The huarango's record-breaking roots reach deep water in Peru's coastal desert, feeding other plants, holding the soil and once getting people through droughts. Clearing it turned the Lower Ica Valley to desert. Botanist Oliver Whaley is reviving pride and profit in the tree: festivals, school planting, syrup, flour and 'coffee', and forest corridors on big farms.
The notes (1-5) come from the first two paragraphs, and the table (6-8) from the third. TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN (9-13) covers the last four paragraphs.
Note completion (ONE WORD ONLY)
Questions 1-5
How to attack this block: Each note is one benefit of the tree, in passage order: what its roots reach, what it was key to in ancient times, what it helped people survive, what cutting it down causes, and what the land turns into. All five are nouns.
Question 1
Answer: waterParagraph 1, third and fourth sentences
What can the huarango's roots reach deep underground?
the only year-round source of water is located tens of metres below the surface. This is why the huarango tree is so suited to life there
Question says → Passage says
deep below the surfacetens of metres below the surface
can accesssucking up water for the tree
Why: The only reliable water is tens of metres down, and the roots stretch 50-80 metres, far enough to reach it. 'Deep below the surface' matches 'tens of metres below the surface' almost word for word. The answer is 'water'.
The trap: 'Subsoil' is in the next sentence, but that's where the roots bring the water up to, near the top. It isn't deep below the surface.
Question 2
Answer: dietParagraph 2, second sentence
What was the huarango a key part of for people long ago?
He believes the huarango was key to the ancient people's diet
Question says → Passage says
a crucial part ofkey to
local inhabitants'… a long time agothe ancient people's
Why: 'Crucial' = 'key', and 'local inhabitants' a long time ago' = 'the ancient people's'. The noun after the possessive is 'diet'.
The trap: Paragraph 3 says people ate products from its seed pods, so 'food' feels natural. But 'food' isn't the passage's word here, and the notes follow paragraph 2's sentence.
Question 3
Answer: droughtParagraph 2, second sentence
What hard periods did the tree help people get through?
it allowed local people to withstand years of drought when their other crops failed
Question says → Passage says
helped people to surviveallowed local people to withstand
periods ofyears of
Why: 'Withstand' means survive, and 'years of' becomes 'periods of'. What they survived was 'drought'.
The trap: 'Crops' comes at the end of the sentence, but crops failing was the result of drought. People didn't survive 'periods of crops'.
Question 4
Answer: erosionParagraph 2, fourth sentence
What happens to the soil without the huarango?
Cutting down native woodland leads to erosion, as there is nothing to keep the soil in place.
Question says → Passage says
prevents ___ of the soilleads to erosion, as there is nothing to keep the soil in place
Why: The passage says cutting the trees down causes erosion. Flip that around: while the trees are there, they prevent it. 'Erosion of the soil' is a natural phrase.
The trap: Watch out for the reversal. The passage describes what happens when the trees are removed, and the note describes what the tree does. Don't let that put you off: the noun is the same.
Question 5
Answer: desertParagraph 2, fifth sentence
What does land turn into without the huarango?
So when the huarangos go, the land turns into a desert.
Question says → Passage says
prevents land from becoming awhen the huarangos go, the land turns into a
Why: 'Turns into' = 'becoming', and the note even keeps 'land' and 'a'. The noun is 'desert'.
The trap: Students who don't read on from question 4 sometimes repeat 'erosion'. Erosion is the process. The note wants what the land ends up as.
Table completion (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS)
Questions 6-8
How to attack this block: The third paragraph lists each part of the tree with its use. Match the use in the table to the part: branches for charcoal fuel, leaves and bark for remedies, the trunk for houses. Question 7 needs both parts, so it uses the two-word allowance.
Question 6
Answer: branchesParagraph 3, third sentence
Also accepted: its branches / huarango branches / the branches
Which part of the tree was used for fuel?
its branches were used for charcoal for cooking and heating
Question says → Passage says
fuelcharcoal for cooking and heating
Why: Charcoal burned for cooking and heating is fuel, and it was made from the 'branches'. The table asks for the part of the tree, so write the part, not the product.
The trap: 'Charcoal' is the fuel itself, not a part of the tree. The table's column heading is 'Part of tree'.
Question 7
Answer: leaves and barkParagraph 3, third sentence
Also accepted: bark and leaves / leaves bark / bark leaves / leaves, bark / bark, leaves / leaves & bark / bark & leaves / its leaves and bark / its bark and leaves
Which two parts of the tree were used for medicine?
Its leaves and bark were used for herbal remedies
Question says → Passage says
medicineherbal remedies
Why: 'Remedies' are medicines. The sentence names two parts, 'leaves and bark', and the instructions say this answer needs both. That's exactly two content words, and the key accepts either order.
The trap: Writing just 'leaves' or just 'bark' loses the mark. This is the one cell where you must use the two-part answer.
Question 8
Answer: trunkParagraph 3, third sentence
Also accepted: its trunk / huarango trunk / the trunk
Which part of the tree was used for building?
and its trunk was used to build houses
Question says → Passage says
constructionused to build houses
Why: 'Construction' is a noun for building, and the part used to build houses was the 'trunk'.
The trap: 'Houses' is what was built, not the part of the tree. 'Seed pods' are in the sentence before, but they were eaten.
TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN
Questions 9-13
How to attack this block: Benevides doesn't yet earn enough to live on (FALSE). Whaley says desert life has always lived in small corridors and islands, so the project doesn't need a huge area (FALSE). He is persuading farmers to plant corridors (TRUE). The passage doesn't say who told Whaley about traditional uses, and Africa is only an example of where the model could work.
Question 9
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 5, second sentence
Did local families tell Whaley about traditional uses of the tree's products?
he has been working with local families to attempt to create a sustainable income from the huarangos by turning their products into foodstuffs
Question says → Passage says
Local familiesworking with local families
traditional uses of huarango productsturning their products into foodstuffs
Why: Whaley works with local families, and traditional uses are listed in paragraph 3. But nowhere does the passage say where Whaley learned about them, or that families told him anything. NOT GIVEN.
The trap: All the pieces are in the passage (families, Whaley, traditional uses), so it feels TRUE. But the link between them, families telling Whaley, is never stated.
Question 10
Answer: FALSEParagraph 6, fourth sentence
Is Benevides now making a good profit from the huarango?
His farm is relatively small and doesn't yet provide him with enough to live on, but he hopes this will change.
Question says → Passage says
now making a good profitdoesn't yet provide him with enough to live on
Why: If the farm doesn't even give him enough to live on, he can't be making a good profit. 'Yet' and 'he hopes this will change' confirm it's not happening now. FALSE.
The trap: He sells syrup and flour in Lima and the organic market is 'growing rapidly', which sounds like success. That's about the future he's investing in, not his income now.
Question 11
Answer: TRUEParagraph 7
Does Whaley need farmers to co-operate to protect the area's wildlife?
break up the corridors that allow the essential movement of mammals, birds and pollen… he's persuading farmers to let him plant forest corridors on their land
Question says → Passage says
the co-operation of farmerspersuading farmers to let him plant forest corridors on their land
the area's wildlifemammals, birds and pollen
Why: The big farms break up the corridors that animals and pollen move along. To fix that, Whaley needs farmers to let him plant on their land. If he has to persuade them, he needs their co-operation. TRUE.
The trap: Some students choose NOT GIVEN because the passage never uses 'need'. But persuading farmers to let him use their land is only necessary because he can't do it without them.
Question 12
Answer: FALSEParagraph 8, Whaley's quote
Does the project need to cover a very large area to work?
'It's not like a rainforest that needs to have this huge expanse. Life has always been confined to corridors and islands here.
Question says → Passage says
a very large areathis huge expanse
needs to be extended overIt's not like a rainforest that needs to have
Why: Whaley contrasts the desert with a rainforest: the rainforest needs a huge expanse, but here life lives in small corridors and islands, and a few trees can recover fast. That contradicts the statement. FALSE.
The trap: 'Huge expanse' is right there in the passage, which can make you think TRUE. Read the whole sentence: the huge expanse belongs to the rainforest, and the desert is 'not like' it.
Question 13
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 8, last sentence
Is Whaley planning to go to Africa to start a similar project?
then that's a real message of hope for lots of places, including Africa, where there is drought
Question says → Passage says
a similar projecta model that has the potential to be rolled out across other arid areas
Africaincluding Africa
Why: Whaley says his project could be a model and a 'message of hope' for places like Africa. He says nothing about going there himself or making plans. NOT GIVEN.
The trap: 'Rolled out across other arid areas' sounds like a plan, which pushes people to TRUE. But it's a potential, not a plan, and nothing says Whaley will do it.
Write both parts: 'leaves and bark'. The key accepts them in either order.
Words from this passage worth keeping
arid(Paragraph 8)
very dry, with little rain
fragile(Paragraph 1)
easily damaged
withstand(Paragraph 2)
survive something difficult without being harmed
erosion(Paragraph 2)
the gradual wearing away of soil or rock
aspirational(Paragraph 4)
wanting to have a higher social position or more money
resuscitation(Paragraph 4)
bringing something back to life
counteracting(Paragraph 7)
reducing the effect of something by doing the opposite
expanse(Paragraph 8)
a wide, open area
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The full Cambridge 15 Test 4 reading paper: all three passages, 60 minutes, marked the second you finish with a review of every answer. Already done it? Take it again and see if the same traps still get you.
Cambridge IELTS 15, Test 4, Reading Passage 1. The passage and questions belong to Cambridge University Press and are not reproduced here. We quote short extracts only as evidence for our own commentary, and the answers are published for self-marking. Get the book for the full text, or sit the test on Langujet.
The rest of Cambridge 15 Test 4
Passage 1 · Questions 1-13 · You're hereThe return of the huarango
