Cambridge 20 Reading Test 4 - Answers With Explanation

1. "She became an art teacher and taught in elementary schools, high schools, and colleges in Virginia, Texas, and South Carolina."

2. "O'Keeffe began to experiment with creating abstract compositions in charcoal."

3. She was "widely known for the architectural pictures that dramatically depict the soaring skyscrapers of New York."

4. "In her magnified images depicting flowers, begun in 1924, O'Keeffe brings the viewer right into the picture."

5. "It was the numerous sun-bleached bones she came across in the state's rugged terrain that sparked her imagination."

6. "It was the region's spectacular landscape... that held the artist's imagination for more than four decades."

7. Her last series were "aerial views of rivers and expansive paintings of the sky viewed from just above clouds."

8. "She remained independent from shifting art trends and her work stayed true to her own vision" — the opposite of being influenced by fashion — FALSE.

9. "By the time she graduated from high school in 1905, she had determined to make her way as an artist." TRUE.

10. She sent drawings "to a friend in New York, who showed them to art collector and photographer Alfred Stieglitz" — not directly to his gallery — FALSE.

11. "Stieglitz's celebrated black-and-white portraits of O'Keeffe, taken over the course of twenty years (1917-37)." TRUE.

12. The passage describes the patio paintings in detail but never says they were among her favourites — NOT GIVEN.

13. "The last two decades of the artist's life were relatively unproductive," but there's no comparison showing the 1950s-70s were her most productive period — NOT GIVEN.

14. Section C: mangroves "help defend coastal areas by trapping sediment in their net-like root systems, elevating the sea bed and dampening the energy of waves."

15. Section A: "scientists forecasting that global warming would continue for around 40 years" even after all emissions stop.

16. Section D: amphibious houses are "much cheaper than permanently elevating houses... about a third of what it would cost to completely replace a building's foundations."

17. Section F: "Using a Geographic Information System data mapping tool, the programme identified streets with low tree canopy cover."

18. "The city has set up new pumps that can remove up to 75,000 litres of water per minute."

19. "Wetlands International started out with a different approach, building semi-permeable dams, made from bamboo poles and brushwood."

20. "Homes in this part of Vietnam are traditionally built on stilts but these ones had been built to float."

21. "ICCO Cooperation has been working with 10,000 farmers in Bangladesh to start cultivating naturally salt-tolerant crops."

22. The Cool Streets LA programme "include the planting of trees and the installation of a 'cool pavement' system."

23. Tol: "it's critical that we transition towards multifunctional approaches that embed natural processes and that engage and benefit communities and local decision-makers."

24. Spotts: "Urban cooling is literally a matter of life and death for our future in LA."

25. Pineda: "We know that in 20, 30, 40 years, we'll need to go back in there and adjust to the changing environment."

26. English: "this technology is becoming necessary in places that didn't previously need it" — more places now require flood adaptation than before.

27. In Namibia, "when guard dogs were introduced, more than 90 per cent of farmers reported a dramatic reduction in livestock losses," easing pressure on cheetahs specifically.

28. "There may be a bright future for guard dogs in promoting harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife."

29. "The dogs will place themselves between the livestock and any threat, barking loudly. If necessary, they will chase away predators."

30. Ribeiro's Portugal study and van Bommel and Johnson's Australia study both report strong statistics on how well guard dogs protect herds.

31. "These dogs are raised from an early age with the animals they will be watching and eventually these animals become the dog's family."

32. Young: "There is common ground from the livestock perspective and from the conservation perspective... If ranchers don't have a dead cow, they will not make a call to apply for a permit to kill a wolf."

33. Smith found "up to 88 per cent of farmers said they no longer killed predators after using dogs — but warned that such self-reported results must be taken with a pinch of salt."

34. Ribeiro: "If we are not working with everybody, we are transferring the wolf pressure to the neighbour's herd and he can use poison and kill an entire pack of wolves."

35. Van Bommel: "If they are managed and used properly, livestock guard dogs are the most efficient control method that we have."

36. Macon: "'Their initial training is to make them understand that livestock is going to be their life'... too much human affection makes it a great dog for guarding the front porch, rather than a great livestock guard dog."

37. "In spite of the impact farmers obtaining guard dogs had on cheetahs, the number of jackals killed by dogs and people actually increased."

38. "They have been found to spread diseases to wild animals, including endangered Ethiopian wolves."

39. "They may also compete with other carnivores for food."

40. "Their presence has been found to protect birds which build their nests on the ground in fields, where foxes would normally raid them."