{"id":7589,"date":"2022-11-23T05:54:59","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T05:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ielts.completesuccess.in\/?p=7589"},"modified":"2022-11-23T06:03:19","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T06:03:19","slug":"cambridge-academic-book-15-test-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ielts.completesuccess.in\/index.php\/2022\/11\/23\/cambridge-academic-book-15-test-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Cambridge Academic Book 15 Test 4"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Reading Passage 1<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

The return of the huarango<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>

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, they bring it into the higher subsoil, creating a water source for other plant life.<\/span><\/p>

Dr David Beresford-Jones, archaeobotanist at Cambridge University, has been studying the role of the huarango tree in landscape change in the Lower lea Valley in southern Peru. He believes the huarango was key to the ancient people\u2019s diet and, because it could reach deep water sources, it allowed local people to withstand years of drought when their other crops failed. But over the centuries huarango trees were gradually replaced with crops. Cutting down native woodland leads to erosion, as there is nothing to keep the soil in place. So when the huarangos go, the land turns into a desert. Nothing grows at all in the Lower lea Valley now.<\/span><\/p>

For centuries the huarango tree was vital to the people of the neighbouring Middle lea Valley too. They grew vegetables under it and ate products made from its seed pods. Its leaves and bark were used for herbal remedies, while its branches were used for charcoal for cooking and heating, and its trunk was used to build houses. But now it is disappearing rapidly. The majority of the huarango forests in the valley have already been cleared for fuel and agriculture \u2013 initially, these were smallholdings, but now they\u2019re huge farms producing crops for the international market.<\/span><\/p>

\u2018Of the forests that were here 1,000 years ago, 99 per cent have already gone,\u2019 says botanist Oliver Whaley from Kew Gardens in London, who, together with ethnobotanist Dr William Milliken, is rumiing 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. \u2018Increasingly 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,\u2019 he says. In order to stop the Middle lea Valley going the same way as the Lower lea Valley, Whaley is encouraging locals to love the huarangos again. \u2018It\u2019s a process of cultural resuscitation,\u2019 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.<\/span><\/p>

\u2018In order to get people interested in habitat restoration, you need to plant a tree that is useful to them,\u2019 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. \u2018Boil up the beans and you get this thick brown syrup like molasses. You can also use it in drinks, soups or stews.\u2019 The pods can be ground into flour to make cakes, and the seeds roasted into a sweet, chocolatey \u2018coffee\u2019. \u2018It\u2019s packed full of vitamins and minerals,\u2019 Whaley says.<\/span><\/p>

And some farmers are already planting huarangos. Alberto Benevides, owner of lea Valley\u2019s 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\u2019 market in Lima. His farm is relatively small and doesn\u2019t yet provide him with enough to live on, but he hopes this will change. \u2018The organic market is growing rapidly in Peru,\u2019 Benevides says. \u2018I am investing in the future.\u2019<\/span><\/p>

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\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>

\u2018If we can record biodiversity and see how it all works, then we\u2019re in a good position to move on from there. Desert habitats can reduce down to very little,\u2019 Whaley explains. \u2018It\u2019s 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\u2019s used to exploiting water when it arrives.\u2019 He sees his project as a model that has the potential to be rolled out across other arid areas around the world. \u2018If we can do it here, in the most fragile system on Earth, then that\u2019s a real message of hope for lots of places, including Africa, where there is drought and they just can\u2019t afford to wait for rain.\u2019<\/span><\/p>

Questions 1-5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Complete the notes below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY<\/strong> from the passage for each answer.<\/span><\/p>

The importance of the huarango tree<\/strong><\/span><\/p>