# Disappearing Delta: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 5, Test 3, Reading Passage 2

Source: Passage, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 5, Test 3, Reading Passage 2. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 14 | iv | which hold back virtually all of the sediment that used to flow down the river |
| 15 | i | The water in the irrigation canals is still or very slow-moving and thus cannot carry sediment |
| 16 | v | The farms on the delta plains and fishing and aquaculture in the lagoons account for much of Egypt's food supply. |
| 17 | viii | in the long term an alternative process such as desalination may have to be used |
| 18 | YES | land scoured away from the coastline by the currents of the Mediterranean Sea used to be replaced by sediment |
| 19 | NOT GIVEN | Up to now, people have blamed this loss of delta land on the two large dams at Aswan |
| 20 | NO | to provide electricity and irrigation, and to protect the huge population centre of Cairo |
| 21 | YES | almost half of what it carried before the dams were built |
| 22 | NOT GIVEN | The sediment sinks to the bottom of the canals |
| 23 | YES | pumped with the water into the four large freshwater lagoons |
| 24 | F | "Pollutants are building up faster and faster," says Stanley. |
| 25 | A | one solution would be to make artificial floods to flush out the delta waterways |
| 26 | B | an alternative process such as desalination may have to be used to increase the amount of water available |

## Why these answers are right

**14. iv.** Paragraph B explains that for 7,000 years annual floods carried sediment to the delta and replaced soil lost to the sea, until the Aswan dams held back virtually all of it. That is a natural process being interrupted, so heading iv fits.

**15. i.** Paragraph D describes how most Nile water north of Cairo is diverted into irrigation canals, where slow water drops its sediment, which then goes onto fields or into lagoons instead of reaching the coast. This is the effect of irrigation on sedimentation, heading i.

**16. v.** Paragraph E opens by noting that delta farms and lagoon fishing provide much of Egypt's food, then explains that the sediment reaching them is full of urban, industrial and farm waste. The point is the risk this poses to food production, heading v.

The why and the trap for questions 17 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/disappearing-delta/answers).

[Practice Disappearing Delta](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/disappearing-delta)