Summarising the Revival of a Local River
About this practice test
A feature article follows Millford residents’ gradual efforts to restore the polluted Alder River and shows how practical action, monitoring and patience support environmental and social recovery.
What you’ll practice
Finding detail
Locate specific information and evidence.
Interpreting ideas
Connect main points and inferences.
Evaluating arguments
Assess claims, evidence, and limitations.
What to expect:
2 questions with explanations to review after submission.
Study the questions and tasks
Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.
- Practice level
- B2. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.
- Question formats
- Cloze (text)
How to approach this practice
Read the passage for its main idea, then return to the relevant sentence or paragraph for each question. Base answers on the passage.
Summarising the Revival of a Local River
The Alder River once ran clear and slow through Millford, with children paddling beside reed beds near the footbridge. Over time, however, it became a dirty and unreliable waterway. By summer, brown streaks often appeared after storms, and the smell of oil drifted from the banks. Paper cups and plastic sleeves caught in the shallows, and after heavy rain the same stains could be seen again and again. Although the most obvious blame fell on two factories upstream, residents also knew that old sewers leaked during heavy rain and that litter from the town ended up in the current. Maya Ortiz, a science teacher, and Leon Price, who repaired nets for a living, were tired of hearing that the river would recover by itself. They began with a Saturday walk, notebook in hand, and marked every pipe, drain and rubbish pile they found. Their first public step was not a protest march but a set of carefully drawn maps, which they took to the council with a short note asking for a meeting. Soon they were arranging weekend litter picks, asking the school art club to paint signs, and persuading café owners to stop giving out cheap plastic cutlery. What made the campaign grow was its habit of naming practical goals. Instead of asking for a grand rescue, the group asked the council to block illegal dumping, repair overflow pipes and make the factories install better filters. They also encouraged people to report broken drains and to keep wash-out soil away from the riverbank. One bakery began collecting waste oil rather than pouring it away, and a farm on the edge of town timed fertiliser use more carefully before rain. Each small change seemed minor on its own, but together they made the river easier to defend. Once the group had a routine, they began collecting simple data. Every fortnight, Maya's students tested the water near the footbridge and wrote the results in a shared notebook. Leon compared the readings with rainfall and noticed that blocked drains often made the water worse after storms. By the second summer, the water looked different. Sunlight reached the stones again, and willow roots that had been buried in slime were visible at the edge. Children started counting minnows near the bridge, and a heron returned after years away. Some mornings the water was still cloudy after rain, but on calmer days people could see pebbles near the shallows. The council, pleased but cautious, said that the river was improving because rainwater now had somewhere cleaner to go. Yet it also warned that recovery was uneven: after long wet spells, the lower stretch still carried a bad smell, and some wildlife had not yet returned. The most surprising change was social rather than botanical. Neighbours who had once complained about one another now shared tools for bank planting and checked the noticeboard for clean-up dates. The planting days became regular enough that new volunteers could join without asking awkward questions, and even people who rarely attended meetings felt a little ownership because they could point to a visible result. Arguments over responsibility did not disappear, but they became easier to handle when people were working side by side. The river, in other words, became a place where civic habits could be practised, not just an object of sympathy. Maya liked to say that the river had not been saved by a single dramatic act. It had improved because many different people did ordinary things at the right moment, and because they kept doing them after the first burst of attention had faded. The lesson, she told her students, was that a local environment can recover when complaints are turned into specific work, but that patience is essential. Nature, she added, answers slowly, yet it does answer.
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Question 1 · Cloze (text)
Complete each blank with the missing word or phrase.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each gap. Complete the summary. At first, the Alder River was a 1___ waterway, but pollution from 2___, leaky sewers and town rubbish made it dirty. Maya and Leon did not start with a protest; they first made 3___ and then used them to ask the council for help. The campaign grew through 4___, school signs and pressure on cafés. It worked because the group focused on 5___ rather than one dramatic rescue, while also recognising that 6___ from the town contributed to the problem.
Return to the passage, recording or visualCheck answers and explanations
- Blank 1
- clear and slow
- Blank 2
- two factories upstream / two factories / factories upstream
- Blank 3
- carefully drawn maps / maps
- Blank 4
- weekend litter picks / litter picks
- Blank 5
- practical goals
- Blank 6
- litter
Gap 1: clear and slow — the river originally ran “clear and slow.” Gap 2: two factories upstream — these received the most obvious blame for the pollution. Gap 3: carefully drawn maps — Maya and Leon’s first public step was making these maps. Gap 4: weekend litter picks — these were among the campaign’s early practical activities. Gap 5: practical goals — the campaign grew by naming specific, achievable goals instead of demanding a grand rescue. Gap 6: litter — residents knew that litter from the town entered the current.
The Alder River once ran clear and slow through Millford
Although the most obvious blame fell on two factories upstream, residents also knew that old sewers leaked during heavy rain and that litter from the town ended up in the current
Their first public step was not a protest march but a set of carefully drawn maps
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Question 2 · Cloze (text)
Complete each blank with the missing word or phrase.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each gap. Complete the summary. In the later stages, the council said the river was improving because rainwater now had somewhere 1___ to go. The campaign had pressed for factories to install 2___. By the second summer, the water looked cleaner, and 3___ returned after years away. However, the council said recovery was still 4___, especially after 5___. The biggest social change was that neighbours began sharing tools and felt a little 6___ in the river’s future.
Return to the passage, recording or visualCheck answers and explanations
- Blank 1
- cleaner
- Blank 2
- better filters / filters
- Blank 3
- a heron / heron
- Blank 4
- uneven
- Blank 5
- long wet spells / wet spells
- Blank 6
- ownership
Gap 1: cleaner — the council said rainwater had somewhere cleaner to go. Gap 2: better filters — the campaign asked factories to install them. Gap 3: a heron — one returned after years away. Gap 4: uneven — the council warned that recovery was not consistent everywhere. Gap 5: long wet spells — the lower stretch still smelled bad after these periods. Gap 6: ownership — people felt a little ownership because they could see visible results.
the river was improving because rainwater now had somewhere cleaner to go
a heron returned after years away
recovery was uneven: after long wet spells, the lower stretch still carried a bad smell
What to review next
Find the words that support each answer. For a mistake, compare the question with the evidence and identify the detail or inference you missed.
A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.
Before you practise: a worked example
Look for evidence in the text. Separate what the writer says from what you already know about the topic.
The library normally closes at six, but on Fridays it stays open until eight. When does it close on Friday?
The answer is eight. But introduces an exception to the normal closing time, so the first time mentioned is not the answer.
This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.