Reading: Matching Headings: Question 5

A Beavers were once found across nearly the whole of Europe and North America, but relentless trapping for their fur and scent glands left them extinct across most of their historical range by the early twentieth century. In recent decades, however, conservation programmes in several countries have deliberately reintroduced beavers to rivers where they had been absent for generations, driven by a growing recognition that the species does far more for its surroundings than its modest size would suggest.

B Where other animals adapt to an existing landscape, beavers reshape it. Felling trees and packing branches and mud across a stream, a beaver family can build a dam that floods what was previously dry or fast-flowing land, converting it within a single season into a still, shallow pond. Few other non-human species alter the physical structure of their environment so dramatically, a trait that has earned beavers the label "ecosystem engineers."

C The wetlands created behind a beaver dam rarely stay empty for long. Slow-moving, sunlit water encourages aquatic plants to establish, which in turn attract insects, amphibians and waterfowl; young fish often find the calm water behind a dam a safer nursery than the open river beyond it. Researchers comparing dammed and undammed stretches of the same river have repeatedly recorded substantially higher numbers of species in the beaver-modified sections.

D These ponds also perform a quieter service for nearby human communities. By slowing the rate at which rainwater moves downstream, a series of beaver dams can measurably reduce the peak height of a flood after heavy rain, while the water retained in the ponds during drier months keeps the surrounding water table higher for longer. Several water authorities now factor beaver activity into flood- and drought-management plans rather than treating it as an incidental side effect.

E Not every landowner welcomes their return. A dam that floods a field, a forestry track, or the base of a bridge can cause real financial loss, and felled trees occasionally damage fences or outbuildings, so reintroduction schemes increasingly pair the animals with practical mitigation: devices that pierce a dam to keep water below a set level without removing it altogether, allowing the pond's ecological benefits to continue alongside the land's other uses.

The passage has five paragraphs, A–E.

List of Headings i. The waterproof fur and specialised teeth of the beaver ii. Hunted to local extinction, now cautiously returning iii. Captive-breeding programmes in modern zoos iv. Turning a stream into a pond: an animal that reshapes land v. More species sharing the habitat a beaver dam creates vi. Comparing beaver dams with concrete flood barriers vii. An unplanned defence against flood and drought viii. Finding a compromise between dams and land use

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

Paragraph A Paragraph B Paragraph C Paragraph D Paragraph E