Can the planet's coral reefs be saved?: reading answers and analysis
London Zoo's new coral reef tank is both a showcase and a research base. Coral polyps live in partnership with algae, reefs shelter a quarter of marine species, and Attenborough argues they beat rainforests for wildlife. Warming, acidification, pollution and changing currents are killing them, so scientists are looking for hardy species and ways to make coral spawn more often.
Questions 14-26 · 13 marks · 4 question blocks
Where the answers sit
The headings (14-19) use one heading per section, A to F. The damage causes (20-21) are all in D, and the research aims (22-23) in E. The sentence completions (24-26) jump back to B, then forward to D.
Questions 14-19
Read each section for its main job, not a detail. A sets out two goals for the exhibit (show the beauty, show the research). B explains the coral-algae partnership. C is about whether the rainforest comparison is fair. D is a warning, E describes what scientists are doing about it, and F ends on hope. One heading is left over.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | v | — |
| 15 | ii | — |
| 16 | iv | — |
| 17 | vii | — |
| 18 | iii | — |
| 19 | vi | — |
Questions 20-21
D lists the threats. Human pollution and changes in ocean currents match two options. Storms, overfishing and disease sound like typical reef threats, but D never mentions them.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 20-21 | C and E(in either order) | — |
Questions 22-23
E gives the two research aims: find species that cope with warm, acidic water, and raise breeding rates by getting corals to spawn more than once a year. The artificial reef in the options is the display tank, not a research method.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 22-23 | B and D(in either order) | — |
Questions 24-26
Two answers come from B's description of polyps and algae: what polyps catch food with, and what the algae get in return. The last comes from D, where bleaching strips reefs of something. UK and US spellings of colour are both accepted.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | tentacles | — |
| 25 | protection | — |
| 26 | colour | color |
The questions most people get wrong
Section C is about Attenborough rejecting the 'rainforests of the sea' label, which is a disagreement over a phrase. It isn't about comparing wildlife numbers.
A tempts because E mentions extending artificial spawning 'to all species', but the aim is faster reproduction (D), not more species in the lab.
The algae get protection, and in return their photosynthesis gives the polyps nutrients. Don't write 'nutrients', which go the other way.
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 20 Test 3 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 20, 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.