CELPIP Reading Part 3Reading for Information Practice

A. Above the tree line, plants face strong winds, intense sunlight, thin soils, and sudden changes in temperature. Tall stems would bend easily and expose broad surfaces to drying air in this open environment. Cushion plants avoid that shape by producing many short shoots packed into a low, rounded dome. Although several species share this form, they may belong to unrelated plant families that evolved under similar pressures. For survival adaptations of alpine cushion plants, relationships among these features matter because a change in one may influence several others within the same setting over time.

B. The dense outer layer slows the wind as air passes across the cushion rather than through upright stems. Leaves and dead plant material also trap a pocket of relatively still air among the living shoots. During sunshine, the interior can remain warmer than the surrounding air and protect growing tissue from rapid temperature swings. The dome also holds fine particles and moisture that might otherwise be carried away from exposed rock. Viewed together, details about temperature and wind conditions inside a cushion connect visible characteristics with processes that are less immediately obvious to an ordinary observer at first.

C. Cushion plants add new growth slowly because cold conditions provide only a brief season for producing leaves and roots. Some broad cushions are therefore much older than their modest height might suggest to a passing hiker. Flowers often appear close together across the surface, making them easier for scarce alpine pollinators to locate. Seeds that fall into cracks near the parent still require a suitable patch of soil and moisture to survive. Within survival adaptations of alpine cushion plants, the result is a system in which structure, timing, and local conditions remain closely connected throughout continuing development.

D. The sheltered interior may support insects and tiny neighbouring plants that could not tolerate the open ground nearby. By trapping organic matter, a cushion can gradually improve the small area of soil directly beneath it. However, a footprint or vehicle track can crush decades of closely packed growth in a single disturbance. Recovery is slow, so marked paths and careful site management help protect heavily visited alpine habitats. Observations of ecological effects and sensitivity to disturbance show why the same process may appear somewhat different from one site to another as surrounding conditions continue to change.

E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.