# The problems and benefits created by the spread of the water hyacinth in Kenya: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 21, Test 4, Reading Passage 1

Source: Passage, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 21, Test 4, Reading Passage 1. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | TRUE | who liked the look of its glossy leaves and delicate purple flowers floating in their ponds |
| 2 | FALSE | made its way downstream to Lake Victoria |
| 3 | TRUE | struggle to navigate through the mass of plants |
| 4 | NOT GIVEN | blocking fishing routes and providing a new habitat for disease-carrying mosquitoes |
| 5 | NOT GIVEN | About three out of four families in Kenya depend on wood or charcoal to cook their daily meals ... Using solid fuels like these for cooking increases indoor pollution. |
| 6 | FALSE | huge piles of water hyacinth that villagers had taken out of the water in an attempt to clear it were a common sight |
| 7 | TRUE | since as early as the 1980s when, across the world, they began to explore its potential as a biofuel |
| 8 | cow dung | machines that would transform a mix of water hyacinth and cow dung into biogas for cooking. |
| 9 | fermentation | it goes through a fermentation process and breaks down |
| 10 | pipes | the clean-burning gas is passed through pipes to the point of use |
| 11 | time | they don't have to devote a lot of time every day to gathering firewood |
| 12 | money | they're able to make more money for their families from other enterprises. |
| 13 | price | But unless the price of the machines drops |

## Why these answers are right

**1. TRUE.** Paragraph B says the plant arrived in east Africa with Belgian colonists in Rwanda, who liked the look of its glossy leaves and purple flowers in their ponds. Keeping a plant in ponds for its appearance means it was introduced as decoration, so TRUE.

**2. FALSE.** Paragraph B explains that the plant escaped from Rwanda via the Kagera river and made its way downstream to Lake Victoria. It traveled there naturally on the river, not carried by people, so the claim that fishermen took it is FALSE.

**3. TRUE.** Paragraph C says the boats that once brought fish to shore now struggle to navigate through the mass of plants. Struggling to get through a dense mass of plants means it is difficult to force boats through thick hyacinth, so the statement is TRUE.

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