Cambridge 3 Reading Test 2 - Answers With Explanation

1. The writer only says native beetles avoid the "soft cattle dung" where bush and buffalo flies breed — there is no comparison of how easy the two fly types are to control, so NOT GIVEN.

2. Worldwide there are over 4,000 dung beetle species, but the CSIRO itself only ever imported "about 50 different species," so the statement is wrong — NO.

3. The CSIRO's importing programme ran "between 1968 and 1982," which is exactly fourteen years, so YES.

4. The passage states that "26 species... are known to have become successfully integrated into the local environment," directly confirming at least 26 became established, so YES.

5. The text says pasture benefits only become obvious "within three or four years," which contradicts the idea that improvement is immediate, so NO.

6. The label sits at the mid-depth tunnel (around 20cm), matching the description that "South African beetles dig narrow tunnels of approximately 20 cm" below the pat.

7. The deepest tunnel in the diagram (about 30cm) matches the French species, which "excavate tunnels to a depth of approximately 30 cm."

8. The shallowest tunnel in the diagram matches the sentence "the shallowest tunnels belong to a much smaller Spanish species."

9. In cooler Victoria the large French beetle is paired with the smaller "temperate-climate Spanish species."

10. The same passage says the Spanish species "multiply rapidly in early spring," giving the start of its active period.

11. The next clause states the Spanish beetle produces "two to five generations annually."

12. The South African ball-roller is described as "a sub-tropical beetle" that prefers northern and coastal New South Wales.

13. The same sentence adds that the ball-roller "commonly works with the South African tunnelling species," its complementary partner.

14. Section A is about the state managing resources badly and subsidising "exploitation and consumption of natural resources" — this is governments' role in the environment, matching heading v.

15. Section B opens by saying farming "shapes a third of the planet's land" and reports how world food output per head has risen, matching heading vii, Farming and food output.

16. Section C lists farming's damaging side-effects — deforestation, contaminated water, soil erosion — introduced by "all these activities may have damaging environmental impacts," matching heading ii.

17. Section D focuses on "in the rich countries, subsidies for growing crops" driving up fertiliser and pesticide use, matching heading iv.

18. Section F opens with "a result of the Uruguay Round of world trade negotiations," matching heading i, the probable effects of the new trade agreement.

19. Section C says "land clearing for agriculture is the largest single cause of deforestation," matching G, clearing land for cultivation.

20. The same section notes that "chemical fertilisers and pesticides may contaminate water supplies," matching C, increased use of chemical inputs.

21. The text links "more intensive farming and the abandonment of fallow periods" to worsening erosion, matching F, soil erosion.

22. The spread of monoculture is linked to "the disappearance of old varieties of food plants," matching B.

23. The 1982 US study found "about one-fifth of its farmland was losing topsoil" at a damaging rate — one-fifth is 20 per cent of farmland, matching C, not a 20 per cent cut in productivity as in option A.

24. The text states "fertiliser use doubled in Denmark in the period 1960-1985," matching B, twice as much as in 1960.

25. After New Zealand scrapped subsidies, the text says "farms began to diversify," matching D.

26. Unlike New Zealand, other rich countries only reduce rather than end subsidies, reflecting that "their policies do not recognise the long-term benefit of ending subsidies," matching C.

27. The final section predicts poor-country farmers "will have the money and the incentive to manage their land in ways that are sustainable in the long run," matching A.

28. The passage as a whole weighs how governments, subsidies and trade policy shape farming's impact on the environment, so the broad title "Environmental management" (A) fits best.

29. The writer mentions that a soldier's promotion needs "a very obvious sign, hence rituals," but never suggests soldiers' role definitions should be made clearer, so NOT GIVEN.

30. The writer says there is "some likelihood that all accountants will be alike" because they are "forced that way by the expectations of their role" — i.e. by sharing the same job, so YES.

31. The writer worries that blurring dress as a role sign "makes some people very insecure" and asks "who is to know who has what role?" — implying dress still serves a useful purpose, so YES.

32. The writer only notes a "decline in the emphasis given to marriage rituals" as an observation, without saying this trend should be reversed, so NOT GIVEN.

33. The writer says office signs and furniture today "may serve a purpose as a kind of uniform in a democratic society," paralleling how dress once signalled role, so YES.

34. The writer treats some ambiguity as valuable, since "the ability to shape one's own role is one of the freedoms that many people desire," so removing it entirely is not presented as good — NO.

35. The writer states job descriptions at higher levels actually "heighten the sense of role ambiguity" rather than remove it for managers, so NO.

36. The passage explains that "office signs and furniture are often used as role signs," so a headmaster upgrading his office is using it as a role sign.

37. The passage says major role changes need "a very obvious sign, hence rituals" (as with marriage or promotion), so a graduation ceremony marking the change from student to graduate is a ritual.

38. The text calls a uniform "the simplest of role signs," and a judge's wig functions the same way, marking out the role, so it is a role sign.

39. The passage defines the "role set" as the group of people the focal person interacts with in a situation — parents of pupils fall within a headmaster's role set.

40. The analytical, evaluative tone discussing role signs, ambiguity and stress throughout points to a critical academic study of role signs in society, matching C.