. Intent on securing their hold over every nutmeg-producing island, the
Dutch offered a trade: if the British would give them the island of Run, they would in turn give
Britain a distant and much less valuable island in North America. The British agreed. That other
island was Manhattan, which is how New Amsterdam became New York. The Dutch now had a
monopoly over the nutmeg trade which would last for another century.
Then, in 1770, a Frenchman named Pierre Poivre successfully smuggled nutmeg plants to
safety in Mauritius, an island off the coast of Africa. Some of these were later exported to the
Caribbean where they thrived, especially on the island of Grenada. Next, in 1778, a volcanic
eruption in the Banda region caused a tsunami that wiped out half the nutmeg groves. Finally, in
1809, the British returned to Indonesia and seized the Banda Islands by force. They returned
the islands to the Dutch in 1817, but not before transplanting hundreds of nutmeg seedlings to
plantations in several locations across southern Asia. The Dutch nutmeg monopoly was over.
Today, nutmeg is grown in Indonesia, the Caribbean, India, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and
Sri Lanka, and world nutmeg production is estimated to average between 10,000 and 12,000
tonnes per year.

Questions 5-7

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 5-7 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
5 In the Middle Ages, most Europeans knew where nutmeg was grown.
6 The VOC was the world’s first major trading company.
7 Following the Treaty of Breda, the Dutch had control of all the islands where nutmeg grew.