Dark Soil Reading Answer
IELTS Academic Reading Passage![](https://www.ieltsvisa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Dark-soil-1.png)
Dark soil
To find it, you have to go digging in rainforests, and to the untrained eye, it does not seem special at all – just a thick layer of dark earth that would not look out of place in many gardens. But these fertile, dark soils are in fact very special, because despite the lushness of tropical rainforests, the soils beneath them are usually very poor and thin. Even more surprising is where this dark soil comes from.
‘You might expect this precious fertile resource to be found in the deep jungle, far from human settlements or farmers,’ says James Fraser, who has been hunting for it in Africa’s rainforests. ‘But I go looking for dark earth round the edge of villages and ancient towns, and in traditionally farmed areas. It’s usually there. And the older and larger the settlement, the more dark earth there is.’
Such findings are overturning some long-held ideas. Jungle farmers are usually blamed not just for cutting down trees but also for exhausting the soils. And yet the discovery of these rich soils – first in South America and now in Africa, too – suggest that, whether by chance or design, many people living in rainforests farmed in a way that enhanced rather than destroyed soils. In fact, it is becoming clear that part of what we think of as lush pure rainforest is actually long-abandoned farmland, enriched by the waste created by ancient humans.
Questions 1-2
What is significant about the ‘dark soil’ that the writer is referring to?
You will need to select more than one response.
A It indicates the presence of good soil below it..
B It is not present in rainforests.
C It has resulted from agricultural activity.
D It is more common in South America than Africa.
E It is being found near where humans have lived.
F It has confirmed what people have believed for a long time.
G It is less productive than people once thought..
Solution for: Dark Soil Reading Answer
1. C, E IN ANY ORDER | 2. C, E IN ANY ORDER |
Latest Academic Reading Passages
![The Birth Of Scientific English Reading Answer](https://www.ieltsvisa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/The-Birth-of-Scientific-English.png)
The Birth Of Scientific English Reading Answer
World science is dominated today by a small number of languages, including Japanese, German and French, but it is English which is probably the most popular global language of science. This is not just because of the importance of English-...
![The Birds Of London Reading Answer](https://www.ieltsvisa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/The-Birds-Of-London.png)
The Birds Of London Reading Answer
There are more than two hundred different species and sub-species of birds in the London area, ranging from the magpie to the greenfinch, but perhaps the most ubiquitous is the pigeon. It has been suggested that the swarms of feral pigeons are...
![The Benefits Of Being Bilingual Reading Answer](https://www.ieltsvisa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/The-Benefits-of-Being-Bilingual.png)
The Benefits Of Being Bilingual Reading Answer
A According to the latest figures, the majority of the world’s population is now bilingual or multilingual, having grown up speaking two or more languages. In the past, such children were considered to be at a disadvantage compared with their...
![The Beginning Of Football Reading Answer](https://www.ieltsvisa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/The-Beginning-Of-Football.png)
The Beginning Of Football Reading Answer
A Football as we now know it developed in Britain in the 19th century, but the game is far older than this. In fact, the term has historically been applied to games played on foot, as opposed to those played on horseback, so ‘football’ hasn’t...
![THE ART OF HEALING Reading Answer](https://www.ieltsvisa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/THE-ART-OF-HEALING.png)
THE ART OF HEALING Reading Answer
As with so much, the medicine of the Tang dynasty left its European counterpart in the shade. It boasted its own ‘national health service’, and left behind the teachings of the incomparable Sun Simiao If no further evidence was available of the...
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.