A Brief History of Human and Food Reading Answers

Jul 4, 2025

A Brief History of Human and Food Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. A Brief History of Human and Food Reading Answers has a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. In the question set given, you have to state whether the statement is true, false or not given with the information given in the text. In the next set, you have to fill in the blank with the correct answer, only with one word.

The IELTS Reading section is an essential part of the test that evaluates a candidate's comprehension and analysis of various passage types. You will work through a number of IELTS reading practice problems in this section that resemble actual test situations. These questions are designed to help you improve your ability to recognise essential concepts, extract particular facts, and make inferences. Practising these IELTS reading problems can help you get comfortable with the structure and increase your confidence for the exam, regardless of whether you are studying for the Academic or General Training module.

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Section 1 A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANS AND FOOD

During the journey from our hunter-gatherer ancestors to the present day, there have been three seismic changes that have impacted the food we eat: the discovery of cooking, the emergence of agriculture, and the invention of methods of preserving food. The 19th-century scientist Charles Darwin thought that cooking, after language, was the greatest discovery made by man. All of us eat some raw food, such as fruit and vegetables, but the great majority of food we consume is cooked. Cooking can turn plants that are inedible into edible food by destroying toxic chemicals that plants often manufacture to protect themselves against attack by insects or other herbivorous animals. These toxic chemicals are referred to as "plant secondary compounds" because they are not directly involved in the plant's normal growth, development, and reproduction, and are produced purely as chemical defenses. They give many of the plants we consume, such as coffee or Brussels sprouts, their bitter taste.

Cooked food is often more digestible because heat breaks down tough cellulose cell walls in plants or tough connective tissue in animals. Chewing raw turnip, a plate of uncooked rice, or a raw leg of Iamb is much harder work than eating the cooked equivalent. The energy expended in chewing to break down the tough material is replaced by energy from the fuel used in cooking the food, so the ratio of energy gained to energy expended by the body is greater when food is cooked.

Until the development of agriculture, hunter-gatherers spent up to seven hours a day gathering food. This all began to change around 10,500 years ago with the advent of farming, which led to dramatic changes in human societies. People began to create a variety of new tools to aid survival, and in turn, populations increased in size. These changes led to the possibility of specialization of different tasks within society. Around this time, writing became more sophisticated and allowed people to maintain records of the harvest and taxes. Eventually, formalized structures of government were established as people settled in one area

The arrival of agriculture meant that, for the first time, our ancestors had more food than they could eat immediately. This, combined with the seasonality of production, led them to discover methods of preserving food: smoking, drying, adding acid by fermentation, or adding salt. These four methods all share one feature in common—they make the food a more hostile environment for bacteria that can cause it to spoil. They also tend to slow down natural chemical reactions in the food that would cause decay.

Although foods today are still preserved in these ancient ways, two more recent methods of preserving food have become more common: canning and freezing. Canning was invented by a Frenchman, Nicholas Appert, in the early 19th century. He sealed food in bottles fabricated from glass and then heated them in boiling water to cook the contents. Appert's method had great advantages over older methods of food preservation: it could be applied to a wide range of foods, and the flavor and texture were similar to freshly cooked products. His idea was soon copied by an Englishman, Peter Durand. Until this point, containers had been too heavy to be widely used, but Durand produced the first ones which were lightweight and resistant to damage. Two years later, in 1812, two Englishmen, Bryan Donkin and John Hall, started the commercial canning of food, although the real rise in popularity of canning had to wait until the invention of the can opener in 1855. Until then, cans were opened with a chisel and hammer. Canning is an extremely effective way of preserving food: one can containing meat, dating back to 1824, was opened in 1939, and the contents were still in good condition.

In the 21st century, the dominance of canning as a method of food preservation has been overtaken by freezing. Chilling food to keep it fresh is an old idea. The earliest mentions of icehouses, thick-walled buildings, half underground, date back to 1700 BC in northwest Iran. In early 16th-century Italy, water was mixed with chemicals to lower its freezing point to -18 degrees Celsius. Several centuries later, frozen fish and other goods were transported by ship from Australia to England. However, the modern frozen food industry was started in the 1920s by an American, Clarence Birdseye, while on a fishing trip with the Inuit in the Canadian Arctic, Birdseye observed that rapid freezing creates smaller ice crystals and therefore causes less damage to food—a discovery he had not expected. Nevertheless, the major growth in demand for frozen food came with the arrival of freezers in ordinary people's homes. The advantages of frozen over canned food include the fact that the flavor and consistency are often identical to the fresh product, and freezing can be used to preserve a wide variety of foods.

Questions 1-5

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage I? Write:

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1. According to Darwin, cooking was the most significant development in human history.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: Charles Darwin thought that cooking, after language, was the greatest discovery made by man

Keywords: Charles Darwin, cooking

Keyword Location: Para 1, Line 4

Explanation: According to Charles Darwin, cooking is the second-best development in human history first being language.

2. The process of cooking gets rid of some plant poisons.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: Cooking can turn plants that are inedible into edible food by destroying toxic chemicals that plants often manufacture to protect themselves

Keywords: inedible, toxic

Keyword Location: Para 1, Lines 6-7

Explanation: As stated in the passage, cooking removes the toxins a plant may have, making it edible.

3. Eating cooked food is more energy efficient than eating raw food.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: so the ratio of energy gained to energy expended by the body is greater when food is cooked.

Keywords: energy, cooked

Keyword Location: Para 2, Line 5

Explanation: According to the text, cooked food is more energy efficient as it requires less energy to chew and digest compared to raw food.

4. Clarence Birdseye had previously worked in the Australian food industry.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: No information about Clarence Birdseye having worked in the Australian food industry.

5. Birdseye's trip with the Inuit confirmed what he already believed about rapid freezing.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: Clarence Birdseye, while on a fishing trip with the Inuit in the Canadian Arctic, Birdseye observed that rapid freezing creates smaller ice crystals and therefore causes less damage to food—a discovery he had not expected.

Keywords: Inuit, Birdseye

Keyword Location: Para 6, Line 7

Explanation: According to the text, Clarence Birdseye, a fishing trip with the Inuit in the Canadian Arctic led to a discovery regarding rapid freezing, creating small ice crystals which cause less damage to the food. This newfound knowledge was something he had no idea of beforehand.

Questions 6-13

Choose ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PRESERVATION

The changes agriculture brought about were:

- The development of equipment and larger 6_____________

Answer: POPULATIONS

Supporting statement: People began to create a variety of new tools to aid survival, and in turn, populations increased in size.

Keywords: survival, populations

Keyword Location: Para 3, Lines 3-4

Explanation: The changes brought about by agriculture were that people started making a wide range of new tools to help them survive, which led to an increase in population growth.

- The ability to keep 7_____________ as writing developed

- The setting up of organized government

Answer: RECORDS

Supporting statement: Around this time, writing became more sophisticated and allowed people to maintain records of the harvest and taxes.

Keywords: writing, records

Keyword Location: Para 3, Lines 5-6

Explanation: The development of writing allowed people to maintain records of the harvest and the taxes, which made everything more organised.

FOOD PRESERVATION

- Early methods of food preservation included: Smoking, drying and combining food with acid or

8__________

Answer: SALT

Supporting statement: This, combined with the seasonality of production, led them to discover methods of preserving food: smoking, drying, adding acid by fermentation, or adding salt.

Keywords: production, preserving

Keyword Location: Para 4, Line 2

Explanation: According to the text, smoking, drying, adding acid by fermentation, or adding salt were some of the early methods discovered by people for food preservation.

Canning

Nicholas Appert put food into containers made of 9________

Answer: GLASS

Supporting statement: He sealed food in bottles fabricated from glass and then heated them in boiling water to cook the contents.

Keywords: glass, boiling

Keyword Location: Para 5, Lines 3-4

Explanation: Early in the 19th century, Nicholas Appert, a Frenchman, created canning. He cooked the contents of the glass bottles he made by sealing them and heating them in hot water.

Appert's method resulted in preserved food with the same taste and 10________ as fresh food

Answer: TEXTURE

Supporting statement: Appert's method had great advantages over older methods of food preservation: it could be applied to a wide range of foods, and the flavor and texture were similar to freshly cooked products.

Keywords: preservation, texture, freshly

Keyword Location: Para 5, Line 5

Explanation: The method used by Nicholas Appert preserved the food it made the food have the same taste, flavour, and texture.

Peter Durand introduced cans that were lightweight and 11__________ and hard to break

Answer: LIGHT

Supporting statement: but Durand produced the first ones which were lightweight and resistant to damage.

Keywords: Durand, lightweight

Keyword Location: Para 5, Line 8

Explanation: According to the text, lightweight and hard-to-break cans were made by Peter Durand.

In 1855, the metal can opener replaced the 12___________ which had been used with a hammer used to open cans

Answer: CHISEL

Supporting statement: invention of the can opener in 1855. Until then, cans were opened with a chisel and hammer.

Keywords: 1855, chisel

Keyword Location: Para 5, Line 11

Explanation: Up until 1855, when the can opener was invented, cans were opened using

a chisel and hammer.

Some food was still edible after more than 100 years, e.g., an old can of 13___________

Answer: MEAT

Supporting statement: one can containing meat, dating back to 1824, was opened in 1939, and the contents were still in good condition

Keywords: meat, 1824, 1939,

Keyword Location: Para 5, Lines 12-13

Explanation: The paragraph mentions an example about a can containing meat that was still fresh when opened in 1939, even after being canned in 1824.

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