The text has nine paragraphs, A -I.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Ecosystems can fight back
A. Conventional wisdom is often a poor guide. For one thing it suggests that human damage to the world’s species, habitats and ecosystems is terminal: that when things are lost, they are lost for ever. But oil spills of the sort that now threaten the Timor Sea, forest fires like those that recently afflicted Greece, and other man-made and man-assisted threats to wildlife are transient. Except in those cases in which a species is driven to extinction, the Earth’s ability to shrug such things off is often underestimated.
B. Alan Weisman shows this in his book, “The World Without Us”, which illustrates nature’s great capacity to recover. Have mankind abducted by aliens or wiped out by some Homo sapiens-specific virus, and nature, Mr Weisman reckons, would reclaim its territory with surprising speed, as weeds colonised pavements, rivers flooded subway tunnels and buildings burst as they were played like concertinas by a cycle of freezing and thawing. By Mr Weisman’s reckoning, residential neighbourhoods would return to forest in 500 years and only the most stubborn of human inventions, such as certain plastics, would prove permanent.
C. Mr Weisman’s conclusion was backed up earlier this year by a study published in the Public Library of Science by Holly Jones and Oswald Schmitz, of Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. They used Web of Science, an online journal archive, to gather a set of 240 peer-reviewed scientific papers that measured recovery rates in large terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The data thus available included work on agriculture, deforestation, the introduction of invasive species, logging, mining, oil spills, overfishing and the damage done to seabeds by trawling, as well as, for comparison, naturally occurring disasters such as hurricanes.
D. The pair measured 94 aspects of how ecosystems are put together, including the ways in which nutrients cycle within them, the rates at which decomposition takes place and the sizes of their plant and animal populations, so that they could classify whether, and how fast, an area had recovered. They found that 83 of the 240 papers demonstrated complete recovery, while 90 showed a mixed response. Only 67 showed no recovery at all and, as the authors explain, more would have recovered if the projects had continued for long enough to track the changes in ecosystems that respond more slowly, such as forests.
E. Ecosystems exposed to more than one pressure, such as a forest that is first felled and then used for agriculture, took the longest to recover. Even in those cases, though, the average recovery time was, at 56 years, within a human lifetime. Sites that experienced single threats typically recovered in less than 20 years. The researchers found that recovery rates are influenced more by the type of ecosystem than by the magnitude of the damage inflicted upon it. Forests, for example, take longer to renew (42 years) than ocean floors (typically less than ten) regardless of the scale of the stresses inflicted on them.
F. Some commentators are sceptical about such positive findings. They point out that, of necessity, the study’s retrospective methodology includes papers published before researchers were required to declare any competing interests. This may have allowed, for example, an oil company to produce a report that plays down the damage done by a spillage. But such biased individual reports would be unlikely to affect the overall findings of a large study like this one.
G. Critics also question whether total ecological recovery really has been achieved as often as Ms Jones and Dr Schmitz suggest, and point to examples where it manifestly has not, such as the cod fishery of the Grand Banks, off the coast of Newfoundland, which collapsed in 1992. Almost two decades on, the cod show no sign of recovery, perhaps because new predators, such as dogfish, now dominate the waters.
H. It is true, though, that the question of what is pristine or natural can be debatable. A good example of this, which Mr Weisman uses in his book, is Dartmoor, a national park in the south-west of England. Dartmoor is considered by many to be one of Britain’s great nature wildernesses. In fact, it is a human construction, formed by tens of thousands of years’ worth of alterations such as burning and agriculture. But it is in its current state, rather than as the forest it once was, that people wish to preserve it. Ms Jones and Dr Schmitz point out that most conservation work is not actually concerned with returning landscapes to their natural or prehuman states and “instead use contemporaneous reference systems as targets”.
I. Despite their study’s limitations, and the difficulty of measuring recovery and choosing targets, Ms Jones’s and Dr Schmitz’s findings are good news for conservationists. But the final word of advice belongs to Mr Weisman as he invites people to ponder an alternative to his post-human future: “Since we’re imagining, why not dream of a way for nature to prosper that doesn’t depend on our demise?”
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | the main factor affecting recovery rates | |||||||||
| 2 | a picture of urban life taken over by nature | |||||||||
| 3 | examples of environmental damage caused by humans | |||||||||
| 4 | positive results from a study | |||||||||
| 5 | the kind of information gathered from scientific records |
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Question Focus: Synonym match - 'main factor' = 'influenced more by the type of ecosystem'
Why this is correct: Paragraph E clearly explains what affects recovery rates most. It says recovery depends more on the type of ecosystem, not how big the damage was.
Passage Reference: Ecosystems exposed to more than one pressure, such as a forest that is first felled and then used for agriculture, took the longest to recover. Even in those cases, though, the average recovery time was, at 56 years, within a human lifetime. Sites that experienced single threats typically recovered in less than 20 years. The researchers found that recovery rates are influenced more by the type of ecosystem than by the magnitude of the damage inflicted upon it. Forests, for example, take longer to renew (42 years) than ocean floors (typically less than ten) regardless of the scale of the stresses inflicted on them.
Common Mistake: Some students choose Paragraph D because it talks about measurements and results, but it does not explain what factor matters most. This is a Wrong section trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'influenced more by the type of ecosystem' = Statement: 'the main factor affecting recovery rates'
Tips: When you see 'main factor', scan for comparison language like 'more than' or 'less than'.
Key Vocabulary:
- magnitude = size
- inflicted = caused
Question Focus: Descriptive match - cities returning to nature
Passage Reference: Alan Weisman shows this in his book, 'The World Without Us', which illustrates nature's great capacity to recover. Have mankind abducted by aliens or wiped out by some Homo sapiens-specific virus, and nature, Mr Weisman reckons, would reclaim its territory with surprising speed, as weeds colonised pavements, rivers flooded subway tunnels and buildings burst as they were played like concertinas by a cycle of freezing and thawing.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B gives a clear visual image of cities after humans disappear. Nature takes over pavements, subways, and buildings, which matches urban life reclaimed by nature.
Common Mistake: Some students choose Paragraph A because it mentions disasters, but it does not describe cities being taken over. This is a Context shift trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'weeds colonised pavements' = Statement: 'urban life taken over by nature'
Tips: For questions with images or scenes, look for strong descriptive language.
Key Vocabulary:
- colonised = spread over
- reclaim = take back
Question Focus: Direct match - human-caused damage examples
Passage Reference: Conventional wisdom is often a poor guide. For one thing it suggests that human damage to the world's species, habitats and ecosystems is terminal: that when things are lost, they are lost for ever. But oil spills of the sort that now threaten the Timor Sea, forest fires like those that recently afflicted Greece, and other man-made and man-assisted threats to wildlife are transient.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A lists clear examples of damage caused by humans, like oil spills and forest fires. This directly matches the statement.
Common Mistake: Some students choose Paragraph C because it mentions research topics, but that paragraph is about studies, not examples themselves. This is a Wrong section trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'oil spills, forest fires' = Statement: 'environmental damage caused by humans'
Tips: If the statement asks for examples, look for lists separated by commas.
Key Vocabulary:
- transient = temporary
- afflicted = badly affected
Question Focus: Summary of findings - recovery shown
Passage Reference: The pair measured 94 aspects of how ecosystems are put together, including the ways in which nutrients cycle within them, the rates at which decomposition takes place and the sizes of their plant and animal populations, so that they could classify whether, and how fast, an area had recovered. They found that 83 of the 240 papers demonstrated complete recovery, while 90 showed a mixed response. Only 67 showed no recovery at all and, as the authors explain, more would have recovered if the projects had continued for long enough to track the changes in ecosystems that respond more slowly, such as forests.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D reports strong positive findings from the study, showing many ecosystems did recover. The numbers clearly support this.
Common Mistake: Some students choose Paragraph I because it says 'good news', but it is a commentary, not the study results themselves. This is a Wrong section trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'demonstrated complete recovery' = Statement: 'positive results from a study'
Tips: For study results, look for numbers, percentages, or outcome words like 'found' or 'showed'.
Key Vocabulary:
- demonstrated = showed
- recovery = return to normal
Question Focus: Definition match - what data was collected
Passage Reference: Mr Weisman's conclusion was backed up earlier this year by a study published in the Public Library of Science by Holly Jones and Oswald Schmitz, of Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. They used Web of Science, an online journal archive, to gather a set of 240 peer-reviewed scientific papers that measured recovery rates in large terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The data thus available included work on agriculture, deforestation, the introduction of invasive species, logging, mining, oil spills, overfishing and the damage done to seabeds by trawling, as well as, for comparison, naturally occurring disasters such as hurricanes.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C explains what information was collected from scientific records. It lists the types of studies and damage included in the data.
Common Mistake: Some students choose Paragraph D because it talks about measurements, but it focuses on results, not what records contained. This is a Context shift trap.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'peer-reviewed scientific papers' = Statement: 'scientific records'
Tips: When you see 'kind of information', look for explanations of sources and data types.
Key Vocabulary:
- peer-reviewed = checked by experts
- archive = stored records
General Tips:
- Matching Features questions do not follow passage order. Always scan for key ideas.
- Paragraph matching often uses synonyms, not the same words.
- Focus on what the paragraph mainly does - examples, results, criticism, or description.
- Do not choose a paragraph just because it mentions the topic. Match the exact purpose.
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