Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Now the main activities are agriculture, with crops such as bananas, corn and melons, along with fishing and livestock.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D says the main activities now are agriculture, fishing and livestock. Agriculture means growing crops, and livestock means farm animals, so these are the main ways people earn a living today.
Tips: Find 'the main ways of earning a living on Ometepe'. Check that they belong to now, and that all three from the statement are there.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A mentions a grid of farm fields seen from space, but it does not say how islanders earn their living.
- B: Look at paragraph B: it compares the two volcanoes, their heights and their lahars. Work and income are not discussed.
- C: Notice that paragraph C looks back at carvings, pottery and colonial times, not at the jobs people hold now.
- E: The present-day list of agriculture, fishing and livestock appears in Paragraph D, right after the older crafts.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: The island lies about 8 kilometres from the mainland.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A says the island lies about 8 kilometres from the mainland. Eight kilometres is less than ten, so the statement matches.
Tips: Look for a distance under 'ten kilometres'. Check it measures Ometepe to 'the nearest shore'.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Notice that paragraph B gives heights in metres for the two volcanoes, not the distance to the mainland.
- C: The survey of carved boulders fills Paragraph C, and it gives no distance across the water.
- D: Look at paragraph D: it names the two main towns and lists crops and tourism. But it never measures how far away the mainland is.
- E: The distance of about 8 kilometres from the mainland sits in Paragraph A, where the island is first described.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Some of the most serious lahars came during Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B explains that the active volcano, Concepcion, has unstable slopes that can give way as flows of mud called lahars. It adds that some of the worst lahars came during Hurricane Mitch.
Tips: Lahars appear in two paragraphs, so check which one links them to a hurricane and to the active volcano.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A: it shows where the two volcanoes sit and how they are joined. No storm or mudflow appears.
- C: The third paragraph mentions old lahars on Maderas that left boulders, but it names no hurricane.
- D: Look at paragraph D: it is about the island's people, farming and park visits today. The weather is not a topic.
- E: Hurricane Mitch and the lahars on the active cone are both reported in Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: The park is home to endangered animals, among them the yellow-naped parrot and the white-headed capuchin.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D says many tourists take tours through Volcan Maderas National Park. It then says the park is home to endangered animals, among them the yellow-naped parrot. Endangered means under threat.
Tips: Find the park that visitors tour. Then check what lives there, and whether one of those creatures is a bird in danger.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A: it describes forest and fields around Concepcion, but no bird or park is named.
- B: Look at paragraph B: it speaks of fog forests with high conservation value. Yet it names no parrot and no park for visitors.
- C: The rock carvings and ceramic statues in Paragraph C tell us about past people, not about animals at risk.
- E: Notice that paragraph D names the yellow-naped parrot as one of the endangered animals living in the park that tourists visit.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Concepcion is a steep cone that rises to about 1,700 metres, and it is still active, with a small explosion as recently as May 2024.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B gives the height of Concepcion, about 1,700 metres, and the height of Maderas. It compares the two island volcanoes but says nothing about the rest of Nicaragua.
Tips: A height is not a ranking: check whether any paragraph compares Concepcion with volcanoes beyond Ometepe.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph places the two volcanoes on the island but gives no height at all.
- B: The height of Concepcion is in Paragraph B, set only beside Maderas and never against the country's other peaks.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it mentions Nicaragua in connection with carvings and colonial history, not the height of any volcano.
- D: Notice that paragraph D is about the towns, farming and a national park. No mountain heights appear there.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Spanish colonised Nicaragua, and English and French pirates later invaded the area on several occasions.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C says that after the Spanish colonised Nicaragua, English and French pirates invaded the area on several occasions. Pirates are sea raiders, and several occasions means more than once.
Tips: Find the island's history of outsiders arriving. Ask who came to rule and who came to attack, and how often the attackers came.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph is a view of the island from above and from space, with no history of attacks.
- B: The second paragraph tells how the volcanoes behave, including eruptions and mudflows, but no human attackers.
- D: Look at paragraph D: it describes island life now, from crops to park tours, and leaves out colonial times.
- E: The English and French pirates who invaded more than once are named at the end of Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Ometepe rises out of Lake Nicaragua, the largest freshwater lake in Central America, and it is the largest island in that lake.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A calls Lake Nicaragua the largest freshwater lake in Central America. The same sentence ranks the island first in size among the islands of that lake, and biggest means the same as largest.
Tips: Size words appear more than once in the passage. Find the one about both the island and the lake.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: The second paragraph ranks the fog forests highest for conservation. But it says nothing about the size of the island or the lake.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it calls the petroglyphs the largest concentration in the region, which is a different kind of record.
- D: Notice that paragraph D is about the towns, farming and tourism, not the island's size compared with other islands.
- E: The first paragraph opens with both records: the largest freshwater lake in Central America and the largest island in it.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: Some of the carvings date back 1,700 years and reflect mythological stories.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C reports that some of the carvings date back 1,700 years. Seventeen centuries is the same as 1,700 years, and carvings are pictures cut into stone.
Tips: Find the pictures cut into stone. Check how old some of them are, and whether that is about seventeen centuries.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: In paragraph A, the writer shows modern farm fields and forest from space. No old images on rock appear.
- B: Notice that paragraph B dates eruptions, not carvings, and its long time span refers to Maderas staying quiet.
- D: The fourth paragraph recalls early crafts like basket weaving and jewellery, but not carved stones or their age.
- E: The age of 1,700 years for some carvings is stated in Paragraph C, beside the survey of boulders.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Tourists visit every year, and many of them take tours through Volcan Maderas National Park.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D tells us that tourists visit every year and many take tours of the national park. It does not say that visitor numbers have grown, and it gives no reason such as cheaper boat fares.
Tips: Tourists are mentioned, but check whether the passage gives any trend or any cause for it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A: it gives the distance to the mainland, yet boats, fares and visitors are left out.
- B: In paragraph B, the writer describes eruptions, lahars and forests, with nothing about travel costs.
- C: Notice that paragraph C covers early settlers, carvings and pirates, not travellers arriving today.
- D: Yearly visitors and park tours appear in Paragraph D, but there is no rise in numbers and no reason linked to fares.
