Cambridge IELTS 15 Academic reading test 4 answers with explanation
Reading passage 1
The return of the huarango
Complete the notes below
The importance of the huarango tree
- Can access ……………. deep below the surface
water – First paragraph, second-last line. They (roots) stretch down 50-80 metres and, as well as sucking up water for the tree, they bring it into the higher subsoil, creating a water source for other plant life.
- was a crucial part of local inhabitants’ ………………… a long time ago
diet – Second paragraph, second line. He believes the huarango was key to the ancient people’s diet and,
- helped people to survive periods of ………………
drought – Second paragraph, fourth line. because it could reach deep water sources, it allowed local people to withstand years of drought when their other crops failed.
- prevents ……………….. of the soil
erosion – Second paragraph, fifth line. Cutting down native woodland leads to erosion,
- prevents land from becoming a ………………
desert – Second paragraph, last second line. So when the huarangos go, the land turns into a desert.
Complete the table below
Traditional uses of the huarango tree | |
Part of tree | Traditional use |
6………………………………………….. (Its/huarango/the) branches – Third paragraph, third line. while its branches were used for charcoal for cooking and heating, and its trunk was used to build houses. | Fuel |
7………………….and………………… Leaves, bark ( in either order) – Third paragraph, second line. Its leaves and bark were used for herbal remedies, | Medicine |
8………………………………………….. (its/huarango/the) trunk – Third paragraph, third line. while its branches were used for charcoal for cooking and heating, and its trunk was used to build houses. | construction |
True/ False/ Not Given
- Local families have told Whaley about some traditional uses of huarango products.
Not Given – Fourth paragraph, third line. In order to succeed, Whaley needs to get the local people on board, and that has meant overcoming local prejudices. Explanation:- Nowhere it is written that local families told to Whaley about some traditional uses of huarango products.
- Farmer Alberto Benevides is now making a good profit from growing huarangos.
False – Sixth paragraph, third line. His (Alberto Benevides) farm is relatively small and doesn’t yet provide him with enough to live on, but he hopes this will change. Explanation:- Because Alberto Benevides’s farm is small, he is not earning too much.
- Whaley needs the co-operation of farmers to help preserve the area’s wildlife.
True – Seventh paragraph, fourth line. he’s persuading farmers to let him plant forest corridors on their land. He believes the extra woodland will also benefit the farms by reducing their water usage through a lowering of evaporation and providing a refuge for bio-control insects. Explanation:- Whaley trying to convince the farmers to allow him to plant trees on their land, which can help the bring bio-control insects(Wildlife).
- For Whaley’s project to succeed, it needs to be extended over a very large area.
False – Last paragraph, second line. Desert habitats can reduce down to very little,’ Whaley explains. ‘It’s not like a rainforest that needs to have this huge expanse. Life has always been confined to corridors and islands here. Explanation:- There is no need to extend over a large area because desert habitat can be in a small area and life always inhabit in small areas().
- Whaley has plans to go Africa to set up a similar project.
Not Given – Last paragraph, last third line. If we can do it here, in the most fragile system on Earth, then that’s a real message of hope for lots of places, including Africa, where there is drought and they just can’t afford to wait for rain.’ Explanation:- He just suggested that this project can be done on other places too including Africa, but nowhere it is written that he has a plan to start it in Africa.
Reading Passage 2
Silbo Gomero – the whistle ‘language’ of the Canary Islands
True/ False/ Not Given
14. La Gomera is the most mountainous of all the Canary Island.
Not Given – First paragraph, first line. La Gomera is one of the Canary Islands situated in the Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of Africa. Explanation:- There is no comparison done with any other island. They only talk about La Gomera.
15. Silbo is only appropriate for short and simple messages.
False – Fifth paragraph, third-last line. ‘In daily life they use whistles to communicate short commands, but any Spanish sentence could be whistled.’
16. In the brain – activity study, silbadores and non-whistlers produced different results.
True – Sixth paragraph, fourth line bottom of this paragraph. The researchers found that other key regions in the brain’s frontal lobe also responded to the whistles, including those activated in response to sign language among deaf people. When the experiments were repeated with non-whistlers, however, activation was observed in all areas of the brain. Explanation:- Clearly, results are different in both cases.
17. The Spanish introduced Silbo to the islands in the 15th
False – Eighth paragraph, first line. Carreiras says the origins of Silbo Gomero remain obscure, but that indigenous Canary Islanders, who were of North African origin, already had a whistled language when Spain conquered the volcanic islands in the 15th century.
18. There is precise data available regarding all of the whistle languages in existence today.
False – Eighth paragraph, fifth line. There are thought to be as many as 70 whistled languages still in use, though only 12 have been described and studied scientifically.
Explanation:- The precise number is 70.
19. The children of Gomera now learn Silbo.
True – Last paragraph, fourth line. Since 1999, Silbo Gomero has been taught in all of the island’s elementary school.
Complete the notes below
20. high- and low-frequency tones represent different sounds in Spanish…………………..
words – Fourth paragraph, first line. Silbo is a substitute for Spanish, with individual words recoded into whistle which have high- and low- frequency tones.
21. pitch of whistle is controlled using silbador’s…………….
finger – Fourth paragraph, second line. A whistle – or silbador – put a finger in his or her mouth to increase the whistle’s pitch,
22. …………………is changed with a cupped hand
direction – Fourth paragraph, third line. while the other hand can be cupped to adjust the direction of the sound.
23. in everyday use for the transmission of brief …………….
commands – Fifth paragraph, fourth line. In daily life they use whistles to communicate short commands, but any Spanish sentence could be whistled.’
24. can relay essential information quickly, e.g. to inform people about ……………………..
fires – Fifth paragraph, fourth line. Silbo has proved particularly useful when fires have occurred on the island and rapid communication across large areas has been vital.
25. future under threat because of new …………………..
technology – Last paragraph, first line. But with modern communication technology now widely available, researchers say whistled language like Silbo are threatened with extinction.
26. Canaries authorities hoping to receive a UNESCO ………………. to help preserve it
award – Last paragraph, second-last line. The local authorities are trying to get an award from the organisation to declare [Silbo Gomero] as something that should be preserved for humanity,’ Carreiras adds.
Reading Passage 3
Environmental practices of big businesses
Complete the summary using the list of words, A- J, below
27. Many big businesses today are prepared to harm people and the environment in order to make money, and they appear to have no ……………….
D (moral standards) – First paragraph, first line. The environmental practices of big businesses are shaped by a fundamental fact that for many of us offend our sense of justice. Depending on the circumstances, a business may maximize the amount of money it makes, at least in the short term, by damaging the environment and hurting people.
Moral Standard:- An ability to differentiate between right and wrong.
Explanation: As it is written in these lines, businesses can even harm the environment or people to increase their profit. It means they do not think what is right or wrong (Moral Standard) for making money.
28. Lack of ……………….. by governments and
E (control) – First paragraph, 4th line from bottom. When government regulation is effective, and when the public is environmentally aware, environmentally clean big businesses may out-compete dirty one, but the reverse is likely to be true if government regulation is ineffective and if the public doesn’t care. Explanation:- Regulation is ineffective means ‘less control’.
29. lack of public ………………. can lead to environmental problems
F (involvement) – First paragraph, 4th line from bottom. When government regulation is effective, and when the public is environmentally aware, environmentally clean big businesses may out-compete dirty one, but the reverse is likely to be true if government regulation is ineffective and if the public doesn’t care. Explanation:- In these lines, it is clearly given that public awareness lead environmentally clean business to progress over dirty businesses. But if people are not aware (reverse), then dirty businesses that do not care the environment will progress and damage the environment more.
30. can lead to environmental problems such as ……………….. or
H (overfishing) – First paragraph, fourth line. That is still the case today for fishermen in an unmanaged fishery without quotas, and for international logging companies with short-term leases on tropical rainforest land in places with corrupt officials and unsophisticated landowners. Explanation:- It is better to read this paragraph from the start. In those lines, the writer writes that to increase their profit, companies damaging the environment, and this is still the case in unmanaged fisheries where there is no limit on the quantity of fishes fishermen can catch. So they do overfishing to increase their profit that leads to environmental problems.
31. or the destruction of …………….
B (trees) – First paragraph, fourth line. That is still the case today for fishermen in an unmanaged fishery without quotas, and for international logging companies with short-term leases on tropical rainforest land in places with corrupt officials and unsophisticated landowners. Explanation:- Logging companies cut trees from tropical rainforests as much as possible to increase the profit. By cutting trees, they damage the environment. Note:- For more clarification, please read this paragraph from the start. It can be more understood if you read the explanation of the previous answer.
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D
32. The main idea of the third paragraph is that environmental damage
C (could be prevented by the action of ordinary people) – Third paragraph, second line. In the long run, it is the public, either directly or through its politicians, that has the power to make such destructive policies unprofitable and illegal, and to make sustainable environmental policies profitable.
33. In the fourth paragraph, the writer describes ways in which the public can
D (Influence the environmental policies of businesses and government) – Fourth paragraph, third line. by making employees of companies with poor track records feel ashamed of their company and complain to their own management………………………………………………………. by pressing their governments to pass and enforce laws and regulations requiring good environmental practices.
34. What pressure was exerted by big business in the case of the disease BSE?
B (A fast-food company forced their meat supplier to follow the law) – Fifth paragraph, second line. after the US public became concerned about the spread of a disease known as BSE, which was transmitted to humans ……………………………………………………………………..when a major fast-food company then made the same demands after customer purchases of its hamburgers plummeted, the meat industry complied within weeks.
Explanation:- Meat companies did not abandon the practise that could spread a disease (BSE) on the orders of the government for five years. But when a fast-food company’s hamburgers’ sale dropped sharply, they followed this order immediately.
Yes/ No/ Not Given
35. The public should be prepared to fund good environmental practices.
Yes – Sixth paragraph, second line. the public must accept the necessity for higher prices for products to cover the added costs, if any, of sound environmental practices.
Explanation:- If the cost of products increases due to some environmental practises, then people should ready to pay more cost for them.
36. There is a contrast between the moral principles of different businesses.
Not Given. There is no such information given in the paragraph.
37. It is important to make a clear distinction between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.
No – Last paragraph, second line. My conclusion is not a moralistic one about who is right or wrong, admirable or selfish, a good guy or a bad guy.
Explanation:- It is clear from these lines that the writer does not want any distinction between right and wrong behaviour. Moralistic : Overfond of making moral judgements about others’ behaviour.
38. The public have successfully influenced businesses in the past.
Yes – Last paragraph, third line. In the past, businesses have changed when the public came to expect and require different behaviour, to reward businesses for behaviour that the public wanted, and to make things difficult for businesses practicing behaviours that the public didn’t want.
39. In the future, businesses will show more concern for the environment.
Not Given – Last paragraph, second-last line. I predict that in the future, just as in the past, changes in public attitudes will be essential for changes in businesses’ environmental practices.
Explanation:– In these lines, the writer talk about public attitude to change the businesses’ environmental practices. Nothing is written about that the business will show more concern in the future.
40. What would be the best subheading for this passage?
D (Are big businesses to blame for the damage they cause the environment) – Understanding of the whole passage
