The “Extinct” Grass in Britain- IELTS Reading Answer

The Reading Module of the IELTS can be the top-scoring category, with diligent practice. To achieve the best results in this section, you must understand how to approach and answer the different Question types in the Reading Module. By solving and reviewing Sample Reading Questions from past IELTS papers, you can ensure that your Reading skills are up to the mark.

Reading Passage

The “Extinct” Grass in Britain

Questions 1-8

1 The name of interrupted brome comes from the fact that the unprepossessing grass disappeared from places in the world for a period.

2 Interrupted brome became extinct because they were kept accidentally at room temperature.

3 Philip Smith worked at the University of Manchester.

4 English Nature has planned to recover the interrupted brome with seeds from Kew Botanic Gardens.

5 Farmers in the British countryside were pleased to grow interrupted brome for the agricultural landscape.

6 Legumes were used for feeding livestock and enriching the soil.

7 Interrupted brome grows poorly when competing with other energetic plants.

8 Only weedkillers can stop interrupting brome from becoming an invasive pest.

Questions 9 – 13

9 identified interrupted brome as another species of brome.

10 convinced others about the status of interrupted brome in the botanic world.

11 found interrupted brome together with sainfoin.

12 helped farmers know that sainfoin is useful for enriching the soil.

13 collected the first sample of interrupted brome.

A A.M. Barnard

B Professor Hackel

C George Claridge Druce

D Joan Thirsk

E Philip Smith

F Nathaniel Fiennes

1 Answer: False

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 1

Answer explanation: The first paragraph states that Bromus interruptus, commonly known as the interrupted brome, is a plant in the true grass family. Called interrupted brome because of its gappy seed-head, this unprepossessing grass was found nowhere else in the world. These lines suggest the name of interrupted brome comes from the fact that the unprepossessing grass was found nowhere in the world for a period. Thus, the statement contradicts the information, so, the answer is False.

2 Answer: True

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 1 & 3 (line 4)

Answer explanation: The first paragraph states that even the seeds stored at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden as an insurance policy were dead, having been mistakenly kept at room temperature. The 4th line of paragraph 3 illustrates that It was sad, he said, that interrupted brome had become extinct. These lines indicate that interrupted brome became extinct because they were kept accidentally at room temperature. Hence, the statement agrees with the information, so, the answer is True.

3 Answer: Not Given

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 3

Answer explanation: The 3rd paragraph illustrates that At first, Philip Smith was unaware that the scrawny pots of grass on his bench were all that remained of a uniquely British species. However, there’s no reference to the fact that Philip Smith worked at the University of Manchester. Hence, the answer is Not Given.

4 Answer: Not Given

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 4

Answer explanation: Paragraph 4 illustrates that Seeds from Smith’s plants have been securely stored in the state-of-the-art Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place in Sussex. And living plants thrive at the botanic gardens at Kew, Edinburgh, and Cambridge. However, there’s no reference to the fact that English nature has planned to recover the interrupted brome with seeds from Kew Botanic Gardens. Thus, the answer is Not Given.

5 Answer: False

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 4, line 6

Answer explanation: In the 6th line of the 4th paragraph, it is mentioned that English Nature has included interrupted brome in its Species Recovery Programme, and it is on track to be reintroduced into the agricultural landscape if friendly farmers can be found. The brome was probably never common enough to irritate farmers, but no one would value it today for its productivity or its nutritious qualities. We can deduce from these lines that English nature interrupted brome in its species recovery program and is on track to be re-introduced into the agricultural landscape. Therefore, the statement, that farmers in the British countryside were pleased to grow interrupted the brome for the agricultural landscape contradicts the information, so, the answer is False.

6 Answer: True

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 5, line 4

Answer explanation: The 4th line of the 5th paragraph states that Seeds brought in from the Continent were sown in pastures to feed horses and other livestock. And by 1650 the legumes were increasingly introduced into arable rotations, to serve as “green nature” to boost grain yields. Here, seeds refer to legumes, and thus, the legumes were used for feeding livestock and enriching the soil. Thus, the statement agrees with the information, so, the answer is True.

7 Answer: True

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 2

Answer explanation: Paragraph 2 illustrates, that Interrupted brome has come back from the dead, and not through any fancy genetic engineering. Thanks to one green-fingered botanist, interrupted brome is alive and well living as a pot plant. These lines indicate that the interrupted brome grows poorly when competing with other energetic plants. Thus, the statement agrees with the information, so, the answer is True

8 Answer: False

Question type: True/ False/ Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 7,line 2

Answer explanation: The 2nd line of paragraph 7 illustrates that Each spring, the brome relied on farmers to resow its seeds; in the days before weedkillers and sophisticated seed sieves, an ample supply would have contaminated stocks of crop seed. Therefore, the statement: that only weedkillers can stop interrupting brome to become an invasive pest contradicts the information, so, the answer is False.

9 Answer: B

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph 4, line 12

Answer explanation: The twelfth line of the 4th paragraph states that so close is the relationship that interrupted brome was originally deemed to be a mere variety of soft brome by the great Victorian taxonomist Professor Hackel. Thus, it was taxonomist Professor Hacker suggested identifying interrupted brome as another species of brome. So, the answer is B.

10 Answer: C

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph 4, last line

Answer explanation: The last line of the 4th paragraph suggests, “But in 1895, George Claridge Druce, a 45-year-old Oxford pharmacist with a shop on the High Street, decided that it deserved species status, and convinced the botanical world. Druce was by then well on his way to fame as an Oxford don, mayor of the city, and a fellow of the Royal Society.” It is evident from these lines that George Claridge Druce convinced others about the status of interrupted brome in the botanic world. Thus, the answer is C.

11 Answer: D

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph 5, line 3

Answer explanation: The 3rd line of paragraph 5 illustrates that According to agricultural historian Joan Thirsk, sainfoin and its friends made their first modest appearance in Britain in the early 1600s. Seeds brought in from the Continent were sown in pastures to feed horses and other livestock. These lines indicate that Joan Thirsk found interrupted brome together with sainfoin. Hence, the answer is D

12 Answer: F

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph 5, last line

Answer explanation: The last line of the 5th paragraph state that A bestseller of its day, Nathaniel Fiennes’s Sainfoin Improved, published in 1671, helped to spread the word. These lines suggest that it was Nathaniel Fiennes who helped farmers know that sainfoin is useful for enriching the soil. Thus, the answer is F.

13 Answer: A

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph 6

Answer explanation: Paragraph 6 illustrates the fact that Although the credit for the “discovery” of interrupted brome goes to a Miss A.M. Barnard, who collected the first specimens at Odsey, Bedfordshire, in 1849, the grass had probably lurked undetected in the English countryside for at least a hundred years. It is clear from these lines that It was A.M. Barnard who collected the first sample of interrupted brome. Hence, the answer is A.