The Global Importance of Wetlands IELTS Reading Answers with Explanation

“The Global Importance of Wetlands” is Passage 2 of Cambridge IELTS 19 Academic Reading Test 3. This page gives the answers for Questions 14–26 with a short explanation of why each answer is right, so you can check your work and learn from every mistake. The question types are: Matching Information, Sentence Completion, Matching Features.

Quick answers: Questions 14–26

Question	Answer
14	G
15	A
16	H
17	B
18	carbon
19	fires
20	biodiversity
21	ditches
22	subsidence
23	A
24	C
25	D
26	B

Questions 14–17: Matching Information

Q	Question	Answer	Why
14	Local inhabitants must keep benefiting from wetlands	G	This information is found in paragraph G.
15	The proportion of wetlands already lost	A	This information is found in paragraph A.
16	Growing public appreciation of the value of wetlands	H	This information is found in paragraph H.
17	The cultural, religious or historical significance of wetlands	B	This information is found in paragraph B.

Questions 18–22: Sentence Completion

Q	Question	Answer	Why
18	Drained peatlands release this instead of storing it	carbon	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.
19	After peatland clearance, this is more likely to occur	fires	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.
20	Clearing peatland forests destroys this of the local environment	biodiversity	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.
21	Water is drained through these, dug by loggers	ditches	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.
22	Draining peatlands causes this, which leads to land loss	subsidence	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.

Questions 23–26: Matching Features

Q	Question	Answer	Why
23	Local communities must be included in decisions about wetlands' future	A	The passage links this point to: A.
24	Official wetland policies differ between countries	C	The passage links this point to: C.
25	People harm wetlands without intending to	D	The passage links this point to: D.
26	Efforts to reverse environmental damage need not be complex	B	The passage links this point to: B.

Tips for these question types

• Matching information: find the paragraph that contains the idea, not the same words. The same letter can be used more than once.
• Completion tasks: check the word limit and the grammar of the gap before you write the answer exactly as it appears in the passage.
• Matching features: underline the names or terms first, then scan for them in the passage.
• Review every mistake. Find the exact sentence in the passage that proves the answer so you can spot the same trap next time.

FAQ

How many questions does this passage have? The Global Importance of Wetlands covers Questions 14–26, which is 13 questions.

Where is this passage from? It is Reading Passage 2 in Cambridge IELTS 19, Academic Test 3.

How should I use these answers? Attempt the passage under timed conditions first, then check your answers here and read the reason for every mistake.

Cambridge IELTS 19 Reading Test 3: all passages
Part 1: Archaeologists Discover Evidence of Prehistoric Island Settlers  |  Part 2: The Global Importance of Wetlands (you are here)  |  Part 3: Is the Era of Artificial Speech Translation Upon Us?

← Previous: Part 1Next: Part 3 answers →

Practise more IELTS Reading

Try more passages on a computer-based screen with a timer. Practise free IELTS Academic Reading tests on computerielts.com and check your band score instantly.

>