English Comprehension Answers 2009-2011

Section A

1. • a) True: Egypt's population is expected to double by 2050.
   • b) False: The government is keen to encourage people to settle in the desert by moving ahead with an expensive plan to reclaim 3.4 million acres of desert over the next 10 years.
2. • a) Tarek el-Kowmey is proud of his crops. He farms near the Development Centre that is working with sophisticated techniques to green the desert. He cultivates his crops on fertile land that used to be just sand.
   • b) Desert tourism can be more profitable (it brings in more money) and will not destroy fragile flora and fauna (possible attractions for tourists).
3. Vocabulary/Grammar:
   • a) vast
   • b) likely
   • c) because
   • d) rather than
4. Sentence Completion/Correction:
   • a) as... from
   • b) travelling/traveling... most ancient... was built
   • c) on
   • d) which... to promote

Section B

1. • a) False: Only in Antarctica is the potato neither cultivated nor consumed.
   • b) False: Over the next two decades, the world's population is expected to grow on average by more than 100 million people a year.
2. • a) Call global attention to the important role of this nutritious plant; raise awareness of the key role played by the "humble tuber" in agriculture, the economy, and world food security.
   • b) Apart from being a staple food, it has played a role in their history, traditions, and culture.
3. Vocabulary/Grammar:
   • a) goal
   • b) flavour
   • c) abundant
   • d) surely
4. Sentence Completion/Correction:
   • a) which... in/of
   • b) stronger... more productive
   • c) was introduced... to solve
   • d) Politicians asked if/whether the new food policy would be successful.

Section A (Bears)

1. • a) True: He tracked their movements and marked them on maps.
   • b) False: He abandoned scientific detachment and took the controversial step of forming relationships with his study animals.
2. • a) The biologist has discovered that bears prefer to eat small insects which live in trees rather than fruit or honey.
   • b) He thinks humans are dangerous because studies show that we kill more people than bears do.
3. Vocabulary/Grammar:
   • a) creatures
   • b) trust
   • c) detachment
   • d) wave
4. Sentence Completion/Correction:
   • a) believes... eating/to eat
   • b) about... must/have to/need to/should/ought to
   • c) You don't have/need to dissect an animal to know a lot about it. / You needn't dissect an animal to know a lot about it.
   • d) the bear not to worry.

Section B (India)

1. • a) True: Ever since the great Greek conqueror Alexander penetrated the Hindu Kush in 329 B.C., Europeans fantasized about the wealth of these lands.
   • b) True: By 1870, at the peak of the British dominion, India had been reduced for the first time to a Third World nation, a symbol across the globe of famine, poverty, and deprivation.
2. • a) The Chinese emperors of the Ming dynasty are mentioned in the text because they were the sole rivals of the rulers of India.
   • b) The Portuguese, Dutch, and British had a destructive effect on Indian trade and caused India to lose its economic power.
3. Vocabulary/Grammar:
   • a) wealth
   • b) dust
   • c) peak
   • d) famine
4. Sentence Completion/Correction:
   • a) which/that... longest
   • b) from... meant
   • c) long
   • d) takes
   • e) its... defeating

Transition Words and Phrases

• Contrast/Concession: in spite of (a pesar de), although (a pesar de que, aunque), however, yet, still (sin embargo)
• Purpose: so (para que, de forma que)
• Example: such as (por ejemplo)
• Addition: besides, in addition (además)
• Sequencing: firstly, first of all, to begin with; secondly, then, the next stage