Palm oil: reading answers and analysis
Palm oil is in everything because it stays solid and keeps food fresh, and production has soared. Conservationists blame it for deforestation and endangered orangutans, but the picture is mixed: it lifts people out of poverty, gives far higher yields per hectare than rival oils, can be certified sustainable by the RSPO, and plantations might regain biodiversity with bird's nest ferns.
Questions 14-26 · 13 marks · 3 question blocks
Where the answers sit
The section matching (14-20) uses seven of the eight sections, one each (only D is left out). The RSPO question (21-22) is in G. The sentence completions (23-26) run through A, C, G and H in order.
Questions 14-20
Each section has one clear job. A shows palm oil in everyday products, and B gives the growth figures. C lists the endangered animals. E makes the economic case against a boycott, and F gives the environmental arguments in palm oil's favour. G is the RSPO, and H is the fern.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | F | — |
| 15 | G | — |
| 16 | A | — |
| 17 | H | — |
| 18 | B | — |
| 19 | E | — |
| 20 | C | — |
Questions 21-22
G says the standards were agreed 'gradually' over about ten years and require transparency. Growing membership, comparison with other industries and who asked for the RSPO are all absent.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 21-22 | B and C(in either order) | — |
Questions 23-26
Two answers use the full two words: the named endangered species and what growers must check regularly. The other two are single words: the state palm oil stays in at room temperature, and what the fern could restore.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 23 | solid | — |
| 24 | Sumatran orangutan | orangutan / orang-utan |
| 25 | carbon stocks | — |
| 26 | biodiversity | — |
The questions most people get wrong
F. Higher yield means less land cleared, and more carbon is sequestered in some cases. These potential environmental advantages sit in the paragraph that opens with 'not as straightforward'.
E. Lifting millions out of poverty is the economic reason not to boycott. D mentions a boycott too, but only as a question environmentalists ask.
Write 'carbon stocks', both words. 'Regular assessment of carbon stocks' is the criterion. 'Carbon' alone is incomplete.
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Cambridge IELTS 17, Test 3, Reading Passage 2. The passage name belongs to Cambridge University Press. No passage text or question wording is reproduced on this page. The answers are published for self-marking, and the analysis is our own.