Amazonia: reading answers and analysis
In 1942 Allan Holmberg described the Siriono as among the most backward people on Earth, and that image shaped the belief that the Amazon forest can't support complex societies. The writer says archaeology proves otherwise: large, advanced societies thrived for over a thousand years before Europeans arrived. Ignoring people's role has hurt both the forest and its Indians.
Questions 13-25 · 13 marks · 3 question blocks
Where the answers sit
The headings (13-15) cover A, B and D (C is the example). YES / NO / NOT GIVEN (16-21) runs from B to F. The multiple choice (22-25) goes back to A and moves forward to F.
Questions 13-15
A is Holmberg's early fieldwork among the Siriono, and B is the popular belief that the Amazon can't support complex societies. D says the region's natural history is tied to what its prehistoric people did. The technology heading and the hostility heading describe nothing in the passage.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | v | — |
| 14 | i | — |
| 15 | vi | — |
Questions 16-21
The writer calls the 'Amazonia can't support complexity' idea a myth (NO) and a costly misconception (YES). Ecologists wrongly assumed that nature alone shaped the forest (NO). The Indians are crucial to the forest (YES), and parts of it could support more people (YES). No other ecosystems are compared.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | NO | — |
| 17 | YES | — |
| 18 | NOT GIVEN | — |
| 19 | NO | — |
| 20 | YES | — |
| 21 | YES | — |
Questions 22-25
Holmberg saw the Siriono as extremely primitive. The writer says ruins of complex societies are indigenous, not invaders'. The belief that only natural forces shaped the forest has been shown wrong. The new understanding points to a middle ground that should change development policy.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | C | — |
| 23 | A | — |
| 24 | B | — |
| 25 | C | — |
The questions most people get wrong
NO. Ecologists assumed ecosystems were shaped entirely by natural forces and studied areas they believed were untouched by people.
A. The dismissal of ruins as invaders' leftovers is the view the writer rejects. He says complex indigenous societies lived there for over 1,000 years.
C. The prehistory points to a middle ground between blocking all development and unchecked destruction, which would change present policy.
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