Magy's English Edu. Club
Cambridge 13 Academic Reading Test Four Passage Two
Saving the soil
Complete the summary.
Write ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Why soil degradation could be a disaster for humans
14. Healthy soil contains a large variety of bacteria and other microorganisms, as well as plant remains and ….. .
The answer is MINERALS.
In paragraph two, a single gram of healthy soil might contain 100 million bacteria, as well as other microorganisms such as viruses and fungi, living amid decomposing plants and various minerals.
15. It provides us with food and also with antibiotics, and its function in storing ….. has a significant effect on the climate.
The answer is CARBON.
In paragraph three, soil is also an ally against climate change: as microorganisms within soil digest dead animals and plants, they lock in their carbon content, holding water, preventing flood damage: in the UK, damage to buildings, roads and bridges from floods caused by soil degradation costs £233 million every year.
16. In addition, it prevents damage to property and infrastructure because it holds …..
The answer is WATER.
In paragraph three, soil is also an ally against climate change: as microorganisms within soil digest dead animals and plants, they lock in their carbon content, holding water, preventing flood damage: in the UK, damage to buildings, roads, and bridges from floods caused by soil degradation costs £233 million every year.
17. The main factor contributing to soil degradation is the ….. carried out by humans.
The answer is AGRICULTURE.
In paragraph five, agriculture is by far the biggest problem.
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A–F.
18. Nutrients contained in the unused parts of harvested crops
The answer is C. > may not be put back into the soil.
In paragraph five, humans tend not to return unused parts of harvested crops directly to the soil to enrich it, meaning that the soil gradually becomes less fertile.
19. Synthetic fertilizers produced with Haber-Bosch process
The answer is E. > may cause damage to different aspects of the environment.
In paragraph seven, chemical fertilizers can release polluting nitrous oxide into the atmosphere and excess is often washed away with the rain, releasing nitrogen into rivers.
20. Addition of a mixture developed by Pius Floris to the soil
The answer is A. > may improve the number and quality of plants growing there.
In paragraph eight, when they applied Floris’s mix to the desert-like test plots, a good crop of plants emerged that were not just healthy at the surface, but had roots strong enough to pierce dirt as hard as rock. The few plants that grew in the control plots, fed with traditional fertilizers, were small and weak.
21. The idea of zero net soil degradation
The answer is D. > may help governments to be more aware of soil-related issues.
In paragraph ten, ‘Most scientists don’t speak language that policy-makers can understand, and vice versa.’ Chasek and her colleagues have proposed a goal of ‘zero net land degradation’. Like the idea of carbon neutrality, it is an easily understood target that can help shape expectations and encourage action.
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A–G.
Which section contains the following information?
NB You may use any letter more than once.
22. a reference to one person’s motivation for a soil-improvement project
The answer is E.
In paragraph eight, one of the people looking for a solution to this problem is Pius Floris, who started out running a tree-care business in the Netherlands, and now advises some of the world’s top soil scientists.
23. an explanation of how soil stayed healthy before the development of farming
The answer is C.
In paragraph five, in the wild, when plants grow they remove nutrients from the soil, but then when the plants die and decay these nutrients are returned directly to the soil.
24. examples of different ways of collecting information on soil degradation
The answer is F.
In paragraph nine, researchers from nine countries are working together to create a map linked to a database that can be fed measurements from field surveys, drone surveys, satellite imagery, lab analyses, and so on to provide real-time data on the state of the soil.
25. a suggestion for a way of keeping some types of soil safe in the near future
The answer is G.
In paragraph ten, Chasek and her colleagues have proposed a goal of ‘zero net land degradation’.
26. a reason why it is difficult to provide an overview of soil degradation
The answer is F.
In paragraph nine, that’s not easy. For one thing, there is no agreed international system for classifying soil.