Cats scoundrels or scapegoats Reading Answers

We have given the Cats scoundrels or scapegoats reading practice test and answers with explanations. These will help you evaluate your performance. It has 13 questions of two different question types. Go through this entire post to check Cats scoundrels or scapegoats Reading Answers and rectify your mistakes.

Check out our YouTube Channel to Practice Full-Length IELTS Reading Tests Daily

 

Table of Contents:

• Solution for Cats scoundrels or scapegoats
• Cats scoundrels or scapegoats IELTS Reading Practice Test
• Passage
• Questions
• Answers with Explanations

Solution for Cats Scoundrels or Scapegoats 

In the table given below, you have the Cats scoundrels or scapegoats reading answers. Use them to evaluate your band score and performance.

Answer Table

1. ii	5. i	9. Not given	13. Not given
2. vi	6. x	10. Yes
3. ix	7. iv	11. Yes
4. v	8. No	12. Not given

Cats scoundrels or scapegoats IELTS Reading Practice Test - Exam Review

The Cats scoundrels or scapegoats IELTS reading answers are given. It will help you to take the IELTS reading practice test to challenge your reading skills. Diagrams are described in sentences, therefore, read the passage carefully to understand what is asked in the question. Do not exceed the word limit, or the answer will be considered wrong. Highlight or underline the keywords, which will help you in finding the answers quickly. 

Passage

You have been given the Cats scoundrels or scapegoats reading passage below. Spend around 20 minutes solving this passage which consists of 13 questions. Read the passage carefully and swiftly before answering. We have also provided Cats scoundrels or scapegoats reading answers with locations.

Cats – scoundrels or scapegoats?

A. The campaign against cats has become so exaggerated it has lost its focus. Much energy that could be put to good use is being wasted on futile campaigns that do little more than aggravate cat owners. 

B. It is widely believed that because cats prey on native birds they could bring about their extermination. But predation seldom leads to extinction in such a simplistic way If it did there would be no animals left in Africa, as those big cats called Lions would have eaten them all up. 

C. Enormous numbers of birds are killed by pet cats in gardens, it is true. But while this may sound alarming, ecologically there is nothing wrong with it - predation is a fact of life. Birds are killed in forests too, by a whole gamut of predators including snakes, goannas, falcons, butcherbirds, quolls, dingoes and even spiders. Pet cats are the urban counterparts to a range of native predators. 

D. Hunting by pet Cats would only be a problem if the rate of predation, combined with other deaths, exceeded the breeding rate of the birds. This does not seem to be the case. Several studies show that urban environments actually support a higher density of birds than native forests, despite all the cats. This is partly because of all the garden plants with berries and nectar rich flowers. 

E. The native garden birds killed by cats are nearly all widespread adaptable species that are thriving in response to urbanisation. Some of them are probably more abundant now List of headings (i) The feeding habits of feral cats (ii) A pointless campaign (iii) Cats: a dangerous pet (iv) A more realistic campaign · (v) An increase in the garden bird population (vi) A false belief (vii) Ways of controlling feral cats (viii) Garden birds: a threatened species (ix) Natural predators of birds l (x) The impossibility of controlling feral cats www.zandienglish.ir 27 than they were before European settlement. This definitely seems to be the case for the common garden skinks that cats often kill. 

F. Feral cats are a much greater threat to wildlife than pet cats, and in some situations they are a major hazard. But not usually to birds, which they seldom eat. Studies of their diet confirm what cartoonists have always known: that cats prefer rats, mice and other small mammals. In a major article on cats (Nature Australia, Winter 1993) Chris Dickman stated: ‘In most Australian studies, rabbits constitute the single most important prey. 

G. I would suggest that foxes pose a greater problem, yet there is no passionate public campaign to oust foxes, presumably because it is obvious we can never eliminate the millions of wild foxes in Australia. Yet the same common sense thinking is not applied to cats. It is thought instead that, if everyone would only spay their cats, string bells around their necks and keep them in at night, cats would no longer kill wildlife. But what of the millions of feral cats in our deserts and woodlands? They are the bigger problem, but they are no more controllable than foxes or cane toads. 

H. To be useful, the anti-cat campaign should focus on specific situations where cats are a proven problem, and where something can actually be done about it. But to make the sweeping claim that ‘Cats threaten the future survival of most wildlife’, as the Victorian Department of Environment does in a leaflet, is to exaggerate the case so badly that it probably does more harm than good, by pitting cat owners against conservationists, instead of bringing them together as allies. 
                                                  Tim Low, Nature Australia, Autumn l996 

Questions

Questions 1 - 7

Reading Passage 1 has 6 sections A-H. From the list of headings below choose the most suitable heading for sections A-F. 

Write the appropriate number (i-x) in boxes l to 7 on your answer sheet. 

NB There are more headings than sections so you will not use all of them. You may use any of the headings more than once. 

List of headings 

(i) The feeding habits of feral cats 
(ii) A pointless campaign 
(iii) Cats: a dangerous pet 
(iv) A more realistic campaign · 
(v) An increase in the garden bird population 
(vi) A false belief 
(vii) Ways of controlling feral cats 
(viii) Garden birds: a threatened species 
(ix) Natural predators of birds l 
(x) The impossibility of controlling feral cats

1. Section A 
2. Section B 
3. Section C 
4. Section E 
5. Section F 
6. Section G 
7. Section H

Questions 8 - 13

Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer of Reading Passage 1. Write: 
YES if the statement agrees with the writer 
NO if the statement contradicts the writer 
NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage 

8. The activity of predators, such as lions, causes extinction of other animals. 

9. Other animals eat more birds than cats. 

10. There are more birds per kilometre in towns and cities than in a forest environment. 

11. The large number of plants in gardens has helped to increase the bird population. 

12. The author believes that all wild foxes should be killed. 

13. Cats are a particular problem in Victoria. 

Answers for Cats scoundrels or scapegoats with Explanations

The Cats scoundrels or scapegoats reading answers with explanations is provided below. They will help you in assessing your reading skills and band score.

(Note: The text in italics mentions the location and referring lines written in the reading passage.)

1. Answer: ii

Explanation: Located in section A, 2nd line -  “Much energy that could be put to good use is being wasted on futile campaigns that do little more than aggravate cat owners.” Hence, it explains that the campaign is pointless and not in proper use. 

2. Answer: vi

Explanation: Located in section B, 1st & 2nd line -  “It is widely believed that because cats prey on native birds, “But predation seldom leads to extinction in such a simplistic way If it did there would be no animals left in Africa, as those big cats called Lions would have eaten them all up.” So, the solution would be ‘a false belief.’ 

3. Answer: ix

Explanation: Located in section C, whole para - “Enormous numbers of birds are killed by pet cats in gardens, “ecologically there is nothing wrong with it - predation is a fact of life. Birds are killed in forests too, by a whole gamut of predators including snakes, goannas, falcons, butcherbirds, quolls, dingoes and even spiders. Pet cats are the urban counterparts to a range of native predators.”

4. Answer: v

Explanation: Located in section E, 1st line - “The native garden birds killed by cats are nearly all widespread adaptable species that are thriving in response to urbanisation.” So, the answer is ‘An increase in the garden bird population.’

5. Answer: i

Explanation: Located in section F, 1st, 2nd & 5th line - “Feral cats are a much greater threat to wildlife than pet cats, and in some situations they are a major hazard. But not usually to birds, which they seldom eat,  "In most Australian studies, rabbits constitute the single most important prey.”

6. Answer: x

Explanation: Located in section G, 6th line - “But what of the millions of feral cats in our deserts and woodlands? They are the bigger problem, but they are no more controllable than foxes or cane toads.” Thus, the possible answer would be ‘The impossibility of controlling feral cats.’

7. Answer: iv

Explanation: Located in section H, 1st line - “To be useful, the anti-cat campaign should focus on specific situations where cats are a proven problem, and where something can actually be done about it.” 

8. Answer: No

Explanation: Located in section B, 2nd line - “But predation seldom leads to extinction in such a simplistic way If it did there would be no animals left in Africa, as those big cats called Lions would have eaten them all up.”

9. Answer: Not given
Explanation: Not available

10. Answer: Yes

Explanation: Located in section D, 3rd line - “Several studies show that urban environments actually support a higher density of birds than native forests.” 

11. Answer: Yes

Explanation: Located in section D, 4th line - “This is partly because of all the garden plants with berries and nectar rich flowers.” 

12. Answer: Not given

Explanation: Not available

13. Answer: Not given

Explanation: Not available

Other Reading Tests

• Word lists reading answers
• Wild foods of australia reading answers