Insect pests push Madagascar's rice farmers to clear forest for new paddies, but some native bats are thriving over the rice fields and eating those pests, along with pests of coffee, sugarcane, nuts and citrus, plus mosquitoes. Rocha's team proved it with ultrasonic recordings and DNA from droppings. Locals' feelings about bats are mixed, and the team suggests bat houses.
TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN (1-6) covers the first five paragraphs. The table (7-13) runs from the method paragraph to the recommendation near the end, in order.
TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN
Questions 1-6
How to attack this block: Both FALSEs twist the opening. Insects destroy rice, not forests (farmers clear the forest), and some insectivorous bats are thriving, not suffering. The NOT GIVENs ask about Rocha's work elsewhere and which bat species is most common, and the passage covers neither.
Question 1
Answer: FALSEParagraph 1, fourth sentence
Are insects destroying Madagascar's forests?
insect pests are destroying vast quantities of what is grown by local subsistence farmers, leading them to clear forest to create new paddy fields
Question says → Passage says
attacks from insectsinsect pests are destroying vast quantities of what is grown
forests are being destroyedleading them to clear forest
Why: The insects destroy the farmers' crops, and it's the farmers who then clear the forest for new paddy fields. The insects don't attack the forest themselves, so FALSE.
The trap: Insects and forest destruction appear in the same sentence, so it's easy to link them directly. Follow the chain: insects eat crops, farmers cut trees.
Question 2
Answer: FALSEParagraph 1, last two sentences
Has habitat loss hit Madagascar's insect-eating bats badly?
The result is devastating habitat and biodiversity loss on the island, but not all species are suffering. In fact, some of the island's insectivorous bats are currently thriving
Question says → Passage says
Loss of habitatdevastating habitat and biodiversity loss
badly affectedsuffering
insectivorous batssome of the island's insectivorous bats are currently thriving
Why: The paragraph admits the habitat loss is devastating, then turns with 'but not all species are suffering'. The insect-eating bats are 'thriving', the opposite of being badly affected. FALSE.
The trap: 'Devastating habitat… loss' is right there, so it's easy to stop reading and say TRUE. The 'but' straight after changes everything. Paragraph 11 does say deforestation 'could' cut bat numbers, but that's a possible future problem, not what's happening now.
Question 3
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 2
Has Rocha studied bats in other parts of the world?
He's passionate about conservation, and bats. More specifically, he's interested in how bats are responding to human activity and deforestation in particular.
Question says → Passage says
Ricardo RochaUniversity of Cambridge zoologist Ricardo Rocha
Why: You learn what Rocha is interested in and about his Madagascar study, but nothing about any work he's done elsewhere. NOT GIVEN.
The trap: Paragraph 9 mentions bat studies in the USA and Catalonia, and that's the trap. James Kemp cites them as earlier proof, and nothing says Rocha did them.
Question 4
Answer: TRUEParagraphs 4 and 5
Has changing the habitat made native bats useful to farmers?
several species of indigenous bats are taking advantage of habitat modification to hunt insects swarming above the country's rice fields
Question says → Passage says
indigenous batsseveral species of indigenous bats
Habitat modification has resulted intaking advantage of habitat modification
useful to farmersproviding a valuable free service / a vital pest control service
Why: The bats use the changed habitat, the rice fields, to hunt the insects that attack the crop. Rocha calls this 'a valuable free service' to Madagascar as pest suppressors. So the habitat change has made them useful to farmers. TRUE.
The trap: Paragraph 1 says habitat change is devastating for biodiversity, so 'habitat modification' sounds like bad news and some students pick FALSE. For these bats it's an opportunity: they're 'taking advantage' of it.
Question 5
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 4, last sentence
Is the Malagasy mouse-eared bat more common than the other native species?
They include the Malagasy mouse-eared bat, Major's long-fingered bat, the Malagasy white-bellied free-tailed bat and Peters' wrinkle-lipped bat.
Question says → Passage says
The Malagasy mouse-eared batthe Malagasy mouse-eared bat
Why: The bat is named first in a list, but nothing is said about how many of each species there are. NOT GIVEN.
The trap: Being first in the list can feel like being the most important. Order in a list tells you nothing about numbers.
Question 6
Answer: TRUEParagraph 5
Might bats eat paddy swarming caterpillars and grass webworms?
We found that six species of bat are preying on rice pests, including the paddy swarming caterpillar and grass webworm
Question says → Passage says
feed onpreying on
paddy swarming caterpillars and grass webwormsthe paddy swarming caterpillar and grass webworm
Why: 'Preying on' means hunting and eating, and both pests are named. The statement's 'may' is weaker than the passage, which says they do. TRUE.
The trap: Some students choose NOT GIVEN because of 'may'. A cautious statement is still TRUE if the passage says it definitely happens.
Table completion (ONE WORD ONLY)
Questions 7-13
How to attack this block: The table follows the study's write-up: what the DNA came from, the crop pests beyond rice (the gap before sugarcane), the disease carriers eaten, then locals' mixed attitudes (food rich in something, dirty buildings, a place in culture) and the recommendation. Both spellings of mosquitoes are accepted.
Question 7
Answer: droppingsParagraph 7, second sentence
What did the team analyse the bats' DNA from?
They next used DNA barcoding techniques to analyse droppings collected from bats at the different sites.
Question says → Passage says
DNA analysis of batDNA barcoding techniques to analyse droppings
Why: The table's method section has two steps. The first is the ultrasonic recording, and the second analyses the droppings. Plural noun, one word.
The trap: 'Buzzes' and 'echolocation sequences' were recorded, but that's the ultrasonic step, not the DNA one.
Question 8
Answer: coffeeParagraph 8, last sentence
Which crop pests did the bats eat besides rice pests, before sugarcane?
including the black twig borer (which infests coffee plants), the sugarcane cicada, the macadamia nut-borer, and the sober tabby (a pest of citrus fruits)
Question says → Passage says
pests of rice, ___, sugarcane, nuts and fruitcoffee plants), the sugarcane cicada, the macadamia nut-borer… citrus fruits
Why: The table lists the crops in the passage's order: rice, then coffee, sugarcane, nuts and fruit. The gap before 'sugarcane' is coffee.
The trap: Some people write 'borer' or 'plants'. The table lists crops, and the crop the black twig borer infests is coffee.
Question 9
Answer: mosquitosParagraph 10, last sentence
Also accepted: mosquitoes
Which disease carriers did the bats eat, besides blackflies?
Malagasy bats feed not just on crop pests but also on mosquitoes… carriers of malaria, Rift Valley fever virus and elephantiasis… as well as blackflies, which spread river blindness
Question says → Passage says
prevented the spread of diseasecarriers of malaria, Rift Valley fever virus and elephantiasis / which spread river blindness
by eating ___ and blackfliesfeed not just on crop pests but also on mosquitoes… as well as blackflies
Why: Blackflies are already in the table, and the other disease carrier the bats eat is mosquitoes. Plural noun. The key accepts both spellings, 'mosquitoes' (the passage's) and 'mosquitos'.
The trap: 'Malaria' and 'river blindness' are right next to it, but those are the diseases, not the creatures the bats eat.
Question 10
Answer: proteinParagraph 11, second sentence
What is the food bats give local people rich in?
When food is scarce, bats become a crucial source of protein for local people.
Question says → Passage says
provide food rich ina crucial source of
Why: Bats are 'a crucial source of protein', so food made from them is rich in protein. One noun.
The trap: 'Food' itself appears in the same sentence, but the table already says 'food', so the gap needs what the food is rich in.
Question 11
Answer: uncleanParagraph 11, fourth sentence
What happens to buildings where bats roost?
the bats sometimes roost in buildings, but are not welcomed there because they make them unclean
Question says → Passage says
the buildings where they roostroost in buildings
becomemake them
Why: 'Make them unclean' = the buildings 'become unclean'. The gap needs an adjective after 'become', and 'unclean' is the passage's word.
The trap: Don't write 'dirty': it's the right idea but not the passage's word, and answers must be copied from the text.
Question 12
Answer: cultureParagraph 11, fifth sentence
In what area of local life do bats play an important part?
they are associated with sacred caves and the ancestors, so they can be viewed as beings between worlds, which makes them very significant in the culture of the people
Question says → Passage says
an important rolevery significant
localof the people
Why: 'Very significant in the culture of the people' becomes 'an important role in local culture'. The word you need is at the end of the sentence.
The trap: 'Ancestors' and 'caves' are earlier in the sentence, but 'important role in local ancestors' makes no sense. The gap needs the wider area of life.
Question 13
Answer: housesParagraph 11, last sentence
What should farmers put up to support the bats?
we hope that farmers can promote this mutually beneficial relationship by installing bat houses
Question says → Passage says
farmers should provide specialfarmers can promote… by installing bat
to support the bat populationpromote this mutually beneficial relationship
Why: The recommendation is that farmers install bat houses. The table already has 'special', so you only need 'houses', in the plural.
The trap: Writing 'bat houses' breaks the one-word limit. 'Bat' is already implied by the table, so just 'houses'.
Bats are linked to sacred caves and the ancestors, which makes them significant in the people's culture. The word appears near the end of that sentence.
Words from this passage worth keeping
strained(Paragraph 1)
tense and difficult
subsistence farmers(Paragraph 1)
farmers who grow just enough food to live on
thriving(Paragraph 1)
doing very well
indigenous(Paragraph 4)
naturally living in a place, not brought there
foraging(Paragraph 8)
searching for food
infests(Paragraph 8)
lives in or on something in large numbers, causing damage
roosting(Paragraph 11)
resting or sleeping (of bats and birds)
mutually beneficial(Paragraph 11)
good for both sides
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The full Cambridge 17 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 17, 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 17 Test 4
Passage 1 · Questions 1-13 · You're hereBats to the rescue
