Secrets of The Forest Reading Answers

Updated On Aug 26, 2021

The Academic passage ‘Secrets of the Forest’ is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test. Read the passage below and answer questions 1-13. Beyond the questions, you will find the answers along with the location of the answers in the passage and the keywords that help you find out the answers.

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The answers to questions 1-13 are given below with their explanations.

Question Number	Answer	Explanation
1	v	In section A, the author communicates that in 1942 Allan R Holmberg, a doctoral student in anthropology from Yale University, USA, ventured deep into the jungle of Bolivian ‘Amazonia’ and ‘searched out’ (revealed) an isolated band of ‘Siriono Indians’. As Holmberg was the first person to explore the Amazonian Indians, the answer is v (Early research among the Indian Amazons).
2	i	Section B discloses that the ‘apparent simplicity of Indian ways of life’ has been judged to be an evolutionary adaptation to forest ecology by observers, scientists and planners. But, it is a living proof that ‘Amazonia could not – and cannot – sustain a more complex society’ (unable to support a more complex society). Hence, the answer is i (Amazonia as unable to sustain complex societies).
3	vi	Section D acquaints us with the fact that the archaeological evidence shows that ‘the natural history of Amazonia’ is ‘tied to’ (influenced by) ‘the activities of its prehistoric inhabitants’. Hence, the answer is vi (The influence of prehistoric inhabitants on Amazonian natural history).

4	YES	Section B explains that the ‘apparent simplicity of Indian ways of life’ has been judged to be an evolutionary adaptation to forest ecology by observers, scientists and planners. But, it is a living proof that ‘Amazonia could not – and cannot – sustain a more complex society’ (unable to support a more complex society). As the statement agrees with the views of the writer, the answer is ‘YES’.
5	YES	Section C finds out that the popular conception of Amazonia and its native residents would be enormously consequential if it were true. But the ‘human history of Amazonia’ in the past 11,000 years ‘betrays that view as myth’ (crucial popular misconception about the popular conception). As the statement agrees with the views of the writer, the answer is ‘YES’.
6	NOT GIVEN	The only reference to ecosystems in the whole passage is in part D where it is given that ecologists have assumed that tropical ecosystems were shaped entirely by natural forces and they have focused their research on habitats they believe have escaped human influence. As this is not related to the statement, the answer is ‘NOT GIVEN.
7	NO	Section D declares that the evidence for a revised ‘view of Amazonia’ will take many people by surprise. ‘Ecologists’ have assumed that tropical ecosystems were ‘shaped entirely by natural forces’ (not by human settlement) and they have focused their research on habitats they believe have escaped human influence. As the statement contradicts the views of the writer, the answer is ‘NO’.
8	YES	Section F mentions that in the clash between environmentalists and developers, the ‘Indians, whose presence is crucial to the survival of the forest’ (indigenous Amazonian Indians are necessary to the well-being of the forest), have suffered the most. As the statement agrees with the views of the writer, the answer is ‘YES’.
9	YES	Section F gives a new understanding of the pre-history of ‘Amazonia’ that points toward a middle ground. Archaeology makes clear that with judicious management ‘selected parts of the region’ (certain parts of Amazonia) could ‘support more people’ (support a higher population) than anyone thought before. As the statement agrees with the views of the writer, the answer is ‘YES’.
10	C	Section A reveals that in ‘1942 Allan R Holmberg, a doctoral student in anthropology’ from Yale University, USA, ventured deep into the jungle of Bolivian Amazonia and searched out an isolated band of Siriono Indians. The ‘Siriono’, Holmberg later wrote, led ‘a “strikingly backward” existence’ (extremely primitive way of living). Hence, the answer is C (were an extremely primitive society).
11	B	Section B points out that archaeological traces of ‘more elaborate cultures’ (settlements) have been dismissed as the ‘ruins’ (remains) ‘of invaders from outside the region’, abandoned to decay in the uncompromising tropical environment. Hence, the answer is B (are the remains of settlements by invaders).
12	B	Section D states that ‘ecologists have assumed’ (assumptions of ecologists) that ‘tropical ecosystems’ were ‘shaped entirely by natural forces’ (created solely by natural forces). But as the University of Florida ‘ecologist, Peter Feinsinger’, has noted, an approach that leaves people out of the equation ‘is no longer tenable’. Hence, the answer is B (has been shown to be incorrect by recent research).
13	C	Section F mentions that the major casualty of the “naturalism” of environmental scientists has been the indigenous Amazonians, whose habits of hunting, fishing, and slash-and-burn cultivation often have been represented as harmful to the habitat (previous understanding). But, the ‘new understanding of the pre-history of Amazonia’ (new insights into the Amazonian past) points toward a middle ground. The ‘judicious management selected parts of the region’ (application of new insights) ‘could support more people than anyone thought before’ (change in present policies on development). Hence, the answer is C (change present policies on development in the region).