Yes/No/Not Given: Practice Test - 11 | Reading for Academic IELTS PDF Download

Directions: Do the following statements/questions agree with the views of the writer in the Reading Passage? Write:
YES: if the statement agrees with the views of the writer.
NO: if the statement contradicts what the writer thinks.
NOT GIVEN: if it is impossible to know what the writer's point of view is.
Passage: Half a billion people in Asia and Africa depend on bananas. Bananas provide the largest source of calories and are eaten daily. Its name is synonymous with food. But the day of reckoning may be coming for the Cavendish and its indigenous kin. Another fungal disease, black Sigatoka, has become a global epidemic since its first appearance in Fiji in 1963. Left to itself, black Sigatoka, which causes brown wounds on leaves and premature fruit ripening – cuts fruit yields by 50 to 70 percent and reduces the productive lifetime of banana plants from 30 years to as little as 2 or 3. Commercial growers keep Sigatoka at bay by a massive chemical assault. Forty sprayings of fungicide a year is typical. But despite the fungicides, diseases such as black Sigatoka are getting more and more difficult to control. “As soon as you bring in a new fungicide, they develop resistance,” says Frison. “One thing we can be sure of is that the Sigatoka won’t lose in this battle.” Poor farmers, who cannot afford chemicals, have it even worse. They can do little more than watch their plants die. “Most of the banana fields in Amazonia have already been destroyed by the disease,” says Luadir Gasparotto, Brazil’s leading banana pathologist with the government research agency EMBRAPA. Production is likely to fall by 70 percent as the disease spreads, he predicts. The only option will be to find a new variety.

Q.1. Bananas are among the most commonly consumed fruits in Asia and Africa.
Q.2. Black Sigatoka is a common leaf-spot disease in banana plants caused by Fungus Mycosphaerella fijiensis.
Q.3. Due to the Black Sigatoka, banana plants’ lifetime decreases from 30 years to 2 or 3 years.
Q.4. Frison says that the banana fields in Amazonia have been affected by the black Sigatoka.
Q.5. According to Luadir’s predictions, if the black Sigatoka spreads, production will drop down by 70%

Solution of 1:

Bananas are among the most commonly consumed fruits in Asia and Africa – YES.
it is given in the passage that half of the billion people in Asia and Africa depend on bananas making it the most commonly consumed fruit. So, the answer is YES.

Solution of 2:

Black Sigatoka is a common leaf-spot disease in banana plants caused by Fungus Mycosphaerella fijiensis – NOT GIVEN.
it is not mentioned anywhere in the passage that black Sigatoka is a leaf-spot disease in banana plants caused by the fungus Mycosphaerella fijiensis. So, the answer is NOT GIVEN.

Solution of 3:

Due to the Black Sigatoka, banana plants’ lifetime decreases from 30 years to 2 or 3 years – YES.
it is clearly mentioned in the passage that black Sigatoka reduces the productive lifetime of banana plants from 30 years to as little as 2 or 3 years. So, the answer is YES. Here reduce means decreases.

Solution of 4:

Frison says that the banana fields in Amazonia have been affected by the black Sigatoka – NO.
it is given in the passage that it was Luadir Gasparotto who said that the disease, black Sigatoka, had destroyed the banana fields in the Amazonia. So, the answer is NO.

Solution of 5:

According to Luadir’s predictions, if the black Sigatoka spreads, production will drop down by 70% – YES.
we understand from the passage; Luadir has predicted that if the fungal disease, Black Sigatoka, spreads, production will fall by 70%. So, the answer is YES. Here fall refers to the dropdown.