Question 1
Answer: B
Although the author states that tea disagreements are "futile", they go on to say:
"regardless of the futility of the brewing battle, little eccentricities like this are an essential part of uniting the community, especially in the midst of a world full of coronavirus, political turmoil and environmental upheaval... An icon we can all laugh about."
As an icon uniting the community which is "essential" for distracting us from distressing world events, it seems that tea disagreements are an important quirk of culture. Therefore, B is the right answer.
Question 2
Answer: C
The author states that "nothing can send the British people into vehement disagreement like [tea] can". They then immediately contradict themselves by giving three more examples of debates which cause vehement disagreement: Brexit, jam on scones and the pronunciation of 'scone'.
Although the line is quite conversational and casual, we could say the same about the style of the whole piece. Therefore, B is not right. Similarly, while there is a bit of humour or comedic value here (A), this pails into insignificance when compared to the certainty of C. There is obvious irony in this self-contradiction, so C is the correct answer.
Question 3
Answer: D
The author describes coffee culture as a "recent fad". Fad is a term for a short-lived or recent trend or fashion, which makes D the correct answer.
Despite calling coffee culture "liberal", the author clearly does not literally mean that it is associated with liberal political voters. Rather, it is associated with more progressive people or culture. B is therefore wrong. Similarly, although "cosmopolitan" might be associated with urban communities, the author makes no reference to elites, so A is wrong. There is also no reason from the text to suspect that coffee-drinking is associated with young people.
Question 4
Answer: B
The author does not insinuate that there are any hazards involved here (D), nor do they suggest that people who use this method are wrong, foolish or misguided (C). The author has already described tea-making methods which add all the components separately, such as water first, then milk. Therefore, it is unlikely that this method involves adding the tea bag, milk, water and sugar "all separately" (E).
Without having a grasp of the term, it will be difficult to choose between the remaining answers: A and B. You may have to use the Final Two Method. Nevertheless, the correct answer is B - the author insinuates with the term "pell-mell" that the tea bag, milk, water and sugar are all thrown in the cup in a disorderly or careless way.