Answer explanations - Alarming Rate of Loss of Tropical Rainforests
Go to the Reading Passage using the link - Alarming Rate of Loss of Tropical Rainforests
Answer Explanation:
Questions 1-8
Do the following statements agree with the given information in the Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet write:
TRUE if the statement reflects the claims of the writer
FALSE if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
Question 1: The plight of the rainforests has largely been ignored by the media.
Keywords: Plight of the rainforests, ignored, media.
Answer: FALSE.
Explanation: The answer could be found in the first line of the third paragraph. Please read the sentence that says “Despite the extensive coverage in the popular media of the destruction of rainforests...”. Here the writer claims that the issue of rainforest destruction actually receives rather extensive media coverage, contrary to what the question above really suggests. So, from the sentence above in the quote, it can be easily concluded that the answer to the question is “False”.
Question 2: Children only accept opinions on rainforests that they encounter in their classrooms.
Keywords: Opinions, children, classrooms.
Answer: FALSE.
Explanation: The answer clue is in the first paragraph (third sentence). Please read the sentence just before the last sentence that says “In the face of the frequent and often vivid media coverage, it is likely that children will have formed ideas about rainforests – what and where they are, why they are important, what endangers them – independent of any formal tuition”.
Now, if we interpret the information, presented in the sentence above, we can safely conclude that it is actually the media which help the children accept or form any opinions on the rainforest, outside of all kinds of formal educational systems. So it is safe to say that children accept opinions on rainforests that they encounter in the media; not only what they hear or learn in the classroom. This is why the answer to this question is “FALSE”.
Question 3: It has been suggested that children hold mistaken views about the ‘pure’ science that they study at school.
Keywords: Pure science, mistaken views, children.
Answer: TRUE.
Explanation: The answer clue is at the beginning of the second paragraph. Please read the first sentence in the second paragraph which says “Many studies have shown that children harbour misconceptions about ‘pure’, curriculum science.” The information, presented in the sentence above, clearly goes along the line of what the question above suggests. So, here the answer is “TRUE”.
Question 4: The fact that children’s ideas about science form part of a larger framework of ideas mean that it is easier to change them.
Keywords: Framework of ideas, children, easier to change.
Answer: TRUE.
Explanation: The only reference to any kind of idea changes or modification of children can be found in the second line of the second paragraph (the next line where we found the answer to question 3) where it says:
“These misconceptions do not remain isolated but become incorporated into a multifaceted, but organised, conceptual framework, making it and the component ideas, some of which are erroneous, more robust but also accessible to modification.”
In the sentence above, the writer is claiming that these ideas may be “accessible to modification”, which actually means that they are “easier to change”. In other words, the answer to this question here is “True”.
Question 5: The study involved asking children a number of yes/no questions such as ‘Are there any rainforests in Africa?’
Keywords: Study, yes/no questions.
Answer: FALSE.
Explanation: Look at the first two sentences of the fourth paragraph. These two lines read:
“The study surveys children’s scientific knowledge and attitudes to rainforests. Secondary school children were asked to complete a questionnaire containing five open-form questions.”
These two sentences above talk about how the study actually involved a questionnaire of “five open-form questions”, as opposed to the “yes/no” type of questions that is stated in the question above. So, the answer to this question is clearly “False”.
Question 6: Girls are more likely than boys to hold mistaken views about the rainforests’ destruction.
Keywords: Girls, mistaken views, rainforests destruction.
Answer: NOT GIVEN.
Explanation: The references to this question could be found in paragraphs 5 and 6 of the passage where girls are seen to be responding only to those questions that are related to the “importance of rainforests”. But, nowhere else in these paragraphs, there is any mention of girls holding any views on the destruction of the rainforests.
Paragraph 5 mentions that - "More girls (70%) than boys (60%) raised the idea of the rainforest as animal habitats". From this information, we can say that more girls think that rainforests are animal habitats. But it does not say anything about more girls having misconceptions about the destruction of the rainforests.
Similarly, paragraph 6 outlines that - "... More girls (13%) than boys (5%) said that rainforests provided human habitats." It also does not express anything about more girls having misconceptions about the destruction of the rainforests.
We know that if the information given in the reading passage does not clearly "express" or "oppose" a statement given in a question, the answer is "Not Given". In other words, “Not Given” is the appropriate answer to this question.
Question 7: The study reported here follows on from a series of studies that have looked at children’s understanding of rainforests.
Keywords: The study, series of studies, children's understanding of rainforests.
Answer: TRUE.
Explanation: To be added...
Question 8: A second study has been planned to investigate primary school children’s ideas about rainforests.
Keywords: A second study, planned, primary school children.
Answer: NOT GIVEN.
Explanation: Nowhere in the passage can we see that the writer has claimed to investigating primary school children's understanding of rainforests a second time, or conduct a second study on them.
Of course, the last paragraph of the passage talks something about “similar studies about other environmental issues”, but not on rainforests. And those studies were done with “older children”, not primary school children (considering that primary school children are generally younger). So, the answer again is “Not Given”.
Questions 9-13
The box below gives a list of responses A–P to the questionnaire discussed in the Reading Passage.
Answer the following questions by choosing the correct responses A–P.
Question 9: What was the children’s most frequent response when asked where the rainforests were?
Keywords: Most frequent response, where the rainforests were.
Answer: M.
Explanation: The answer is “M” on the list of responses which says "Rainforests are found in Africa."
This is the right response because Africa was chosen by the highest percentage of children who were surveyed.
Read the last two sentences of the 4th paragraph:
“The second question concerned the geographical location of rainforests. The commonest responses were continents or countries: Africa (given by 43% of children), South America (30%), Brazil (25%). Some children also gave more general locations, such as being near the Equator.”
So among these three percentages "Africa" was chosen by 43% of children which was the highest percentage. This is why this was the most common/frequent response by the children.
Question 10: What was the most common response to the question about the importance of the rainforests?
Keywords: Most common response, the importance of rainforests.
Answer: E.
Explanation: The answer is “E” on the list of responses which says "Without rainforests, some animals would have nowhere to live".
This is the right response because this was the response by the maximum proportion of children who took part in the survey when they were asked about the importance of the rainforests. Read the starting of the 5th paragraph which says -
“Responses to question three concerned the importance of rainforests. The dominant idea, raised by 64% of the pupils, was that rainforests provide animals with habitats.”
It makes clear that the dominant (/most common) response to the question about the importance of the rainforests was that rainforests provide animals with habitats, and those animals won't have a place to live in without the rainforests.
Question 11: What did most children give as the reason for the loss of the rainforests?
Keywords: Reason, loss of rainforests.
Answer: G.
Explanation: The answer is “G” from the list of responses where it says "People are responsible for the loss of the rainforests".
This is the correct response because it closely matches the response by the maximum proportion (more than half) of children who took part in the survey. When they were asked about the causes of the destruction of rainforests - the highest percentage of them responded that human activities were destroying rainforests.
Read the 7th paragraph (especially the text marked as underlined) which says -
“The fourth question concerned the causes of the destruction of rainforests. Perhaps encouragingly, more than half of the pupils (59%) identified that it is human activities which are destroying rainforests, some personalising the responsibility by the use of terms such as ‘we are’. About 18% of the pupils referred specifically to logging activity.”
So it should be obvious by now that the highest (/most common) response to the question about the reason for the loss of the rainforests was "People are responsible for the loss of the rainforests".
Question 12: Why did most children think it important for the rainforests to be protected?
Keywords: most children think, important, rainforests to be protected.
Answer: P.
Explanation: The answer is “P” from the list of responses where it says "Humans depend on the rainforests for their continuing existence".
To find the answer to this question just read the first sentence of the 9th paragraph that says -
“In answer to the final question about the importance of rainforest conservation, the majority of children simply said that we need rainforests to survive.”
So it is quite easy to deduct that most children think it important for the rainforests to be protected for our own survival as humans depend on rainforests for their continuing existence.
Question 13: Which of the responses is cited as unexpectedly uncommon, given the amount of time spent on the issue by the newspapers and television?
Keywords: unexpectedly uncommon response, newspaper and television.
Answer: J.
Explanation: The answer is “J” from the list of responses where it says - "As the rainforests are destroyed, the world gets warmer".
This is the right response because it closely matches the statements in paragraph 9 where it states:
“Only a few of the pupils (6%) mentioned that rainforest destruction may contribute to global warming. This is surprising considering the high level of media coverage on this issue.”
In the statement above in the quote, “surprising” is the key operating word, which can also be expressed and written as “unexpectedly uncommon”, as mentioned in the question above. And what is so surprising or “unexpectedly uncommon” about the response [response “J”] is that even though there is such huge media coverage of the issue, only 6% of the pupils, as opposed to a vast majority of them, actually thinks that “as the rainforests are destroyed, the world gets warmer”.
Question 14: Which of the following is the most suitable title for the Reading Passage?
Answer: B. [Children’s ideas about the rainforests and the implications for course design]
Explanation: The answer is “B” which says: Children’s ideas about the rainforests and the implications for course design. This is the right answer because that’s what pretty much is explained in the 2nd paragraph where it says:
“The aim of the present study is to start to provide such information, to help teachers design their educational strategies to build upon correct ideas and to displace misconceptions and to plan programmes in environmental studies in their schools.”
If we skim through the reading passage, we can understand that it deals with children's ideas and responses about rainforests and how a course could be designed to better inform them about it.
This is the end of the "Answer Explanation" section for the reading passage "Alarming Rate of Loss of Tropical Rainforests".
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