BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 469

BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 469

IELTS Academic Reading Test

MOIST BROADLEAF FOREST

The Amazon rainforest is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America. This basin encompasses 7,000,000 square kilometres, of which 5,500,000 square kilometres are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations.

The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60% of the rainforest, followed by Peru with 13%, Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French, Guiana. States or departments in four nations contain “Amazonas” in their names. The Amazon represents over half of the planet’s remaining rainforests, and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world, with an estimated 390 billion individual trees divided into 16,000 species.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

Based on archaeological evidence, human inhabitants first settled in the Amazon region at least 11,200 years ago. Subsequent development led to late-prehistoric settlements along the periphery of the forest by AD 1250, which induced alterations in the forest cover. For a long time, it was thought that the Amazon rainforest was only ever sparsely populated, as it was impossible to sustain a large population through agriculture given the poor soil.

Archeologist Betty Meggers was a prominent proponent of this idea, as described in her book Amazonia: Man and Culture in a Counterfeit Paradise. She claimed that at population density of 0.2 inhabitants per square kilometre is the maximum that can be sustained in the rain forest through hunting, with agriculture needed to host a larger population. However, recent anthropological findings have suggested that the region was actually densely populated. Some 5 million people may have lived in the Amazon region in AD 1500, divided between dense coastal settlements, such as that at Marajó, and inland dwellers. By 1900 the population had fallen to 1 million and by the early 1980s it was less than 200,000.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

The first European to travel the length of the Amazon River was Francisco de Orellana in 1542. The BBC’s Unnatural Histories presents evidence that Orellana, rather than exaggerating his claims as previously thought, was correct in his observations that a complex civilization was flourishing along the Amazon in the 1540s. It is believed that the civilization was later devastated by the spread of diseases from Europe, such as smallpox.

Since the 1970s, numerous geoglyphs have been discovered on deforested land dating between AD 0-1250, furthering claims about Pre-Columbian civilizations. Alceu Ranzi, a Brazilian geographer, is accredited with first discovering the geoglyphs whilst flying over Acre. The BBC’s Unnatural Histories presented evidence that the Amazon rainforest, rather than being a pristine wilderness, has been shaped by man for at least 11,000 years through practices such as forest gardening and terra preta.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

Terra preta (black earth), which is distributed over large areas in the Amazon forest, is now widely accepted as a product of indigenous soil management. The development of this fertile soil allowed agriculture and silviculture in the previously hostile environment; meaning that large portions of the Amazon rainforest are probably the result of centuries of human management, rather than naturally occurring as has previously been supposed. In the region of the Xingu tribe, remains of some of these large settlements in the middle of the Amazon forest were found in 2003 by Michael Heckenberger and colleagues of the University of Florida. Among those were evidence of roads, bridges and large plazas.

Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich biome, and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species rich than the wet forests in Africa and Asia. As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled biodiversity. The region is home to about 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2,000 birds and mammals. To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 2,200 fishes, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

The biodiversity of plant species is the highest on Earth with one 2001 study finding a quarter square kilometer (62 acres) of Ecuadorian rainforest supports more than 1,100 tree species. A study in 1999 found one square kilometer (247 acres) of Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,790 tonnes of living plants. The average plant biomass is estimated at 356 ± 47 tonnes per hectare. To date, an estimated 438,000 species of plants of economic and social interest have been registered in the region with many more remaining to be discovered or catalogued. The total number of tree species in the region is estimated at 16,000.

The green leaf area of plants and trees in the rainforest varies by about 25% as a result of seasonal changes. Leaves expand during the dry season when sunlight is at a maximum, then undergo abscission in the cloudy wet season. These changes provide a balance of carbon between photosynthesis and respiration.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

The rainforest contains several species that can pose a hazard. Among the largest predatory creatures are the black caiman, jaguar, cougar, and anaconda. In the river, electric eels can produce an electric shock that can stun or kill, while piranha are known to bite and injure humans. Various species of poison dart frogs secrete lipophilic alkaloid toxins through their flesh. There are also numerous parasites and disease vectors. Vampire bats dwell in the rainforest and can spread the rabies virus.

Complete the following table according to the given passage.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS to complete the table.

COUNTRY % OF FOREST CONTAINED
Brazil(1)………….………
(2)………….………13%
(3)………….………10%
Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname French, Guiana(4)………….………
IELTS Academic Reading Test

Complete each sentence with the correct letter ending A-E

5. Archeologist Betty Meggers………………..

6. Francisco De Orellana

7. Alceu Ranzi

8. Michael Heckenberger

A. First noticed the geoglyphs whilst flying over acre

B. First European to voyage the length of Amazon river

C. Found about the settlement of Xingu tribe

D. Declared that a definite population can uphold in rainforest through hunting and agriculture.

E. Found substantiation of road, bridge and plazas

IELTS Academic Reading Test

Write YES, NO OR NOT GIVEN for the following statements in boxes 9-14 on your answer sheet.

YES – if the statement agrees with the information

NO – if the statement contradicts the given information

NOT GIVEN – if there is no information on this at all

9. Soggy forests in Africa and Asia are less species rich than humid forests in America.

10. The biodiversity of plant kinds is utmost on the earth as measure up to the other planets.

11. Spreading out of leaves in tropical forest depends on sunlight.

12. The alterations due to season are supportive for photosynthesis and respiration.

13. Rainforest contain a number of species that are useful to natural world.

14. Many rainforest species are intimidation to human beings.

IELTS Academic Reading Test

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1. 60%

2. PERU

3. COLOMBIA

4. 17%

5. D

6. B

7: A

8. C

9. NO

10. NOT GIVEN

11. YES

12. YES

13. NOT GIVEN

14. YES

IELTS Academic Reading Test

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