Alarming Rate of Loss of Tropical Rainforests Reading Answers

Dec 21, 2022

Alarming Rate of Loss of Tropical Rainforests Reading Answers contains a write up about the importance of paper and its comparison with computers.Alarming Rate of Loss of Tropical Rainforests Reading Answers comprising 14 different types of questions. Candidates in this IELTS Section will be shown various question types with clear instructions. Alarming Rate of Loss of Tropical Rainforests Reading Answers comprises three types of questions: Matching heading, sentence completion, and Choose the correct option.

For Matching heading in IELTS Reading passage, candidates need to thoroughly go through each passage. For sentence completion, candidates need to skim the passage for keywords and understand the concept. To choose the correct option, candidates must read the IELTS Reading passage and understand the statement provided. To gain proficiency, candidates can practice from IELTS reading practice test.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Alarming Rate of Loss of Tropical Rainforests Reading Answers

Adults and children are frequently confronted with statements about the alarming rate of loss of tropical rainforests. For example, one graphic illustration to which children might readily relate is the estimate that rainforests are being destroyed at a rate equivalent to one thousand football fields every forty minutes – about the duration of a normal classroom period. In the face of the frequent and often vivid media coverage, it is likely that children will have formed ideas about rainforests – what and where they are, why they are important, what endangers them – independent of any formal tuition. It is also possible that some of these ideas will be mistaken. Many studies have shown that children harbour misconceptions about ‘pure’, curriculum science. These misconceptions do not remain isolated but become incorporated into a multifaceted, but organised, conceptual framework, making it and the component ideas, some of which are erroneous, more robust but also accessible to modification. These ideas may be developed by children absorbing ideas through the popular media. Sometimes this information may be erroneous. It seems schools may not be providing an opportunity for children to re-express their ideas and so have them tested and refined by teachers and their peers.
Despite the extensive coverage in the popular media of the destruction of rainforests, little formal information is available about children’s ideas in this area. The aim of the present study is to start to provide such information, to help teachers design their educational strategies to build upon correct ideas and to displace misconceptions and to plan programmes in environmental studies in their schools.
The study surveys children’s scientific knowledge and attitudes to rainforests. Secondary school children were asked to complete a questionnaire containing five open-form questions. The most frequent responses to the first question were descriptions which are self-evident from the term ‘rainforest’. Some children described them as damp, wet or hot. The second question concerned the geographical location of rainforests. The commonest responses were continents or countries: Africa (given by 43% of children), South America (30%), Brazil (25%). Some children also gave more general locations, such as being near the Equator.
Responses to question three concerned the importance of rainforests. The dominant idea, raised by 64% of the pupils, was that rainforests provide animals with habitats. Fewer students responded that rainforests provide plant habitats, and even fewer mentioned the indigenous populations of rainforests. More girls (70%) than boys (60%) raised the idea of the rainforest as animal habitats.
Similarly, but at a lower level, more girls (13%) than boys (5%) said that rainforests provide human habitats. These observations are generally consistent with our previous studies of pupils’ views about the use and conservation of rainforests, in which girls were shown to be more sympathetic to animals and expressed views which seem to place an intrinsic value on non-human animal life.
The fourth question concerned the causes of the destruction of rainforests. Perhaps encouragingly, more than half of the pupils (59%) identified that it is human activities which are destroying rainforests, some personalising the responsibility by the use of terms such as ‘we are’. About 18% of the pupils referred specifically to logging activity.
One misconception, expressed by some 10% of the pupils, was that acid rain is responsible for rainforest destruction; a similar proportion said that pollution is destroying rainforests. Here, children are confusing rainforest destruction with damage to the forests of Western Europe by these factors. While two-fifths of the students provided the information that the rainforests provide oxygen, in some cases this response also embraced the misconception that rainforest destruction would reduce atmospheric oxygen, making the atmosphere incompatible with human life on Earth.
In answer to the final question about the importance of rainforest conservation, the majority of children simply said that we need rainforests to survive. Only a few of the pupils (6%) mentioned that rainforest destruction may contribute to global warming. This is surprising considering the high level of media coverage on this issue. Some children expressed the idea that the conservation of rainforests is not important.
The results of this study suggest that certain ideas predominate in the thinking of children about rainforests. Pupils’ responses indicate some misconceptions in the basic scientific knowledge of rainforests’ ecosystems such as their ideas about rainforests as habitats for animals, plants and humans and the relationship between climatic change and destruction of rainforests.
Pupils did not volunteer ideas that suggested that they appreciated the complexity of causes of rainforest destruction. In other words, they gave no indication of an appreciation of either the range of ways in which rainforests are important or the complex social, economic and political factors which drive the activities which are destroying the rainforests. One encouragement is that the results of similar studies about other environmental issues suggest that older children seem to acquire the ability to appreciate, value and evaluate conflicting views. Environmental education offers an arena in which these skills can be developed, which is essential for these children as future decision-makers.

Section 2

Solution With Explanation

Questions 1-8

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Sample?
In boxes 1–8 on your answer sheet write:
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

The plight of the rainforests has largely been ignored by the media.

Answer: False
Supporting sentence: In the face of the frequent and often vivid media coverage, it is likely that children will have formed ideas about rainforests – what and where they are, why they are important, what endangers them – independent of any formal tuition.
Keyword: Media coverage, Ideas, popular media, information
Keyword Location: 1st paragraph, 3rd line
Explanation: The response is incorrect because the passage repeatedly mentions how widely the media has covered the rainforest to infer that kids have learned about it from the media.

Children only accept opinions on rainforests that they encounter in their classrooms.

Answer: False
Supporting sentence: These ideas may be developed by children absorbing ideas through the popular media.
Keyword: Misconception, erroneous, popular media, absorb ideas.
Keyword Location: 1st paragraph, 3rd last line
Explanation: The majority of what kids know about rainforests comes from popular culture, hence the response is untrue. However, since the schools do not allow the students to articulate those thoughts again so that they can be examined and improved, this can occasionally result in certain misconceptions.

It has been suggested that children hold mistaken views about the ‘pure’ science that they study at school.

Answer: True
Supporting sentence: Many studies have shown that children harbour misconceptions about ‘pure’, curriculum science.
Keyword: misconception, science, curriculum, media
Keyword Location: 1st paragraph, 5th line
Explanation: The answer is correct because children learn about just the rainforests through popular media without receiving any formal instruction on the subject. As a result, they tend to believe what they see, which results in misconceptions and incorrect views about the science curriculum because what they learn in school and what they see in the media appear to be very different.

The fact that children’s ideas about science form part of a larger framework of ideas mean that it is easier to change them.

Answer: True
Supporting sentence: These misconceptions do not remain isolated but become incorporated into a multifaceted, but organised, conceptual framework, making it and the component ideas, some of which are erroneous, more robust but also accessible to modification.
Keyword: multifaceted, conceptual framework, modification
Key Location: 1st paragraph, 6th line
Explanation: The answer is correct because young children frequently hold false beliefs about science. However, because these beliefs do not exist in a vacuum and are part of a larger picture, they can be improved if young children are given the opportunity to express their beliefs again and have them tested.

The study involved asking children a number of yes/no questions such as ‘Are there any rainforests in Africa?’

Answer: False
Supporting sentence: The second question concerned the geographical location of rainforests.
Keyword: common responses, location, continent, countries
Keyword Location: 3rd paragraph, last line.
Explanation: Because the question was not particularly about rainforests in Africa, but rather about where they can be found geographically, the response is inaccurate. Answers to the original query included mentions of Africa as one of the continents with rainforests.

Girls are more likely than boys to hold mistaken views about the rainforests’ destruction.

Answer: Not Given
Explanation: The response is "not given" because there was no information regarding gender segment viewpoints for this particular question as there was for some other survey-included questions.

The study reported here follows on from a series of studies that have looked at children’s understanding of rainforests.

Answer: True
Supporting sentence: The study surveys children’s scientific knowledge and attitudes to rainforests.
Keyword: Survey, questionnaire, open-form questions
Keyword Location: 3rd paragraph, 1st & 2nd line
Explanation: The chapter mentions a research to better comprehend the children's knowledge of the rainforest, and to evaluate this, they were asked to complete five open-form questionnaires, therefore the response is accurate.

A second study has been planned to investigate primary school children’s ideas about rainforests

Answer: Not Given
Explanation: The author mentions similar studies in the ending line, but this is not indicative of a second study, and only one study is listed in the passage sample provided, hence the answer is "not given."

Questions 9-13:
The box below gives a list of responses A–P to the questionnaire discussed in the Reading sample.

The list of responses:

There is a complicated combination of reasons for the loss of the rainforests.
The rainforests are being destroyed by the same things that are destroying the forests of Western Europe.
Rainforests are located near the Equator.
Brazil is home to the rainforests.
Without rainforests some animals would have nowhere to live.
Rainforests are important habitats for a lot of plants.
People are responsible for the loss of the rainforests.
The rainforests are a source of oxygen.
Rainforests are of consequence for a number of different reasons.
As the rainforests are destroyed, the world gets warmer.
Without rainforests there would not be enough oxygen in the air.
There are people for whom the rainforests are home.
Rainforests are found in Africa.
Rainforests are not really important to human life.
The destruction of the rainforests is the direct result of logging activity.
Humans depend on the rainforests for their continuing existence.

Answer the following questions by choosing the correct responses A–P
Write your answers in boxes 9–13 on your answer sheet.

(Guide: Candidates need to write correct answers to the questions from 9 to 13)

What was the children’s most frequent response when asked where the rainforests were?

Answer: M
Supporting sentence: The commonest responses were continents or countries: Africa (given by 43% of children), South America (30%), Brazil (25%). Some children also gave more general locations, such as being near the Equator.
Keyword: geographical location, common response, countries, continents
Key Location: 3rd paragraph, last line
Explanation: Since nearly half of the students chose Africa as the location of rainforests when asked, this is the right response.

What was the most common response to the question about the importance of the rainforests?

Answer: E
Supporting sentence: The dominant idea, raised by 64% of the pupils, was that rainforests provide animals with habitats
Keyword: importance, dominant idea, habitat.
Keyword Location: 4th paragraph, 2nd line
Explanation: This is the right response since, when given the question above, more than half of the kids believed that the rainforest was a place where animals could live happily. More girls than boys said that this was crucial.

What did most children give as the reason for the loss of the rainforests?

Answer: G
Supporting sentence: more than half of the pupils (59%) identified that it is human activities which are destroying rainforests, some personalising the responsibility by the use of terms such as ‘we are’.
Keyword: destruction of rainforests, human activities, causes
Keyword Location: 6th paragraph,1st line
Explanation: This is the right response since when questioned about the reasons of rainforest degradation, the majority of students said that human activities were to blame, and a few specifically mentioned logging activity.

Why did most children think it important for the rainforests to be protected?

Answer: P
Supporting sentence: In answer to the final question about the importance of rainforest conservation, the majority of children simply said that we need rainforests to survive.
Keyword: need, survive, conservation, global warming
Keyword Location: 8th paragraph, 1st line
Explanation: This is the right response because the majority of students believed that a rainforest is essential to human survival when the question was posed in the passage.

Which of the responses is cited as unexpectedly uncommon, given the amount of time spent on the issue by the newspapers and television?

Answer: J
Supporting sentence: Only a few of the pupils (6%) mentioned that rainforest destruction may contribute to global warming. This is surprising considering the high level of media coverage on this issue.
Keyword: global warming, rainforest destruction, conservation, media coverage
Keyword Location: 8th paragraph, 2nd & 3rd line
Explanation: This is the right response because, as children pick up ideas from the media, when asked about just a query regarding why rainforests should be conserved, the expected response was global warming. Global warming, or the earth getting warmer, is a topic that is extensively covered by the popular media.

Question 14: Choose the correct letter A,B,C,D or E.
Write your answer in box 14 on your answer sheet.

Which of the following is the most suitable title for Reading sample Passage ?

A	The development of a programme in environmental studies within a science curriculum
B	Children’s ideas about the rainforests and the implications for course design
C	The extent to which children have been misled by the media concerning the rainforests
D	How to collect, collate and describe the ideas of secondary school children
E	The importance of the rainforests and the reasons for their destruction

(Guide: Candidates need to answer question 14 by selecting the correct statement from the box)

Answer: B
Supporting sentence: Environmental education offers an arena in which these skills can be developed, which is essential for these children as future decision-makers.
Keyword: media coverage, formed opinions, children, misconception, responses
Keyword Location: Last paragraph, last line
Explanation: This is the most appropriate title given that the paragraph discusses how youngsters create beliefs about the rainforest and that a survey with 5 questions was conducted to evaluate how much information and misconceptions they had. And how this might be applied in order to systematically teach environmental studies.

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