Maize Reading Answers

Jul 15, 2024

Maize Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. Maize Reading Answers have a total of 6 IELTS questions in total. In the questions, you have to fill in the blanks with no more than two words.

Candidates should read the IELTS Reading passage thoroughly to recognize synonyms, identify keywords, and answer the questions below. IELTS Reading practice papers, which feature topics such as The Maize Reading Answers. Candidates can use IELTS reading practice questions and answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Maize

The maize is also known as corn in North American and Australian English. It is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The leafy stalk of the plant produces pollen inflorescences and separate ovuliferous inflorescences called ears that yield kernels (seeds), which are fruits. Maize has become a staple food in many parts of the world, with the total production of maize surpassing that of wheat or rice. In addition to being consumed directly by humans (often in the form of masa), maize is also used for corn ethanol, animal feed and other maize products, such as corn starch and corn syrup. The six major types of maize are dent corn, flint corn, pod corn, popcorn, flour corn, and sweet corn. Sugar-rich varieties called sweet corn are usually grown for human consumption as kernels, while field corn varieties are used for animal feed, various corn-based human food uses (including grinding into cornmeal or masa, pressing into corn oil, and fermentation and distillation into alcoholic beverages like bourbon whiskey), and as chemical feedstocks.

Maize is also used in making ethanol and other biofuels. Maize is widely cultivated throughout the world, and a greater weight of maize is produced each year than any other grain. In 2014, total world production was 1.04 billion tonnes. Maize is the most widely grown grain crop throughout the Americas, with 361 million metric tons grown in the United States alone in 2014. Genetically modified maize made up 85% of the maize planted in the United States in 2009. Subsidies in the United States help to account for its high level of cultivation of maize and its position as the largest producer in the world. The maize plant is often 3 m in height, though some natural strains can grow 13 m. The stem is commonly composed of 20 internodes of 18 cm length. The leaves arise from the nodes, alternately on opposite sides on the stalk. A leaf, which grows from each node, is generally 9 cm in width and 120 cm in length.

Ears develop above a few of the leaves in the midsection of the plant, between the stem and leaf sheath, elongating by around 3 mm per day, to a length of 18 cm with 60 cm being the maximum alleged in the subspecies. They are female inflorescences, tightly enveloped by several layers of ear leaves commonly called husks. Certain varieties of maize in the past were bred to produce many additional developed ears. These are the source of the "baby corn" used as a vegetable in Asian cuisine. The apex of the stem ends in the tassel, an inflorescence of male flowers. When the tassel is mature and conditions are suitably warm and dry, anthers on the tassel dehisce and release pollen. Maize pollen is anemophilous (dispersed by wind), and because of its large settling velocity, most pollen falls within a few metres of the tassel.

Elongated stigmas, called silks, emerge from the whorl of husk leaves at the end of the ear. They are often pale yellow and 18 cm in length, like tufts of hair in appearance. At the end of each is a carpel, which may develop into a "kernel" if fertilised by a pollen grain. The pericarp of the fruit is fused with the seed coat referred to as "caryopsis", typical of the grasses, and the entire kernel is often referred to as the "seed". The cob is close to a multiple fruit in structure, except that the individual fruits never fuse into a single mass.

The grains are about the size of peas, and adhere in regular rows around a white, pithy substance, which forms the ear. The maximum size of kernels is reputedly 2.5 cm. An ear commonly holds 600 kernels. They are of various colours: blackish, bluish-grey, purple, green, red, white, and yellow. When ground into flour, maize yields more flour with much less bran than wheat does. It lacks the protein gluten of wheat and, therefore, makes baked goods with poor rising capability. A genetic variant that accumulates more sugar and less starch in the ear is consumed as a vegetable and is called sweet corn. Young ears can be consumed raw, with the cob and silk, 50t as the plant matures, the cob toughens and the silk dries to inedibility. By the end of the growing season, the kernels dry out and become difficult to chew without cooking them tender first in boiling water.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 21-26

Write no more than TWO WORDS and/or numbers for each answer.

The grassy tail of the maize plant delivers pollens that produce …………

Answer: KERNELS / SEEDS
Supporting statement:“.....separate ovuliferous inflorescences called ears that yield kernels (seeds), which are fruits.........”
Keywords: pollens, produce
Keyword Location: para 1, line 4
Explanation: The passage explains how the maize plant's ears yield kernels, which are fruits produced by the plant. The pollen is involved in the fertilization process leading to the production of these kernels or seeds.

The total production of maize outstripping wheat and rice has made it а ...... in many countries.

Answer: STAPLE FOOD
Supporting statement:“......maize has become a staple food in many parts of the world, with the total production of maize surpassing that of wheat or rice........”
Keywords: wheat and rice
Keyword Location: para 1, line 6
Explanation: The passage mentions that maize has become a staple food in many parts of the world because its production exceeds that of wheat and rice. Hence staple food is the correct answer.

……... are offered in United States that encourages the farming of maize.

Answer: SUBSIDIES
Supporting statement:“.......Subsidies in the United States help to account for its high level of cultivation of maize.......”
Keywords: States, farming
Keyword Location: para 2, line 5
Explanation: The passage indicates that subsidies in the United States encourage the farming of maize, leading to its high level of cultivation. Hence subsidies is the correct answer.

Some variations of maize have been ……….. to yield vegetables like baby corn.

Answer: BRED
Supporting statement:“.......Certain varieties of maize in the past were bred to produce many additional developed ears. These are the source of the 'baby corn'.......”
Keywords: variations, baby
Keyword Location: para 3, line 5
Explanation: The passage explains that certain varieties of maize have been bred to produce additional ears, which are used to make baby corn. Hence bred is the correct answer.

If inseminated by a may evolve in a ......

Answer: KERNEL
Supporting statement:“.......At the end of each is a carpel, which may develop into a 'kernel' if fertilized by a pollen grain.......”
Keywords: inseminated, evolve
Keyword Location: para 4, line 3
Explanation: The passage states that a carpel may develop into a kernel if fertilized by a pollen grain. Hence it can be deduced that ‘kernel’ is the appropriate choice for this statement.

The cob of the sweetcorn ………….as the plant mellows.

Answer: TOUGHENS
Supporting statement:“......as the plant matures, the cob toughens and the silk dries to inedibility........”
Keywords: sweetcorn, mellows
Keyword Location: para 7, line 2
Explanation: The passage explains that as sweetcorn plants mature or mellow, their cobs become tougher. This means the cob becomes harder and less edible as the plant ages. Hence toughens is the correct answer.

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