CELPIP Reading Part 3Reading for Information Practice

A. Cork comes from the thick outer bark of a tree adapted to dry landscapes and periodic surface fires. Its tightly packed cells contain gas and flexible walls, creating a material that is light and resilient. Harvesters can remove mature outer bark without cutting down the tree or damaging its living inner layers. The tree then begins rebuilding protection, although many years must pass before the same trunk section is harvested again. Understanding harvesting and processing cork bark therefore requires attention to both immediate effects and slower forms of change within the whole connected system.

B. Workers strip cork during a season when the bark separates more readily from the living tissue beneath it. Cuts are planned to release broad sheets while avoiding deep wounds that could weaken the tree. After harvesting, exposed trunks are marked so the recovery interval can be tracked before another cutting. Irregular branches and young trees yield smaller pieces that may be directed to uses other than large stoppers. For careful stripping and recovery of the tree, this wider context prevents one striking feature from being mistaken for the whole story during a quick first inspection.

C. Fresh sheets rest outdoors so moisture levels stabilize and the curved bark becomes easier to handle. Boiling later cleans the cork, increases flexibility, and helps flatten the pieces for inspection. Manufacturers punch solid products from the best sections or grind fragments into granules for moulded material. Heat and pressure can bind granules together because natural compounds in cork help the particles adhere. Together, these details place harvesting and processing cork bark within a broader pattern shaped by the surrounding environment over a meaningful period of time.

D. Air-filled cells make cork resistant to heat transfer, vibration, and brief contact with water. These properties support uses in flooring, insulation, notice boards, protective packaging, and closures. Deep cracks or uneven density can lower a sheet's grade even when the remaining material is usable. Grinding offcuts reduces waste and allows pieces unsuitable for one product to become raw material for another. This combination helps explain why material properties, by-products, and quality limits cannot be understood from one feature alone or from one brief observation.

E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.