Return of the Huarango Reading Answers

Return of the Huarango Reading Answers: The IELTS Reading section evaluates a candidate’s ability to understand and interpret different passages. “The Return of the Huarango Reading Answers” is a common topic that highlights the revival of the huarango tree in Peru and its role in supporting the environment and local communities.

This guide provides a sample passage along with answers to help aspirants practice for the IELTS exam 2025 effectively. The passage includes major two question types: Sentence Completion and Matching Information. Practicing these will enhance reading comprehension skills and improve answer-locating techniques. Read till the end to gain a better understanding of “The Return of the Huarango Reading Answers.”

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The Return of the Huarango Reading Answers Passage

The Return of the Huarango

The arid valleys of southern Peru are welcoming the return of a native plant.

1. The south coast of Peru is a narrow, 2,000-kilometre-long strip of desert squeezed between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean. It is also one of the most fragile ecosystems on Earth. It hardly ever rains there, and the only year-round source of water is located tens of metres below the surface. This is why the huarango tree is so suited to life there: it has the longest roots of any tree in the world. They stretch down 50-80 metres and, as well as sucking up water for the tree, they bring it into the higher subsoil, creating a water source for other plant life.

2. Dr David Beresford-Jones, archaeobotanist at Cambridge University, has been studying the role of the huarango tree in landscape change in the Lower Ica Valley in southern Peru. He believes the huarango was key to the ancient people’s diet and, because it could reach deep water sources, it allowed local people to withstand years of drought when their other crops failed. But over the centuries huarango trees were gradually replaced with crops. Cutting down native woodland leads to erosion, as there is nothing to keep the soil in place. So when the huarangos go, the land turns into a desert. Nothing grows at all in the Lower Ica Valley now.

3. For centuries the huarango tree was vital to the people of the neighbouring Middle Ica Valley too. They grew vegetables under it and ate products made from its seed pods. Its leaves and bark were used for herbal remedies, while its branches were used for charcoal for cooking and heating, and its trunk was used to build houses. But now it is disappearing rapidly. The majority of the huarango forests in the valley have already been cleared for fuel and agriculture – initially, these were smallholdings, but now they’re huge farms producing crops for the international market.

4. ‘Of the forests that were here 1,000 years ago, 99 per cent have already gone,’ says botanist Oliver Whaley from Kew Gardens in London, who, together with ethnobotanist Dr William Milliken, is running a pioneering project to protect and restore the rapidly disappearing habitat. In order to succeed, Whaley needs to get the local people on board, and that has meant overcoming local prejudices. ‘Increasingly aspirational communities think that if you plant food trees in your home or street, it shows you are poor, and still need to grow your own food,’ he says. In order to stop the Middle Ica Valley going the same way as the Lower Ica Valley, Whaley is encouraging locals to love the huarangos again. ‘It’s a process of cultural resuscitation,’ he says. He has already set up a huarango festival to reinstate a sense of pride in their eco-heritage, and has helped local schoolchildren plant thousands of trees.

5. ‘In order to get people interested in habitat restoration, you need to plant a tree that is useful to them,’ says Whaley. So, he has been working with local families to attempt to create a sustainable income from the huarangos by turning their products into foodstuffs. ‘Boil up the beans and you get this thick brown syrup like molasses. You can also use it in drinks, soups or stews.’ The pods can be ground into flour to make cakes, and the seeds roasted into a sweet, chocolatey ‘coffee’. ‘It’s packed full of vitamins and minerals,’ Whaley says.

6. And some farmers are already planting huarangos. Alberto Benevides, owner of Ica Valley’s only certified organic farm, which Whaley helped set up, has been planting the tree for 13 years. He produces syrup and flour, and sells these products at an organic farmers’ market in Lima. His farm is relatively small and doesn’t yet provide him with enough to live on, but he hopes this will change. ‘The organic market is growing rapidly in Peru,’ Benevides says. ‘I am investing in the future.’

7. But even if Whaley can convince the local people to fall in love with the huarango again, there is still the threat of the larger farms. Some of these cut across the forests and break up the corridors that allow the essential movement of mammals, birds and pollen up and down the narrow forest strip. In the hope of counteracting this, he’s persuading farmers to let him plant forest corridors on their land. He believes the extra woodland will also benefit the farms by reducing their water usage through a lowering of evaporation and providing a refuge for bio-control insects.

8. ‘If we can record biodiversity and see how it all works, then we’re in a good position to move on from there. Desert habitats can reduce down to very little,’ Whaley explains. ‘It’s not like a rainforest that needs to have this huge expanse. Life has always been confined to corridors and islands here. If you just have a few trees left, the population can grow up quickly because it’s used to exploiting water when it arrives.’ He sees his project as a model that has the potential to be rolled out across other arid areas around the world. ‘If we can do it here, in the most fragile system on Earth, then that’s a real message of hope for lots of places, including Africa, where there is drought and they just can’t afford to wait for rain.’

The Return of the Huarango Reading Answers Sample Questions

Complete the sentences below (Questions 1-7)

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each answer.

1. The south coast of Peru is considered one of the most _______ on Earth.

2. The only continuous water supply in the region is found _______ below the surface.

3. The _______ of the huarango tree are the longest in the world.

4. Dr David Beresford-Jones believes the huarango helped ancient people survive _______.

5. Cutting down huarango trees leads to _______ because the soil is no longer held in place.

6. Many local people think that growing food trees makes them look _______.

7. The seeds of the huarango tree can be roasted to make a drink similar to _______.

Matching Information (Questions 8-12)

Look at the following statements (Questions 8-12) and match them with the correct researcher (A-D).

Researchers:
A. Dr David Beresford-Jones
B. Oliver Whaley
C. Dr William Milliken
D. Alberto Benevides

Statements:
8. Has been encouraging the local population to take pride in their environmental history.
9. Believes the survival of ancient people depended on the huarango tree.
10. Has helped to establish an organic farm producing huarango-based products.
11. Works on habitat restoration projects alongside another researcher.
12. Is convincing farmers to allow the planting of trees to maintain biodiversity.

The Return of the Huarango Reading Answers with Explanations 

1. Answer: fragile ecosystems

• Location: Paragraph A

• Reference: "It is also one of the most fragile ecosystems on Earth."

• Explanation: The passage describes the south coast of Peru as a delicate and easily disrupted environment.

2. Answer: tens of metres

• Location: Paragraph A

• Reference: "The only year-round source of water is located tens of metres below the surface."

• Explanation: The passage states that water in the region is deep underground, which makes survival challenging.

3. Answer: roots of any tree

• Location: Paragraph A

• Reference: "It has the longest roots of any tree in the world."

• Explanation: The huarango tree is unique because of its deep roots, which help it survive in arid conditions.

4. Answer: years of drought

• Location: Paragraph B

• Reference: "It allowed local people to withstand years of drought when their other crops failed."

• Explanation: The passage explains how ancient people depended on the huarango tree during long dry periods.

5. Answer: soil erosion

• Location: Paragraph B

• Reference: "Cutting down native woodland leads to erosion, as there is nothing to keep the soil in place."

• Explanation: Removing the trees causes the land to degrade because the soil becomes loose.

6. Answer: poor

• Location: Paragraph D

• Reference: "'Increasingly aspirational communities think that if you plant food trees in your home or street, it shows you are poor.'"

• Explanation: Some locals believe that growing food trees makes them look less wealthy.

7. Answer: coffee

• Location: Paragraph F

• Reference: "The seeds roasted into a sweet, chocolatey ‘coffee’."

• Explanation: The huarango seeds can be roasted to make a drink similar to coffee.

8. Answer: B (Oliver Whaley)

• Location: Paragraph D

• Reference: "'He has already set up a huarango festival to reinstate a sense of pride in their eco-heritage.'"

• Explanation: Whaley is encouraging people to value their environmental history through cultural events.

9. Answer: A (Dr David Beresford-Jones)

• Location: Paragraph B

• Reference: "'He believes the huarango was key to the ancient people’s diet and ... allowed local people to withstand years of drought.'"

• Explanation: Beresford-Jones studied how the huarango tree helped ancient people survive difficult times.

10. Answer: D (Alberto Benevides)

• • Location: Paragraph G

  • Reference: "'Alberto Benevides, owner of Ica Valley’s only certified organic farm, which Whaley helped set up, has been planting the tree for 13 years.'"

  • Explanation: Benevides runs an organic farm that produces huarango-based products.

11. Answer: C (Dr William Milliken)

• • Location: Paragraph C

  • Reference: "'Botanist Oliver Whaley from Kew Gardens in London, who, together with ethnobotanist Dr William Milliken, is running a pioneering project to protect and restore the rapidly disappearing habitat.'"

  • Explanation: Milliken works with Whaley on a project to restore the huarango habitat.

12. Answer: B (Oliver Whaley)

• • Location: Paragraph H

  • Reference: "'In the hope of counteracting this, he’s persuading farmers to let him plant forest corridors on their land.'"

  • Explanation: Whaley is convincing farmers to allow tree planting to protect biodiversity.

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