Reading exam practice B1

• Engels
• MBO
• Studiejaar 3

Exam practice: reading

(Text 6 VMBO GL/TL 2021/1)

A refuge for orangutans?

Paragraph 1

In the lush rainforests of central Borneo, a group of young orangutans,

endangered refugees from human development and now released here,

swing from branch to branch in an unspoiled, 5,200-acre tract of Salat

Island, acquired last year by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.

The foundation is working towards the relocation of hundreds of

orangutans currently housed in cages in a nearby rescue shelter.

‘a group of young orangutans, endangered refugees from human

development’ (alinea 1)

Welk citaat uit alinea 4 beschrijft de ‘human development’ die deze dieren

bedreigt?

A ‘an easy cloak of respectability’

B ‘rainforest destruction’

C ‘Isolated acts of kindness by bad actors’

D ‘a binding commitment to end deforestation’

Answer: B

Paragraph 4

But the foundation’s partnership with a palm oil company worries some

environmentalists, who are concerned that it provides a flawed company

an easy cloak of respectability. The huge expansion of palm oil

plantations is widely acknowledged to be a key driver of rainforest

destruction in Indonesia, which deprives the orangutans of habitat.

“Isolated acts of kindness by bad actors like PT S.S.S. don’t erase that

history and current pattern of destructive behavior, and they won’t save

the Borneo orangutan from destruction,” said Gemma Tillack...........

Paragraph 2

The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation called Salat Island a

“major breakthrough” in helping to save the species. For the last decade,

the foundation has eyed the island as a potential orangutan haven: fertile

with fruit trees, guarded from poachers by rivers and with no indigenous

orangutan population to compete with for territory. But acquiring it was no

easy feat: the sums involved were immense, and buying it from the local

government presented a major administrative challenge that involved lots

of paperwork.

Geef van de volgende problemen aan of ze de aankoop van ‘Salat Island’

moeilijk maakten volgens alinea 2.

Omcirkel ‘wel’ of ‘niet’ achter elk nummer in de uitwerking.

1 de stropers die op het eiland woonden

2 de aanpassingen die gedaan moesten worden om het geschikt te

maken

3 het bedrag dat voor het gebied betaald moest worden

4 het grote aantal formulieren dat ervoor ingevuld moesten worden

Answer:

niet

niet

wel

wel

Paragraph 3

Until early last year, when a major Indonesian palm oil company, PT

Sawit Sumbermas Sarana (PT S.S.S.), swooped in and purchased part of

the island for orangutan rehabilitation. The company even agreed to pay

some of the foundation’s costs for monitoring and maintaining the island.

“We believe we could coexist,” the company’s chief executive, Vallauthan

Subraminam, said.

What is described in paragraph 3?

A how help came from an unexpected side

B how long-lasting conflicts were finally resolved

C how permission for the refuge came through

D how the exploitation of the project became profitable

Answer: A

Paragraph 4

But the foundation’s partnership with a palm oil company worries some

environmentalists, who are concerned that it provides a flawed company

an easy cloak of respectability. The huge expansion of palm oil

plantations is widely acknowledged to be a key driver of rainforest

destruction in Indonesia, which deprives the orangutans of habitat.

“Isolated acts of kindness by bad actors like PT S.S.S. don’t erase that

history and current pattern of destructive behavior, and they won’t save

the Borneo orangutan from destruction,” said Gemma Tillack, the

agribusiness campaign director at the Rainforest Action Network, an

environmental organization. “If the company was serious about protecting

the species,” she added, “it would make a binding commitment to end

deforestation on its plantations.” 

What is suggested about the donation of PT S.S.S. in paragraph 4?

It has donated the money

A to be able to force business competitors to get involved as well.

B to develop more environmentally-friendly production methods.

C to disguise the fact it is actually responsible for the problem.

D to stress that it will live up to earlier made business agreements.

Answer: C

Paragraph 6

Nearly every week government agencies and locals notify the

foundation of baby orangutans that were taken as pets by villagers,

usually after their mothers were killed as pests. The organization spends

years rehabilitating the often-traumatized young orangutans. At the

foundation’s forest school, local women working as surrogate orangutan

mothers train the youngsters in survival skills, from identifying predators

to learning which foods are safe to eat. But after a few years of ‘forest

school’, many orangutans ____________ their cages because suitable release

sites are increasingly hard to find. But this year, the group hopes to

release around 150 orangutans, thanks largely to Salat Island.

Kies bij ____________ in alinea 6 het juiste antwoord uit de gegeven

mogelijkheden.

A are returned to

B are stressed by

C dislike leaving

D have outgrown

Answer: A

Some conservationists consider rehabilitation programs

counterproductive, an expensive distraction from the critical mission of

habitat protection. “Rehabilitation centers may even make the

deforestation process worse,” said Erik Meijaard, director of Borneo

Futures, a conservation group. “It goes full circle: Palm oil companies get

rid of the forests, send in their orangutans along with some money. That’s

just not how things can be if we’re serious about saving orangutans and

other wildlife.”

Paragraph 8

Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation officials said that,

unfortunately, their services were ________________ . The day after the release on

Salat, phones rang at the center. People in a village a few hours away

had taken in a young orangutan, its mother nowhere to be found. The

foundation sent a team to fetch the orangutan and bring it to the center. 

Kies bij _______________ in alinea 8 het juiste antwoord uit de gegeven

mogelijkheden.

A exhausted

B misunderstood

C needed

D questioned

E sabotaged

Answer: C

Exam practice: reading

(Text 8 VMBO GL/TL 2021/1)

The Earth’s Smartest Birds

Paragraph 1

Until the 21st century, birds were

largely dismissed as simpletons. How

smart can you be with a brain the size

of a nut? And yet the more we study

bird intelligence, the more those

theories are breaking down. Birds

make good use of the allotted space

for their tiny brains by packing in lots

of neurons.

What is the point made in paragraph 1?

A Birds are more intelligent than we used to assume.

B Birds suffer from the fact that their skulls are small.

C Researchers tend to look down on studies about birds.

D The brains of birds are bigger than previously estimated. 

Answer: A

Paragraph 2

But what actually qualifies a bird as

smart? The definition of intelligence

should be broader than it is, scientists

say. “We’ve restricted the playing field to things we think only we can do,”

says Kevin McGowan, an expert on crows at the Cornell Lab of

Ornithology in Ithaca, New York, “so being able to fly to Argentina, come

back, and land in the same bush is not valued as intelligence. If we’re

talking about standard intelligence – i.e. mimicking human speech or

solving problems – it always comes down to parrots and corvids.”

‘The definition of intelligence should be broader than it is’ (paragraph 2)

In what way?

A It should be based on more than skills that are typically human.

B It should be related to being able to learn and use a language.

C It should define lower standards for animals than for humans.

D It should rule out instincts as the main evidence for intelligence.

Answer: A

Paragraph 3

Members of the corvid family (songbirds including ravens, crows, jays,

and magpies, to name a few) are among the most intelligent birds.

A study published in 2017 in the journal Science revealed that ravens

even pre-plan tasks – a behavior long believed unique to humans and

apes. In the simple experiment, scientists taught the birds how a tool can

help them access a piece of food. When offered a selection of objects

almost 24 hours later, the ravens selected that specific tool again – and

performed the task to get their treat. “Monkeys have not been able to

solve tasks like this,” Mathias Osvath, a researcher at Sweden’s Lund

University, said in a previous interview.

What is the point made about ravens in paragraph 3?

A They are easy to train when given snacks they like.

B They beat people in tests that require creative thinking.

C They can learn from experiences and also think ahead.

D They seem to enjoy working out challenging problems.

Answer: C

Paragraph 4

While crows do nearly as well as ravens solving intelligence tests,

McGowan stresses that crows have an uncanny memory for human faces

– and can remember if that particular person is a threat. “They seem to

have a good sense that every person is different and that they need to

approach them differently.” For instance, crows are warier of new people

than ravens are – but conversely are more comfortable with humans they

had interacted with before, according to a study published in 2015 in the

journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. “The crows around here,

they know my face,” says McGowan. While at first the birds living near the

lab seemed to dislike McGowan for approaching their nests, they love him

now that he’s started leaving the birds healthy treats. “They know my car,

they know my walk, they know me 10 miles away from where they’ve ever

encountered me before. They’re just amazing that way.”

What becomes clear about crows in paragraph 4?

A Observations in the wild prove they are clearly smarter than ravens.

B Tests show they can see exceptionally well compared to other birds.

C They are social animals that like being in close contact with people.

D They can recognize people and estimate what to expect from them.

Answer: D

Paragraph 5

“There’s also a lot going on in the little walnut brains of parrots,” says

McGowan. “And they live so long that they can amass a lot of intelligence

and a lot of memories.” ___________ many species of parrots have a penchant

for human speech, the African grey parrot is the most accomplished. In

the 1950s, Harvard comparative psychologist Irene Pepperberg began

teaching an African grey parrot, Alex, English sounds. Before he died

prematurely in 2007, Alex mastered roughly a hundred words, could use

them in context, and even grasped the concepts of same, different, and

zero.

Kies bij __________ in alinea 5 het juiste antwoord uit de gegeven

mogelijkheden.

A Unless

B Until

C While

Answer: C

Paragraph 5

“There’s also a lot going on in the little walnut brains of parrots,” says

McGowan. “And they live so long that they can amass a lot of intelligence

and a lot of memories.” while  many species of parrots have a penchant

for human speech, the African grey parrot is the most accomplished. In

the 1950s, Harvard comparative psychologist Irene Pepperberg began

teaching an African grey parrot, Alex, English sounds. Before he died

prematurely in 2007, Alex mastered roughly a hundred words, could use

them in context, and even grasped the concepts of same, different, and

zero.

What is said about the African grey parrot Alex in paragraph 5?

A He died as a result of a series of tests in a laboratory.

B He knew words and sounds from different languages.

C He proved that birds held in captivity become smarter.

D He was capable of understanding complex information.

Answer: D