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© Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment 2021
Test 1 answer key with extra explanations
Reading
Reading Passage 1
Questions 1–13
1 The correct answer is FALSE:
The text refers to the layer of fat under polar bears’ skin and
the fact that ‘Humans with comparative levels of adipose tissue would be considered obese and
would be likely to suffer from diabetes and heart disease.’ It then
contrasts humans and polar
bears, saying ‘Yet the polar bear experiences no such consequences.’ The phrase ‘no such
consequences’ refers back to obesity, diabetes and heart disease in humans: this means that
polar bears do not suffer these health problems as a result of their fat.
2 The correct answer is FALSE:
The text says that the study by Liu and colleagues ‘compared
the genetic structure of polar bears with that of their closest relatives
from a warmer climate,
the brown bears.’ In other words, they compared two different species of bear; they did not
compare two different groups of polar bears.
3 The correct answer is NOT GIVEN:
The text says that Liu and
colleagues compared polar
bears and brown bears genetically, but it does not say whether they were the first researchers to
do this.
4 The correct answer is TRUE:
The
text says, ‘Liu and his colleagues found the polar bears
had a gene known as APoB, which reduces levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) –
a form of
“bad” cholesterol.’ Having a gene which reduces the levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol has the same
meaning as controlling this by genetic means.
5 The correct answer is TRUE:
The text describes how female polar bears remain in dens in
the snow throughout
the winter and then says, ‘This process results in six months of fasting,
where the female bears have to keep themselves and their cubs alive’. The word ‘fasting’ means
living without food for a period.
