TEST 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which

are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
The return of the huarango
The arid valleys of southern Peru are welcoming the return of a
native plant
The south coast of Peru is a narrow, 2,000-kilometre-long strip
of desert squeezed between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean. It is
also one of the most fragile ecosystems on Earth. It hardly ever
rains there, and the only year-round source of water is located
tens of metres below the surface. This is why the huarango tree is
so suited to life there: it has the longest roots of any tree in the
world. They stretch down 50-80 metres and, as well as sucking up
water for the tree, (Q1) they bring it into the higher subsoil,
creating a water source for other plant life.
Dr David Beresford-Jones, archaeobotanist at Cambridge
University, has been studying the role of the huarango tree in
landscape change in the Lower Ica Valley in southern Peru. He
believes the huarango was key=a crucial to the ancient
people’s= inhabitats’ diet (Q2) and, because it could reach deep
water sources, it allowed local people to withstand years of
drought (Q3) when their other crops failed. But over the centuries
huarango trees were gradually replaced with crops. Cutting down
native woodland leads to erosion, (Q4) as there is nothing to keep
the soil in place. So when the huarangos go, the land turns into a
desert. (Q5) Nothing grows at all in the Lower Ica Valley now.
For centuries the huarango tree was vital to the people of the
neighbouring Middle Ica Valley too. They grew vegetables under
it and ate products made from its seed pods. Its leaves and bark
were used for herbal = medicine (Q7) remedies, while its
branches were used for charcoal=fuel for cooking and heating,
(Q6) and its trunk was used to build houses=contruction. (Q8) But
now it is disappearing rapidly. The majority of the huarango
forests in the valley have already been cleared for fuel and
agriculture – initially, these were smallholdings, but now they’re
huge farms producing crops for the international market.
‘Of the forests that were here 1,000 years ago, 99 per cent
have already gone,’ says botanist Oliver Whaley from Kew
Gardens in London, who, together with ethnobotanist Dr William
Milliken, is running a pioneering project to protect and restore the
rapidly disappearing habitat. In order to succeed, Whaley needs
to get the local people on board, and that has meant overcoming
local prejudices. ‘Increasingly aspirational communities think that
if you plant food trees in your home or street, it shows you are
poor, and still need to grow your own food,’ he says. In order to
stop the Middle Ica Valley going the same way as the Lower Ica
Valley, Whaley is encouraging locals to love the huarangos again.
‘It’s a process of cultural resuscitation,’ he says. He has already
set up a huarango festival to reinstate a sense of pride in their
eco-heritage, and has helped local schoolchildren plant
thousands of trees.
‘In order to get people interested in habitat restoration, you
need to plant a tree that is useful to them,’ says Whaley. So, he
has been working with local families to attempt to create a
sustainable income from the huarangos by turning their products
into foodstuffs. ‘Boil up the beans and you get this thick brown
syrup like molasses. You can also use it in drinks, soups or stews.’
The pods can be ground into flour to make cakes, and the seeds
roasted into a sweet, chocolatey ‘coffee’. ‘It’s packed full of
vitamins and minerals,’ Whaley says.
And some farmers are already planting huarangos. Alberto
Benevides, owner of Ica Valley’s only certified organic farm,
which Whaley helped set up, has been planting the tree for 13
years. He produces syrup and flour, and sells these products at
an organic farmers’ market in Lima. His farm is relatively small
and doesn’t yet provide him with enough to live on, but he hopes
this will change. ‘The organic market is growing rapidly in Peru,’
Benevides says. ‘I am investing in the future.’ (Q10) (Q9) (đoạn
văn không đề cập tới việc local families nói cho Whaley về
traditional uses of huarango products)
But even if Whaley can convince the local people to fall in love
with the huarango again, there is still the threat of the larger
farms. Some of these cut across the forests and break up the
corridors that allow the essential movement of mammals, birds
and pollen up and down the narrow forest strip. In the hope of
counteracting this, he’s persuading farmers to let him plant forest
corridors on their land. He believes the extra woodland will also
benefit the farms by reducing their water usage through a
lowering of evaporation and providing a refuge for bio-control
insects. (Q11)
‘If we can record biodiversity and see how it all works, then
we’re in a good position to move on from there. Desert habitats
can reduce down to very little,’ (Q12)Whaley explains. ‘It’s not
like a rainforest that needs to have this huge expanse. Life has
 always been confined to corridors and islands here. If you just
have a few trees left, the population can grow up quickly because
it’s used to exploiting water when it arrives.’ He sees his project
as a model that has the potential to be rolled out across other
arid areas around the world. ‘If we can do it here, in the most
fragile system on Earth, then that’s a real message of hope for
lots of places, including Africa, where there is drought and they
just can’t afford to wait for rain.’ (Q13)
Questions 1-5
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answer in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
The importance of the huarango tree
– its roots can extend as far as 80 metres into the soil
– can access 1…water……………… deep below the surface
– was a crucial part of local inhabitants’ 2…diet…………… a long
time ago
– helped people to survive periods of 3…drought………………..
– prevents 4……erosion…………… of the soil
– prevents land from becoming a 5……desert……………
Questions 6-8
Complete the table below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for
each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 6-8 on your answer sheet.

Traditional uses of the huarango tree

Part of tree Traditional use
6……the branches………….. Fuel
7……leaves……. and …
Medicine
bark……….
8……trunk………… construction

Questions 9-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in
Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
9 Local families have told Whaley about some traditional uses of
huarango products. NG
10 Farmer Alberto Benevides is now making a good profit from
growing huarangos. F
11 Whaley needs the co-operation of farmers to help preserve
the area’s wildlife. T
12 For Whaley’s project to succeed, it needs to be extended
over a very large area. F
13 Whaley has plans to go to Africa to set up a similar project.
NG