Sea Change for Salinity Reading Answers

Feb 28, 2025

Sea Change for Salinity Reading Answers is a generic reading answers topic for the IELTS Exam. Sea Change for Salinity Reading Answers, in total, consists of 14 IELTS questions. From Questions 27-33, you have to choose the correct heading for the paragraph in the given passage from the list of given headings. After that, from Questions 34-36, match each technique with its correct uses, as shown below. Finally, on the remaining questions (Questions 37-40), select the correct option from the list of given options.

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Section 1 Sea Change for Salinity Reading Answers

One of the most serious problems facing Australian farmers is an increase in the salt content in the soil. However, new weapons are emerging in the fight against salinity.

A. Beneath the flat, impassive surface of Australia lie hidden mountains, valleys, and gorges ancient traps and channels for the deadly salt that is stealthily killing so much of the Australian landscape. The war on salt is calling forth new weapons. A suite of high technologies used by geologists to see underground and prospect for gold and minerals is now being used to pinpoint the presence of salt beneath the landscape and predict where it might move.

B. Unless this process is clearly understood, warns Chief of Exploration and Mining Dr. Neil Phillips, the hard work now underway of planning and tree-planting on the surface may be rendered ineffective: salt can still sneak past and erupt, following one of the ancient river channels formed millions of years ago. The use of airborne electromagnetic to detect salt hidden beneath the landscape has been around for a decade, but the past two years have seen a major development in its precision and powers of detection. Like the use of radar in battles, it has the potential to turn the tide of the struggle in favor of the defense by helping to pinpoint, plot, and predict the movements of the foe.

C. Angus Howell, who farms near Warrenbayne, in Southeast Australia, saw his first outbreak of salt in 1948. Over the ensuing decades, the patches spread and multiplied until they consumed almost 100 hectares. By the late 1970s, Howell and his fellow farmers had decided it was time for action and established a government-funded “Landcare” group in a bid to save Australia's farmland. But despite a mounting effort by scientists, farmers, and governments, the 'white death' continued to encroach. Small successes were eclipsed by larger defeats and fresh outbreaks.

D. The technical solutions just aren't there yet for dealing with broad acre salinity, nor are the social and economic solutions. How do you introduce the land-use changes that are needed when people still need to make a living?” Howell asks. There is no satisfactory solution yet. Part of the problem has lain in salt's ability to mount ambushes, emerging somewhere new, sometimes unexpected and unexplained, beating plans to intercept it. Only now are scientists starting to disclose its secret subterranean stores and passages.

E. The need for such knowledge is pressing. Salt has already afflicted six million hectares of once-productive country. At present rates, it is predicted that, by 2050, it will have sterilized a total of 17 million hectares and the waters of Australia's Murray River will regularly exceed the World Health Organization's salt limits for drinking water. Defeating this assault may take centuries, not decades.

F. Electromagnetic surveys measure the electrical conductivity of soil to reveal the distribution of salt and the nature and variability of the regolith — the weathered rock and sediment that may lie above the bedrock. Magnetic surveys measure small differences in the Earth's magnetic field, enabling scientists to probe the deep past and reconstruct ancient landscapes of rivers, basins, and faults now buried under tens of meters of sediments. These features help to reveal where groundwater is stored, dictate the direction of groundwater movement, and are critical to predicting or ruling out salinity hot spots.

G. Radiometric analysis is based on the detection of radiation emitted by elements contained in rocks and soils, allowing scientists to delineate landforms. These factors influence the mobility of salt through the soil profile and help determine where to plant particular crop species to tackle the problem. Using data from the Murray River region, scientists have revealed a network of ancient drainage channels buried meters beneath the current landscape. These buried channels may carry salt and sometimes run at right angles to channels on the surface. This implies that the salt could move underground in quite a different direction from what one would expect by looking at surface slope and drainage.

H. One of the biggest advances in detection, says Professor Neil Phillips, has come with the integration of different techniques such as magnetics, electromagnetic and radiomagnetics, and ground mapping. Individually, these technologies only gave clues to what was going on underground. Together they provide a far more revealing picture of the subsurface landscape, several hundred meters deep. Advanced airborne electromagnetic, in particular, enables scientists to take 'slices' of the landscape at depths of five meters, ten meters, fifteen meters, and so on, to determine where salt may be stored at depth. This is building up a four-dimensional picture of the subsurface landscape, enabling researchers to understand the movements of salt in width, depth, breadth, and time. From such technologies, it will be possible to locate salt stores, identify how saline they are, look at man-made and natural changes to the landscape that may cause it to mobilize, and then predict where it will head and over what period. This in turn will give the salt warriors time to model various ways of containing or curbing the menace, see what works best, and then try it out on the ground.

Section 2 Solutions and Explanations

Questions 27-33

Reading Passage 3 has eight sections A — H. Which section AH contains the following information (Questions 27-33)?

Write the correct letter A — H.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

27. A prediction of the future risk of salt to water supplies

Answer: Paragraph E

Supporting statement: “.......At present rates, it is predicted that, by 2050, it will have sterilized a total of 17 million hectares and the waters of Australia's Murray River will regularly exceed the World Health Organization's salt limits for drinking water.........”

Keyword: Salt, Water, Risk, Drinking

Keyword Location: para 5, Line 2-5

Explanation: Paragraph E predicts the future risk of salt in the water supply, stating that by 2050, salt levels in the Murray River will regularly exceed safe drinking water limits.

28. The reason technologies must be combined to be effective

Answer: Paragraph H

Supporting statement: “.......Individually, these technologies only gave clues to what was going on underground. Together they provide a far more revealing picture of the subsurface landscape, several hundred meters deep.........”

Keywords: Technologies, Clues, Underground, Picture

Keyword Location: para 8, Line 3-6

Explanation: Paragraph H explains that the combination of techniques such as magnetics, electromagnetic, radiomagnetics, and ground mapping provides a comprehensive and detailed picture of the subsurface that individual techniques cannot achieve alone.

29. A reference to the recent improvements in the accuracy of airborne electromagnetic

Answer: Paragraph B

Supporting statement: “.......The use of airborne electromagnetic to detect salt hidden beneath the landscape has been around for a decade, but the past two years have seen a major development in its precision and powers of detection..........”

Keywords: Airborne, Electromagnetic, Landscape, Decade

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 5-7

Explanation: Paragraph B discusses recent advances in the accuracy of airborne electromagnetic technology over the past two years, making it more effective at detecting and predicting salt movement.

30. The organization of concerned farmers into an official body

Answer: Paragraph C

Supporting statement: “........By the late 1970s, Howell and his fellow farmers had decided it was time for action and established a government-funded “Landcare” group in a bid to save Australia's farmland..........”

Keywords: Howell, Farmers, Action, Group

Keyword Location: para 3, Line 3-5

Explanation: Paragraph C mentions how farmers, including Angus Howell, formed the government-funded “Landcare” group in the late 1970s to address salinity issues and protect Australia's agricultural lands.

31. The estimated length of time salinity is likely to be a problem

Answer: Paragraph C

Keywords: Howell, Farmers, Action, Group

Keyword Location: para 3, Line 3-5

32. A summary of stages in a proposed plan of action to combat the salt problem

Answer: Paragraph H

Supporting statement: “.........This is building up a four-dimensional picture of the subsurface landscape, enabling researchers to understand the movements of salt in width, depth, breadth, and time..........”

Keywords: Picture, Landscape, Salt, Movements

Keyword Location: para 8, Line 8-10

Explanation: Paragraph H outlines the integration of advanced technologies to detect, predict, and manage underground salt movements. This helps scientists create prevention strategies, test solutions, and implement effective plans.

33. The possibility that current re-vegetation practices are a waste of time

Answer: Paragraph B

Supporting statement: “.........Unless this process is clearly understood, warns Chief of Exploration and Mining Dr. Neil Phillips, the hard work now underway of planning and tree-planting on the surface may be rendered ineffective: salt can still sneak past and erupt, following one of the ancient river channels formed millions of years ago...........”

Keywords: Process, Understood, Mining, Exploration

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 1-4

Explanation: Paragraph B mentions that without understanding salt movement, current tree planting and planning efforts may be ineffective because salt may bypass these efforts and re-emerge unexpectedly.

Questions 34-36

Write the correct letter A-D. Look at the list of techniques and the list of uses which follows it. Match each technique with the correct use, A, B, C or D.

LIST OF USES

A. can help farmers choose the best location for plants

B. can show the composition of the top layer of the ground

C. can detect how far below ground the salt

D. can determine how old the salt is in a particular area

34. Electromagnetic surveys

Answer: B (can show the composition of the top layer of the ground)

Supporting statement: “.........Electromagnetic surveys measure the electrical conductivity of soil to reveal the distribution of salt and the nature and variability of the regolith — the weathered rock and sediment that may lie above the bedrock............”

Keywords: Surveys, Electromagnetic, Conductivity, Salt

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 1-3

Explanation: Electromagnetic surveys measure the electrical conductivity of soils to reveal the distribution of salt and the nature of the regolith (decayed rock and sediment) above the bedrock.

35. Radiometric analysis

Answer: A (can help farmers choose the best location for plants)

Supporting statement: “.........Radiometric analysis is based on the detection of radiation emitted by elements contained in rocks and soils, allowing scientists to delineate landforms. These factors influence the mobility of salt through the soil profile and help determine where to plant particular crop species to tackle the problem............”

Keywords: Radiometric, Analysis, Soils, Rocks

Keyword Location: para 7, Line 1-4

Explanation: Radiometric analysis detects radiation emitted by elements in rocks and soils, helping to characterize landforms and influence salt dynamics. This information helps farmers select optimal planting locations.

36. Airborne electromagnetic

Answer: C (can detect how far below ground the salt)

Supporting statement: “..........Advanced airborne electromagnetic, in particular, enables scientists to take 'slices' of the landscape at depths of five meters, ten meters, fifteen meters, and so on, to determine where salt may be stored at depth...........”

Keywords: Airborne, Electromagnetic, Scientists, Landscape

Keyword Location: para 8, Line 6-8

Explanation: Airborne electromagnetic technology helps scientists take 'slices' of the landscape at different depths to detect and analyze underground salt storage.

Questions 37-40

Write the correct letter A — D.

37. What link does the writer make between salt and gold?

A. They can both be found in the same locations.

B. Both have been found to have an impact on the landscape.

C. The same techniques can be used to find both.

D. Neither are present in mountainous areas.

Answer: C (The same techniques can be used to find both)

Supporting statement: “..........A suite of high technologies used by geologists to see underground and prospect for gold and minerals is now being used to pinpoint the presence of salt beneath the landscape and predict where it might move............”

Keywords: Technologies, Gold, Minerals, Geologists

Keyword Location: para 1, Line 4-6

Explanation: The passage states that high-tech methods used by geologists to search for gold are now being applied to detect salt underground, highlighting the similarity in detection techniques.

38. What is the 'process' referred to in Section B?

A. the killing of vegetation by salt

B. salt's ability to travel below ground

C. The ability of trees to decrease salt levels

D. the detection of salt by tracing other minerals

Answer: B (salt's ability to travel below ground)

Supporting statement: “..........Unless this process is clearly understood, warns Chief of Exploration and Mining Dr. Neil Phillips, the hard work now underway of planning and tree-planting on the surface may be rendered ineffective: salt can still sneak past and erupt, following one of the ancient river channels formed millions of years ago.............”

Keywords: Hard work, Planning, Erupt

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 1-4

Explanation: The 'process' refers to how salt moves underground through ancient river channels, potentially bypassing surface efforts such as tree planting. Understanding this movement is important for effective salinity management.

39. According to Angus Howell, one problem in the fight against salinity is that

A. not enough farmers are concerned about the fight.

B. farmers' requests for help have been ignored.

C. some possible measures may cause farmers to lose income

D. the government has not provided farmers with sufficient financial support.

Answer: C (some possible measures may cause farmers to lose income)

Supporting statement: “..........How do you introduce the land-use changes that are needed when people still need to make a living?” Howell asks.............”

Keywords: Howell, Changes, People, Living

Keyword Location: para 4, Line 2-3

Explanation: Angus Howell highlights the difficulty of implementing necessary land-use changes while ensuring that farmers can still make a living. Economic concerns hinder effective salinity control measures.

40. Which of the following best describes the writer's view of the salinity problem in Australia?

A. Farmers are fighting an enemy that moves secretly and hides well

B. Farmers have been able to contain this enemy in a small area.

C. Farmers have already had significant success in fighting this concern.

D. Farmers need to form more organized groups to solve this problem.

Answer: A (Farmers are fighting an enemy that moves secretly and hides well)

Supporting statement: “..........Part of the problem has lain in salt's ability to mount ambushes, emerging somewhere new, sometimes unexpected and unexplained, beating plans to intercept it..............”

Keywords: Problem, Unexpected, Intercept, Unexplained

Keyword Location: para 4, Line 4-6

Explanation: The passage describes salt as secretive, unpredictable, and capable of exploding, making it difficult to stop. Scientists are only now uncovering its hidden paths.

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