# Governments and Environmental Management: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 3, Test 2, Reading Passage 2

Source: Passage, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 3, Test 2, 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 | v | The role of governments in environmental management is difficult but inescapable. |
| 15 | vii | World food output per head has risen by 4 per cent between the 1970s and 1980s |
| 16 | ii | All these activities may have damaging environmental impacts. |
| 17 | iv | In the rich countries, subsidies for growing crops and price supports for farm output drive up the price of land. |
| 18 | i | A result of the Uruguay Round of world trade negotiations is likely to be a reduction of 36 per cent |
| 19 | G | land clearing for agriculture is the largest single cause of deforestation |
| 20 | C | chemical fertilisers and pesticides may contaminate water supplies |
| 21 | F | more intensive farming and the abandonment of fallow periods tend to exacerbate soil erosion |
| 22 | B | the spread of monoculture and use of high-yielding varieties of crops have been accompanied by the disappearance of old varieties of food plants |
| 23 | C | about one-fifth of its farmland was losing topsoil at a rate likely to diminish the soil's productivity |
| 24 | B | Fertiliser use doubled in Denmark in the period 1960-1985 |
| 25 | D | Farms began to diversify. |
| 26 | C | In less enlightened countries, and in the European Union, the trend has been to reduce rather than eliminate subsidies |
| 27 | A | more farmers in poor countries will have the money and the incentive to manage their land in ways that are sustainable in the long run |
| 28 | A | Scrapping them offers a two-fold bonus: a cleaner environment and a more efficient economy. |

## Why these answers are right

**14. v.** Section A opens by calling the role of governments in environmental management difficult but inescapable, then argues that scrapping harmful subsidies gives a cleaner environment and a better economy. Its general focus on governments and the environment matches heading v.

**15. vii.** Section B describes how much land farming covers and how world food output per head rose by 4 per cent through higher yields and more cultivated land. It links farming with food output and says nothing yet about damage, so heading vii fits.

**16. ii.** Section C begins by saying all these farming activities may have damaging environmental impacts and then lists deforestation, polluted water, erosion and lost plant varieties. That range of harms from modern farming matches heading ii.

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

[Practice Governments and Environmental Management](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/governments-and-environmental-management)