Forest management in Pennsylvania, USA: reading answers and analysis
A tree's value depends on who is looking. Decades of 'high-grading' (cutting only the best timber) left Pennsylvania full of low-use or 'junk' trees, and wood-energy markets now make it worth removing them. The passage explains TSI, Salvage and Shelterwood cuts, then warns that some low-use wood should stay for soil, wildlife and diversity.
Questions 14-26 · 13 marks · 3 question blocks
Where the answers sit
Paragraph matching (14-18) uses B twice. The timber-cut matching (19-21) is in E and F. The sentence completions (22-26) are all in the last paragraph, G, in order.
Questions 14-18
B holds two items: the damage done when owners cared only about timber value, and the 'junk trees' nickname. A lists the factors that make up a tree's value. The fuel for cars and lorries is in C. The named pests (adelgid, beetles, moths) are in E.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | B | — |
| 15 | A | — |
| 16 | C | — |
| 17 | E | — |
| 18 | B | — |
Questions 19-21
The Shelterwood Cut in F does two of the three jobs: it leaves trees at a similar stage of growth, and a two-tier version spreads the income over a decade or more. The Salvage Cut in E removes sick trees. The TSI Cut isn't used.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | B | — |
| 20 | C | — |
| 21 | C | — |
Questions 22-26
G lists what to remove and what to keep, and the sentences go through it in order. The answers are what dead wood is cleared to prevent, what tree tops return to the soil, the feature that makes damaged trees good homes, one small tree species named as food, and the kind of tree kept for diversity.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | fire | — |
| 23 | nutrients | — |
| 24 | cavities | — |
| 25 | hawthorn | — |
| 26 | rare | — |
The questions most people get wrong
C again. A young forest where all trees are at a similar point in their growth means trees close in age. The Shelterwood Cut answers both 20 and 21.
The removal is 'for fire prevention', so the risk being avoided is fire. The word is in the text, even though the sentence is rephrased.
B. 'Junk trees' is what some people call low-use wood. It's an easy detail to miss, sitting beside the high-grading item that is also in B.
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Cambridge IELTS 18, Test 1, 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.