Cambridge 8 Reading Test 4 - Answers With Explanation

1. Section B opens with the structure of the school system: "Lower secondary schools in Japan cover three school years, from the seventh grade (age 13) to the ninth grade (age 15)" — background to middle-years education, heading vii.

2. Section C explains that "Monbusho also decides the highly centralised national curriculum and how it is to be delivered" — the influence of Monbusho, heading i.

3. Section D describes how "Lessons all follow the same pattern," from homework correction to individual practice — the typical format of a maths lesson, heading v.

4. Section E notes that parents send children "to 'Juku' (private evening tuition) if extra help is needed" — helping less successful students, heading ii.

5. Section F asks "what are the major contributing factors in the success of maths teaching?" before listing attitudes and hard work — the key to Japanese success, heading viii.

6. The passage notes "the variation in attainment scores was much greater" among English pupils than Japanese ones — YES.

7. "The percentage of Gross National Product spent on education is reasonably similar in the two countries," yet attainment differs sharply, so spending does not explain the gap — NO.

8. Only 3 per cent of pupils attend private schools, and state schools are described as "modern in design... and spacious inside," but no comparison with private schools is made — NOT GIVEN.

9. "Pupils mark their own homework: this is an important principle in Japanese schooling" — teachers do not mark it themselves — NO.

10. Textbooks are "well set out and logically developed" — well organised and adapted to pupils' needs.

11. New topics are explained "slowly and with a lot of repetition and elaboration" — carefully and patiently explained.

12. Struggling pupils may be sent "to 'Juku' (private evening tuition) if extra help is needed" — supplementary tuition.

13. "The emphasis is on hard work coupled with a focus on accuracy" — effort and correct answers drive the success.

14. Pesticides are said to be "engendering widespread ecological disorders" — an imbalance in many ecologies worldwide.

15. More than 300 pest species "have developed resistance to a wide range of potent chemicals" — they no longer respond to most pesticides.

16. Farmers "avidly took to pesticides as a sure measure to boost crop yield" — to harvest more cotton from each crop.

17. By the mid-1960s "50% of the financial outlay on cotton production was accounted for by pesticides" — half of total crop spending went on pesticides.

18. About 100 disease-spreading pest species "have become immune to a variety of insecticides," but the passage never compares how quickly they resist pesticides versus agricultural pests — NOT GIVEN.

19. Resistant pests "bear offspring with a built-in resistance to pesticides" — YES.

20. Biological control instead means "the selective use of natural enemies of the pest population," not synthetic chemicals altering genetics — NO.

21. "When handled by experts, bio-control is safe, non-polluting and self-dispersing" — YES.

22. Disapene scale insects are "notorious defoliants of fruit trees in the US and India" — ending D, fruit trees.

23. Neodumetia sangawani was "found useful in controlling the Rhodes grass-scale insect" — ending H, grass-scale insects.

24. Sri Lanka's "coconut groves were plagued by leaf-mining hispides" — ending C, coconut trees.

25. An Argentinian weevil is being tried "for the eradication of water hyacinth" — ending E, water hyacinth.

26. "About 30,000 hectares of rice fields in Kerala are infested by this weed" (Salvinia molesta) — ending B, rice fields.

27. Taxonomy requires "long series, from a single nest, which contain all castes... to allow the determination of variation within species" — comparing members of one group — TRUE.

28. The passage explains what taxonomists look for but never states how often new species are identified — NOT GIVEN.

29. "For ecological studies, the most important factor is collecting identifiable samples of as many of the different species present as possible" — range is the key criterion — TRUE.

30. "Unfortunately, these methods are not always compatible" — a single collection generally cannot serve both taxonomic and ecological purposes — FALSE.

31. Hand-collected specimens should number "at least 20 to 25 individuals" from one nest or column — hand collecting.

32. "This method works especially well in rain forests and marshy areas" — sampling ground litter suits wet habitats.

33. Baiting "attracts species that are otherwise elusive" — a good method for species that are hard to find.

34. "Pitfall traps... can be used to collect over a period of time with minimal maintenance and intervention" — little time and effort required.

35. Hand-collected insects are "placed in plastic or glass tubes... containing 75% to 95% ethanol" — individual specimens in separate containers.

36. Pitfall traps use "ethylene glycol or propylene glycol, as alcohol will evaporate quickly" — a non-alcoholic preservative.

37. Leaf litter dries out "often under some heat" as it sits above the funnel.

38. The process involves "placing leaf litter on a screen over a large funnel" — the litter is spread across the top of the screen.

39. The funnel is covered by "a screen" that holds the leaf litter above it.

40. Ants that fall through the funnel "are collected in alcohol placed below the funnel."