ielts_trainer_2_academic_six_practice_tests

5 protein: ‘Warming has disrupted its [= Lake
Tanganyika’s] ecosystem, and fish numbers have
dropped sharply. In turn, this decline in fish stocks
has impacted on families living in villages and
towns around the lake, since they have no other
source of protein.’
6 employment: ‘These companies provide them
[= 100,000 people] with regular employment,
without which communities will not survive.’
‘Communities’ might be tempting, but the word
does not collocate with ‘fisheries give’.
7 bacteria: ‘In the past, people admired its beautiful
green-blue colour. However, the water now has a
red tint [= the colour has changed]. The reason for
this [= change] is that bacteria quickly multiply in
the warm waters of a shallow lake.’
8 Tourism: ‘As a result, in the last decade, there has
been a downturn [= a decline] in tourism in the
area, an industry many people depended on.’
Distraction ‘Industry’ cannot be used in the space
because this would imply that all kinds of industry
were affected.
9 TRUE: ‘While scientists had suspected [= believed]
that Poopó would eventually run dry [= finally
disappear], they didn’t expect that this would occur
for at least another thousand years.’
10 NOT giVEN: We are only told that ‘The local mining
industry had already contributed to [= added to] the
pollution of the lake,’ but there is no information
about any steps or activities to reduce its impact.
11 TRUE: The writer explains that ‘On average, the
surface water of the world’s lakes has gone up in
temperature by 0.34°C every ten years.’ The writer
says that this trend is seen in Lake Tanganyika – but
this lake is ‘by no means [= certainly not] the most
extreme example’. He then says that ‘This [= the
most extreme example] would be Lake Fracksjön
in Sweden, where an increase of 1.35°C per decade
has been observed.’
12 FALSE: ‘The cause of [= the reason for] the lake’s
decline has not yet been established [= no-one is
sure why it happened], but drought is among the
suspects’ [= drought is a possible reason, but noone
is certain].
13 NOT giVEN: We are only told that ‘Clay, sand and
other fine material plugged [= blocked/filled] the
hole and the lake started to fill with water again.’
We don’t know whether it was rain that refilled the
lake, or whether it was refilled by other means, e.g.
pipes/hoses.
READing PASSAge 2
Questions 14–26
14 D: In Paragraph D, the writer explains that an
experiment has been carried out on tobacco plants
to see if they can be made to produce more oil.
Although this experiment has been successful,
Dr Alan Green hasn’t yet carried out the same
experiment with other crops: ‘the hope is that oil
output [= oil production] could be doubled, though
that idea is yet to be put to the test [= this theory
must still be proved].’
15 E: ‘This is a process [= a manufacturing method]
which uses heat and pressure to break apart
molecules [= first stage] in whole plants and remove
oxygen, so that the raw material is turned into
“bio-crude oil”. Then, just as we need to refine the
crude oil made from fossil fuels, the plant-based oil
is also refined [= second stage]. After this, it can then
be turned into different kinds of fuel [= third stage].’
16 F: In Paragraph F we are told that hemp crops
could be used for both oil and their fibre. The
fibre could be used as soundproofing material, for
example. Algae can be used as a fuel, but also to
decontaminate [= purify] water.
17 A: ‘the fossil fuels we depend upon, and which
drive global warming and disrupt weather patterns
by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.’
18 C: ‘Not all biofuels have been grown on land, but
the once popular idea of generating them from
microscopic algae grown in ponds or tanks [= a
method of production] has largely been forgotten
[= abandoned].’
19 D: ‘Researchers must also consider economic
factors, however. While plant oils can be extracted
and turned into biodiesel for vehicles and
machinery, currently the process [= the production
of biofuels] is expensive – much more so than the
process for fossil fuels.’
20 B: The writer explains that ‘Burton believes this
kind of multi-purpose use for biofuel crops is the
way forward [= it’s a good idea to think about using
each kind of biofuel crop for different purposes].’
And Burton is quoted as saying: ‘Biofuels maybe
don’t need to be as cheap as we think they do,
because you can make money out of the other
things [= uses other than fuel].’
21 A: ‘But, in his [= Laurance’s] experience, indirect
impacts [= the effects of planting biofuel crops] can
be no less devastating for the environment and are
far more of a challenge [= it’s not easy] to anticipate
[= predict].’
105