Surviving city life
Read Surviving city life and check the IELTS Reading answers. Ecologists often prefer to study plants and animals in exotic locations, but a growing number have turned their attention to the complex interactions of the wildlife that inhabits concrete jungles. Inner-city Sydney is the laboratory of…
Passage preview
Ecologists often prefer to study plants and animals in exotic locations, but a growing number have turned their attention to the complex interactions of the wildlife that inhabits concrete jungles. Inner-city Sydney is the laboratory of choice for a number of ecologists, and their research is timely. More than half the world’s human population resides in cities, and urban development continues to increase all over the world. By 2030, the United Nations projects five billion people will live in cities. Associate Professor Dieter Hochuli, a biologist at the University of Sydney, believes that ‘we need to understand how cities are changing the ecology of the systems they are built on, and how plants and animals are adapting to them’.
Vocabulary from this passage
9 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- be confined to verb phrase
To be limited to one small place or group.
In the passage:
"mammals have been confined to patches of bushland" says their range is limited (paragraph E).
Synonyms: be restricted to, be limited to
Opposites: spread across
- exotic species noun phrase
Plants or animals that have been brought from another country.
In the passage:
Q19 matches heading ii "imported flora and fauna"; paragraph F says weeds are "exotic species" and mentions "introduced plant life".
Synonyms: imported flora and fauna, foreign species
Opposites: native species
- infiltrate verb
To enter a place gradually and spread through it, often unnoticed.
In the passage:
Q19 matches heading ii, "the spread of imported flora and fauna"; paragraph F says concrete helps weeds "infiltrate" bushland.
Synonyms: the spread of, invade
- persist verb
To continue to exist or live, especially in difficult conditions.
In the passage:
"how many things persist in city environments" means continue to survive there, not refuse to give up (paragraph D).
Synonyms: survive, endure
Opposites: disappear
- predominant adjective
Most important, strong or common in a particular situation.
In the passage:
"The predominant driver in the decline of small birds" names the main cause (paragraph C).
Synonyms: main, leading
Opposites: minor
- relish verb
To enjoy something very much, often with great pleasure.
In the passage:
Q17 matches heading iii "thrive"; paragraph D says invertebrates "relish living in the city".
Synonyms: thrive, enjoy
Opposites: dislike
- scavenge verb
To search through waste for food or useful things.
In the passage:
Q15 matches heading iv "likes rubbish"; paragraph B says the ibis is known for "scavenging street garbage".
Synonyms: likes rubbish, rummage
- turn their attention to verb phrase
To begin to think about or study something new.
In the passage:
"have turned their attention to" shows ecologists changing focus to city wildlife, the heading about why scientists study cities (paragraph A).
Synonyms: focus on, start studying
Opposites: ignore
- venture out verb phrase
To go out of a safe or familiar place into a new area.
In the passage:
Q18 matches heading i "expanding its territory"; paragraph E says the bandicoot "has discovered the advantages of venturing out".
Synonyms: expanding its territory, go out
Opposites: stay in
Answers with explanations
- 14. vi
Paragraph A explains why ecologists have **turned their attention** to cities, and Hochuli says **we need to understand** how cities change ecology. That is the heading about why scientists study urban areas. The heading about a small animal does not fit, because no single animal is discussed.
- 15. iv
Paragraph B is entirely about the white ibis, the bird known as the garbage turkey for **digging through inner-city bins**. **A creature which likes rubbish** is a paraphrase: creature = bird, **rubbish** = **garbage**.
- 16. vii
Look at the paragraph's main idea: what people have done to their gardens. **Tall trees and manicured lawns** are bad for small birds, while flowering and fruit gardens **favour** other birds. That is **changes in the urban built environments encourage particular species**. The ibis heading fits paragraph B, not here.
- 17. iii
Paragraph D opens with **invertebrates** (spiders, butterflies, then ants) and says they **relish living in the city**. **Relish living** = **thrive**, and the creatures are small animals without backbones, so the heading is **Insects that thrive in urban areas**.
- 18. i
Paragraph E follows one small mammal, the **long-nosed bandicoot**, which is **venturing out** of bushland into gardens. **Venturing out** is the heading's **expanding its territory**, and **small animal** is the bandicoot.
- 19. ii
Paragraph F turns to **non-native species**, above all **weeds**, which concrete and storm-water systems help to infiltrate bushland. **Introduced plant life** and **exotic species** are the heading's **imported flora and fauna**. The urban environment encourages their spread.
- 20. D
Find the **small animal**: the bandicoot in paragraph E. **Catherine Price** says **We don’t know** why it comes into gardens, which matches **not clear why**. She is trying to understand what encourages it, so the statement is hers.
- 21. A
**Health of a species** matches golden orb spiders being **fatter and fitter**, and **hot weather** matches **the urban heat**. **Dieter Hochuli** is trying to find out whether the heat is the reason, which fits 'might'.
- 22. C
**Residential gardens** is the passage's backyards and gardens, and **suit some species better** is **favour** some birds while others decline. **Richard Major** says we have made a **suitable environment** for noisy miners. Other researchers talk about parks, spiders or ants.
- 23. A
**Vital** is the passage's **need to understand**, and **natural world's responses to urban settings** is how **plants and animals are adapting** to cities. **Dieter Hochuli** says this in the first paragraph. He is also the answer to the heat question; letters can be used more than once.
- 24. cockroaches
Look for **non-native** in the last paragraph. **Rats** is the passage's **black rodents**. The summary needs **insects**, and of the species listed only **cockroaches** is one; foxes are mammals.
- 25. concrete
Michelle Leishman is quoted in the last paragraph. **Large areas of** ___ **and its drainage network** matches **huge stretches of impermeable concrete, together with the storm-water system**. The answer is **concrete**.
- 26. chemicals
**Water gathers** is the passage's rain that **collects** something as it **washes over backyards and roadways**. What it collects before entering the storm-water system is **chemicals**. The nutrient-rich water comes later, after the water has seeped into the earth.