Cambridge 7 Reading Test 3 - Answers With Explanation

1. Chemical signalling is only "compared to" human visual and auditory channels, not equated with them — the two species use different channels — FALSE.

2. Urban life is described as "the forcing house of intelligence", which prehistoric man lacked but ants had for millions of years — TRUE.

3. The passage gives the scale of an ant "megalopolis" of 360 million workers but never compares building speed with humans — NOT GIVEN.

4. Desert ants "navigate by integrating bearings and distances, which they continuously update in their heads" — TRUE.

5. "Elaborate precautions were taken to prevent the foraging team using odour clues" — smell was deliberately blocked, not used — FALSE.

6. The essay is only quoted for its advice to "watch where you step"; the passage never says it discusses ant communication — NOT GIVEN.

7. "Ants can't digest the cellulose in leaves — but some fungi can", so the fungi convert cellulose into a digestible form — C.

8. "Farmer ants secrete antibiotics to control other fungi that might act as 'weeds'" — their own secretions serve as weed-killers — M.

9. Ants "spread waste to fertilise the crop", turning unwanted material into fertiliser — F.

10. Ants "improve or modify the fungi by regularly swapping and sharing strains with neighbouring ant colonies" — exchanging species — D.

11. "The farming methods of ants are at least sustainable" — N.

12. Sustainable ant farming does "not ruin environments" — O.

13. Ant farming does not "use enormous amounts of energy" — E.

14. Section A explains that "a number of techniques developed since the 1950s... have placed the study of these subjects on a sounder and more objective footing" — heading iv, developments in research methods.

15. Section B asks "was there one major wave of migration across the Bering Strait into the Americas, or several?" — a long-standing open question, heading vii.

16. Section C explains that comparing Gm allotypes lets researchers "establish their genetic 'distance'" between populations — heading x.

17. Section D concludes "there had been three major waves of migration across the Bering Strait" from the blood-variant data — heading i, the results of that research.

18. Section E's mitochondrial DNA study found all three groups "appear to be descended from the same ancestral (Paleo-Indian) population", reinforcing Williams's findings — heading vi, further genetic evidence.

19. Section F reports that Christy Turner analyses "tooth crowns and roots" to trace ancestry — heading ii, dental evidence.

20. The earliest crossing, over the Bering Strait more than 15,000 years ago, is the Paleo-Indian route into the continent — route E on the map.

21. The Na-Dene ancestors of the Navajo and Apache "migrated south from Canada about 600 or 700 years ago" — this later, more localised leg is route D.

22. The Inuit correspond to the Eskimo-Aleut group, who arrived in "the third wave, perhaps 10,000 or 9,000 years ago" — C.

23. The Apache descend from "Na-Dene hunters" who arrived in the second wave, about 14,000–12,000 years ago — B.

24. The Pima-Papago were one of the groups Wallace found to be "descended from the same ancestral (Paleo-Indian) population" of the first wave — A.

25. The Ticuna, likewise sampled by Wallace, trace back to the same first-wave Paleo-Indian ancestry — A.

26. Turner studied "many thousands of New and Old World specimens, both ancient and modern" — teeth from prehistoric and modern Americans and Asians — A.

27. Mediterranean issues were merely "discarded" from the Strasbourg agenda; the passage never mentions a future meeting to discuss them specifically — NOT GIVEN.

28. Nordic and Mediterranean problems were dropped because they were "confined to particular geographical areas", not because of EEC membership — FALSE.

29. Forests supply "raw materials for human activities through their constantly renewed production of wood" — a renewable resource — TRUE.

30. The economic role has been understood "since the dawn of man", while the other (biological/recreational) roles were "recognised only for a few centuries" — not just the twentieth century — FALSE.

31. "There are effectively no remaining 'primary' forests in Europe. All European forests are artificial" — FALSE.

32. Forest policy "must transcend national frontiers", the opposite of being limited by them — FALSE.

33. Policy "must allow for the inevitable changes that take place in the forests, in needs, and hence in policy" — TRUE.

34. Resolution 1 proposes "the extension and systematisation of surveillance sites to monitor forest decline" — matching statement J, systematic gathering of information on forest decline.

35. Resolution 2 "concentrates on the need to preserve the genetic diversity of European forests" — matching statement A, preserving all species.

36. Resolution 3 proposes "the establishment of a European databank" on forest fire damage — matching statement E, collecting and sharing fire information.

37. Resolution 4 concerns mountain forests, proposing "a preferential research program on mountain forests" — matching statement B, priority research for mountain forests.

38. Resolution 5 relaunches Eurosilva, which "should support joint European research on tree diseases" — matching statement G, resources for disease research.

39. Resolution 6 establishes a research network "harmonising activities in individual countries" — matching statement D, better co-ordinated research.

40. The whole passage centres on the Strasbourg conference's resolutions for safeguarding woodlands, best summed up as "Plans to protect the forests of Europe" — B.