Gardening with Nature IELTS Reading Answers

Aug 30, 2023

Gardening with Nature IELTS Reading Answers is an academic reading topic that includes 13 questions. The specified IELTS topic generates 3 types of questions: fill in the blanks, true/ false/ not given, and choose the correct option from the given options. Candidates should read the IELTS Reading passage thoroughly in order to recognize synonyms, identify keywords, and answer the questions below. Candidates can further enhance their reading skills by going through IELTS reading practice papers available on the website. Candidates can use IELTS reading topics like Gardening with Nature IELTS Reading Answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Gardening with Nature IELTS Reading Answers

The countryside is no longer the place to see wildlife, according to Chris Barnes. These days you are more likely to find impressive numbers of skylarks, dragonflies and toads in your own back garden.

The past half century has seen an interesting reversal in the fortunes of much of Britain's wildlife. Whilst the rural countryside has become poorer and poorer, wildlife habitat in towns has burgeoned. Now, if you want to hear a deafening dawn chorus of birds or familiarize yourself with foxes, you can head for the urban forest.

Whilst species that depend on wide open spaces such as the hare, the eagle and the red deer may still be restricted to remote rural landscapes, many of our wild plants and animals find the urban ecosystem ideal. This really should be no surprise, since it is the fragmentation and agrochemical pollution in the farming lowlands that has led to the catastrophic decline of so many species.

By contrast, most urban open spaces have escaped the worst of the pesticide revolution, and they are an intimate mosaic of interconnected habitats. Over the years, the cutting down of hedgerows on farmland has contributed to habitat isolation and species loss. In towns, the tangle of canals, railway embankments, road verges and boundary hedges lace the landscape together, providing first-class ecological corridors for species such as hedgehogs, kingfishers and dragonflies.

Urban parks and formal recreation grounds are valuable for some species, and many of them are increasingly managed with wildlife in mind. But in many places their significance is eclipsed by the huge legacy of post- industrial land demolished factories, waste tips, quarries, redundant railway yards and other so-called 'brownfield' sites. In Merseyside, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands, much of this has been spectacularly nised with birch and willow woodland, herb-rich grassland and shallow wetlands. As a consequence, there ong birds and predators in abundance over these once-industrial landscapes.

There are fifteen million domestic gardens in the UK. and whilst some are still managed as lifeless chemical war zones, most benefit the local wildlife, either through benign neglect or positive encouragement. Those that do best tend to be woodland species, and the garden lawns and flower borders, climber-covered fences, shrubberies and fruit trees are a plausible alternative. Indeed, in some respects gardens are rather better than the real thing, especially with exotic flowers extending the nectar season. Bird Feeders can also supplement the natural seed supply, and only the millions of domestic cats may spoil the scene.

As Britain's gardeners have embraced the idea of 'gardening with nature', wildlife's response has been spectacular. Between 1990 and the year 2000. The number of different bird species seen at artificial feeders in gardens increased from 17 to an amazing 81. The BUGS project (Biodiversity in Urban Gardens in Sheffield) calculates that there are 25.000 garden ponds and 100.000 nest boxes in that one city alone.

We are at last acknowledging that the wildlife habitat in towns provides a valuable life support system. The canopy of the urban forest is filtering air pollution, and intercepting rainstorms, allowing the water to drip more gradually to the ground. Sustainable urban drainage relies on ponds and wetlands to contain storm water runoff, thus reducing the risk of flooding, whilst reed beds and other wetland wildlife communities also help to clean up the water. We now have scientific proof that contact with wildlife close to home can help to reduce stress and anger. Hospital patients with a view of natural green space make a more rapid recovery and suffer less pain.

Traditionally, nature conservation in the UK has been seen as marginal and largely rural. Now we are beginning to place it at the heart of urban environmental and economic policy. There are now dozens of schemes to create new habitats and restore old ones in and around our big cities. Biodiversity is big in parts of London. Thanks to me, such as the London Wetland Centre in the south west of the city.

This is a unique scheme masterminded by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust to create a wildlife reserve out of a redundant Victorian reservoir. Within five years of its creation the Centre has been hailed as one of the top sites for nature in England and made a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It consists of a 105-acre wetland site, which is made up of different wetland habitats of shallow, open water and grazing marsh. The site attracts more than 104 species of bird, including nationally important rarities like the bittern.

We need to remember that if we work with wildlife, then wildlife will work for us and this is the very essence of sustainable development.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Questions 14 - 19

Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 2?
TRUE - if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE - if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN - if there is no information on this

Question 14: There is now more wildlife in UK cities than in the countryside.

Answer: not given
Explanation: No relevant information has been provided in the passage in order to support the said statement. Therefore, we can clearly conclude the statement as an invalid one.

Question 15: Rural wildlife has been reduced by the use of pesticides on farms.

Answer: true
Supporting statement: “...This really should be no surprise, since it is the fragmentation and agrochemical pollution in the farming lowlands that has led to the catastrophic decline of so many species…”
Keywords: fragmentation, agrochemical, pollution, farming, lowlands, catastrophic, decline, species
Keyword Location: para 3, line 2
Explanation: According to the writer, whilst species that depend on wide open spaces such as the hare, the eagle and the red deer may still be restricted to remote rural landscapes, many of our wild plants and animals find the urban ecosystem ideal. This really should be no surprise, since it is the fragmentation and agrochemical pollution in the farming lowlands that has led to the catastrophic decline of so many species.

Question 16: In the past, hedges on farms used to link up different habitats.

Answer: true
Supporting statement: “...the cutting down of hedgerows on farmland has contributed to habitat isolation and species loss…”
Keywords: cutting, hedgerows, farmland, contributed, habitat, isolation, species, loss
Keyword Location: para 4, line 2
Explanation: According to the writer, the cutting down of hedgerows on farmland has contributed to habitat isolation and species loss. In towns, the tangle of canals, railway embankments, road verges and boundary hedges lace the landscape together, providing first-class ecological corridors for species such as hedgehogs, kingfishers and dragonflies.

Question 17: New urban environments are planned to provide ecological corridors for wildlife.

Question 18: Public parks and gardens are being expanded to encourage wildlife

Question 19: Old industrial wastelands have damaged wildlife habitats in urban areas.

Answer: false
Supporting statement: “...But in many places their significance is eclipsed by the huge legacy of post- industrial land demolished factories, waste tips, quarries, redundant railway yards…”
Keywords: significance, eclipsed, huge, legacy, post- industrial, demolished, factories, waste tips, quarries, redundant railway yards
Keyword Location: para 5, line 1
Explanation: According to the writer, urban parks and formal recreation grounds are valuable for some species, and many of them are increasingly managed with wildlife in mind. But in many places their significance is eclipsed by the huge legacy of post- industrial land demolished factories, waste tips, quarries, redundant railway yards and other so-called 'brownfield' sites.

Questions 20 - 23:
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 20-23 on your answer sheet.

Question 20: What type of wildlife benefits most from urban gardens?

Answer: woodland species
Supporting statement: “...In Merseyside, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands, much of this has been spectacularly nised with birch and willow woodland, herb-rich grassland and shallow wetlands…”
Keywords: Merseyside, South, Yorkshire, West, Midlands, spectacularly, nised, birch, willow, woodland, herb- rich, grassland, shallow, wetlands
Keyword Location: para 5, line 3
Explanation: According to the writer, urban parks and formal recreation grounds are valuable for some species, and many of them are increasingly managed with wildlife in mind. In Merseyside, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands, much of this has been spectacularly nised with birch and willow woodland, herb-rich grassland and shallow wetlands.

Question 21: What kind of garden plants can benefit birds and insects?

Answer: exotic flowers
Supporting statement: “...Indeed, in some respects gardens are rather better than the real thing, especially with exotic flowers extending the nectar season.…”
Keywords: gardens, real thing, exotic, flowers, extending, nectar, season
Keyword Location: para 6, line 3
Explanation: According to the writer, in some respects gardens are better than the real thing, especially with exotic flowers extending the nectar season. Bird Feeders can also supplement the natural seed supply, and only the millions of domestic cats may spoil the scene.

Question 22: What represents a threat to wildlife in urban gardens?

Answer: (domestic) cats
Supporting statement: “...only the millions of domestic cats may spoil the scene…”
Keywords: millions, domestic, cats, spoil, scene
Keyword Location: para 6, line 4
Explanation: According to the writer, Bird Feeders can also supplement the natural seed supply, and only the millions of domestic cats may spoil the scene.

Question 23: At the last count, how many species of bird were spotted in urban gardens?

Answer: 81
Supporting statement: “...The number of different bird species seen at artificial feeders in gardens increased from 17 to an amazing 81…”
Keywords: number, different, bird, species, artificial, feeders, gardens, increased, amazing, 17, 81
Keyword Location: para 7, line 3
Explanation: According to the writer, the number of different bird species seen at artificial feeders in gardens increased from 17 to an amazing 81

Questions 24 - 26:
Choose THREE letters A-G.
In which THREE ways can wildlife habitats benefit people living in urban areas?

They can make the cities greener
They can improve the climate
They can promote human well being
They extend the flowering season
They absorb the excess water
They can attract wildlife
They can help clean the urban atmosphere

Question 24: C
Question 25: E
Question 26: G

Explanation: According to the writer, urban parks and formal recreation grounds are valuable for some species, and many of them are increasingly managed with wildlife in mind. But in many places their significance is eclipsed by the huge legacy of post- industrial land demolished factories, waste tips, quarries, redundant railway yards and other so-called 'brownfield' sites.

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