Water Construction in Egypt Reading Answers

Sep 2, 2023

Water Construction in Egypt Reading Answers is a topic of the IELTS academic reading topic which includes 13 questions. The specified IELTS topic generates 3 types of questions: choose the correct heading for the paragraphs, true/ false/ not given, and summary of paragraphs. 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 Water Construction in Egypt Reading Answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

Check: Get 10 Free IELTS Sample Papers
Check: Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for FreeTrial Class Now

Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Is it essential for students?

The fertile land of the Nile delta is being eroded along Egypt's Mediterranean coast at an astounding rate, in some parts estimated at 100 meters per year. In the past, land scoured away from the coastline by the currents of the Mediterranean Sea used to be replaced by sediment brought to the delta by the River Nile, but this is no longer happening.

Up to now, people have blamed this loss of delta land on the two large dams at Aswan in the south of Egypt, which hold back virtually all of the sediment that used to flow down the river. Before the dams were built, the Nile flowed freely, carrying huge quantities of sediment north from Africa's interior to be deposited on the Nile delta. This continued for 7,000 years, eventually covering a region of over 22,000 square kilometers with layers of fertile silt. Annual flooding brought in new, nutrient-rich soil to the delta region, replacing what had been washed away by the sea, and dispensing with the need for fertilizers in Egypt's richest food-growing area. But when the Aswan dams were constructed in the 20th century to provide electricity and irrigation, and to protect the huge population center of Cairo and its surrounding areas from annual flooding and ought, most of the sediment with its natural fertilizer accumulated up above the dam in the southern, upstream half of Lake Nasser, instead of passing down to the delta.

Now, however, there turns out to be more to the story. It appears that the sediment-free water emerging from the Aswan dams picks up silt and sand as it erodes the river bed and banks on the 800-kilometer trip to Cairo. Daniel Jean Stanley of the Smithsonian Institute noticed that water samples taken in Cairo, just before the river enters the delta, indicated that the river sometimes carries more than 850 grams of sediment per cubic meter of water - almost half of what it carried before the dams were built. 'I'm ashamed to say that the significance of this didn't strike me until after I had read 50 or 60 studies, says Stanley in Marine Geology. 'There is still a lot of sediment coming into the delta, but virtually no sediment comes out into the Mediterranean to replenish the Coastline. So this sediment must be trapped on the delta itself.

Once north of Cairo, most of the Nile water is diverted into more than 10,000 kilometers of irrigation canals and only a small proportion reaches the sea directly through the rivers in the delta. The water in the irrigation canals is still or very slow- moving and thus cannot carry sediment, Stanley explains.

The farms on the delta plains and fishing and aquaculture in the lagoons account for much of Egypt's food supply. But by the time the sediment has come to rest in the fields and lagoons it is laden with municipal, industrial and agricultural waste from the Cairo region, which is home to more than 40 million people. 'Pollutants are building up faster and faster, ' says Stanley. Based on his investigations of sediment from the delta lagoons, Frederic Siegel of George Washington University concurs. 'In Manzalah Lagoon, for example, the increase in mercury, lead, copper and zinc coincided with the building of the High Dam at Aswan, the availability of cheap electricity, and the development of major power-based industries,' he says. Since that time the concentration of mercury has increased significantly. Lead from engines that use leaded fuels and from other industrial sources has also increased dramatically. These poisons can easily enter the food chain, affecting the productivity of Fishing and Farming. Another problem is that agricultural wastes include fertilizers which stimulate increases in plant growth in the lagoons and upset the ecology of the area, with serious effects on the fishing industry.

According to Siegel, international environmental organizations are beginning to pay closer attention to the region, partly because of the problems of erosion and pollution of the Nile delta, but principally because they fear the impact this situation could have on the whole Mediterranean coastal ecosystem. But there are no easy solutions. In the immediate Future, Stanley believes that one solution would be to make artificial floods to flush out the delta waterways, in the same way that natural floods did before the construction of the dams. He says, however, that in the long term an alternative process such as desalination may have to be used to increase the amount of water available, 'In my view, Egypt must devise a way to have more water running through the river and the delta,' says Stanley. Easier said than done in a desert region with a rapidly growing population.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Questions 14 - 17
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B and D-F from the list of headings.

List of Headings:

Effects of irrigation on sedimentation
The danger of flooding the Cairo area
Causing pollution in the Mediterranean
Interrupting a natural process
The threat to food production
Less valuable sediment than before
Egypt's disappearing coastline
Looking at the long-term impact

Question 14: Paragraph B

Answer: iv
Supporting statement: “...Aswan dams were constructed in the 20th century to provide electricity and irrigation, and its surrounding areas from annual flooding and most of the sediment with its natural fertilizer accumulated up above the dam…”
Keywords: Aswan dams, 20th century, electricity, irrigation, annual flooding, natural fertilizer
Keyword Location: para 3, line 2
Explanation: According to the writer, when the Aswan dams were constructed in the 20th century to provide electricity and irrigation, and to protect the huge population center of Cairo and its surrounding areas from annual flooding and ought, most of the sediment with its natural fertilizer accumulated up above the dam in the southern, upstream half of Lake Nasser, instead of passing down to the delta.

Question 15: Paragraph D

Answer: i
Supporting statement: “...water in the irrigation canals is still or very slow- moving and thus cannot carry sediment…”
Keywords: water, irrigation, canals, sediment
Keyword Location: para 5, line 2
Explanation: According to the writer, a small proportion of the Nile water reaches the sea directly through the rivers in the delta. The water in the irrigation canals is still or very slow- moving and thus cannot carry sediment.

Question 16: Paragraph E

Answer: v
Supporting statement: “...poisons can easily enter the food chain, affecting the productivity of Fishing and Farming…”
Keywords: poisons, food chain, productivity, fishing, farming
Keyword Location: para 8, line 2
Explanation: According to the writer, lead from engines that use leaded fuels and from other industrial sources has also increased dramatically. These poisons can easily enter the food chain, affecting the productivity of Fishing and Farming.

Question 17: Paragraph F

Answer: vii
Supporting statement: “...Egypt must devise a way to have more water running through the river and the delta…”
Keywords:
Keyword Location: para 10, line 2
Explanation: According to the writer, in the long term an alternative process such as desalination may have to be used to increase the amount of water available. Egypt must devise a way to have more water running through the river and the delta. Easier said than done in a desert region with a rapidly growing population.

Questions 18 - 23

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 18: Coastal erosion occurred along Egypt's Mediterranean coast before the building of the Aswan dams.

Answer: yes
Supporting statement: “...the fertile land of the Nile delta is being eroded along Egypt's Mediterranean coast at an astounding rate…”
Keywords: fertile, land, Nile, delta, eroded, Egypt's Mediterranean coast
Keyword Location: para 1, line 1
Explanation: According to the writer, the fertile land of the Nile delta is being eroded along Egypt's Mediterranean coast at an astounding rate, in some parts estimated at 100 meters per year. In the past, land scoured away from the coastline by the currents of the Mediterranean Sea used to be replaced by sediment brought to the delta by the River Nile, but this is no longer happening

Question 19: Some people predicted that the Aswan dams would cause land loss before they were built?

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 20: The Aswan dams were built to increase the fertility of the Nile delta.

Answer: no
Supporting statement: “...people have blamed the loss of delta land on the two large dams at Aswan in the south of Egypt, which hold back virtually all of the sediment that used to flow down the river…”
Keywords: blamed, loss, delta land, large dams, Aswan, south of Egypt, sediment
Keyword Location: para 2, line 1
Explanation: According to the writer, people have blamed the loss of delta land on the two large dams at Aswan in the south of Egypt, which hold back virtually all of the sediment that used to flow down the river. Before the dams were built, the Nile flowed freely, carrying huge quantities of sediment north from Africa's interior to be deposited on the Nile delta.

Question 21: Stanley found that the levels of sediment in the river water in Cairo were relatively high.

Answer: yes

Question 22: Sediment in the irrigation canals on the Nile delta causes flooding.

Question 23: Water is pumped from the irrigation canals into the lagoons.

Answer: yes
Supporting statement: “... …”
Keywords:
Keyword Location: para 5, line 1
Explanation: According to the writer, most of the Nile water is diverted into more than 10,000 kilometers of irrigation canals and then into the lagoons.

Questions 24 - 26
Complete the summary of paragraphs E and F with the list of words A-H below:
Write the correct letter A-H in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

Artificial floods
Desalination
Delta waterways
Natural floods
Nutrients
Pollutants
Population control
Sediment

In addition to the problem of coastal erosion, there has been a marked increase in the levels of (24) ….. contained in the silt deposited in the Nile delta. To deal with this, Stanely suggests the use of (25) ….. in the short term, and increasing the amount of water available through (26) ….. in the longer term.