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Are Vegans Helping? Reading Answers

Bhaskar Das

Jul 4, 2025

Are Vegans Helping? Reading Answers contains 14 questions and belongs to the assessment system of the IELTS General Reading test. Are Vegans Helping? reading section must be answered within 20 minutes. In this IELTS reading passage, you'll encounter question types like Do the following statements agree with the information and Choose the correct number. Also, Are Vegans Helping? Reading Answers contains detailed information about a compelling case for veganism, from health benefits and animal welfare to global sustainability and carbon reduction. To practice reading comprehension passages like this one, candidates are encouraged to explore the IELTS Reading Practice Test section.

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Topic:

A.No one can deny the trend toward veganism nowadays. From celebrities to the kid next door, meatless diets are spreading. A trip to any supermarket, be it for gourmet or budget-conscious consumers, will prove the popularity of going vegan. Often, there will be an entire section dedicated just to vegan-only products. Restaurants are also steadily increasing their plant-based options- and this even holds true for fast food chains. One hugely popular Mexican food chain, Chipotle, recently put a vegan option, the tofu Sofrita, on its menu, and it is now one of the most popular menu items.

B.There has been much research published about the personal benefits of eliminating all animal products from one's diet. Nutritionists say that vegans, overall, have lower body weight, lower blood pressure and decreased tendencies toward heart disease and cancer.

Even if you are not a food scientist, however, you cannot fail to see how eating only fruit, veggies and tofu will help your body be healthier. However, there are also allegations that being a vegan is better for the environment. What of those claims? Here, the proof is not as clear cut to some. Although the amount of articles published on plant-based diets jumped by 10% last year, a majority of this information is telling us what we already know: eating more fruit and veg, and less red meat and fatty dairy products, is the healthier way to go. This, of course, is not news to anyone. Nevertheless, does being a vegan or vegetarian provide external benetits to animals? Does it aid in environmental sustainability?

C.Some say that such small number of people have the luxury of being able to choose their food in this manner, that there is no way that it can actually have a global impact. After all, much of the world's poor people in third-world countries rely on some sort of animal protein to feed themselves and their families, and those in poverty who dwell inside first world nations still fill their homes with cheap processed food- which is rarely vegetarian. So, how can a few vegetarians/vegans have any effect? Actually, a growing number of institutions agree that, yes, plant-based diets are a positive choice for the world, in any amount.

D.Starting on a smaller scale, Tom Ribbons, who operates a homeless shelter outside of Atlanta, works with a limited budget, and yet has to feed hundreds of hungry people a day. He made the choice last year to convert his shelter to a vegetarian-only menu.

Relying a lot of rice and legumes, he has managed to save over $200 a month on groceries. This shows that even those living on a smaller income can afford to survive on a plant-based diet.

E.How does it help animals, then? An article in the Journal of Health and Fitness recently said that every meat-eating individual consumes, each year, an average of 7,000 animals over their lifetime. This includes fish. Additionally, over 97% of these animals are bred and raised in captivity. By the simple economics of supply and demand, it can be seen that by choosing to not eat meat, the demand for animals would drop significantly, and this has to cause the factories and farms to decrease their supply. So, it is not so much that one is saving an animal's life right now by choosing the vegetable stir-fry over beef, but, rather, one is preventing the future birth of an animal that is only brought into the world to sit in a cage before its death. In a book published last year, 96: Photos of Saved Animals, it is written that 96 animals are spared every year as a consequence of only one person being a vegan. "Spared" however, can be a misleading word choice. For many vegans and vegetarians, it's not the thought that they are actually saving an animal right now that motivates them. It is the mercy toward future animals that keeps them going. When looking at pictures of chickens who never once in their life leave their cage, one can be confident that their choice of a non-meat option will prevent one more animal from having that experience.

F.It can be agreed that one person's choice, then, will have an impact on the mistreatment of animals. From a global perspective, also, it also helps humans. The World Watch Institute states that using crops to feed animals instead of people is causing starvation on a worldwide scale. If the crops that are used to feed animals now were converted to food for people, an additional 4 billion people a year could be fed. 4 billion! In the U.S. alone, 70% of the grain grown is given over to animals. Imagine of all of that were instead used to make food for the human inhabitants.

G.If you're still not convinced, here's another amazing statistic for you. By switching to a vegan diet, free of dairy, meat and eggs, you cut carbon emissions by more than if you drive an electric car. By more than 50%, if fact. Also, according to the United Nations, raising animals for food creates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined. Again, by cutting the demand, the supply will have to be cut as well. With all this proof, I believe the choice is clear. Order the tofu.

Questions 14-20

Reading Passage 2 has seven section, A-G.

Choose the correct heading for sections A-G from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i-ix.

LIST OF HEADINGS

i. Two sides of the debate

ii. Veganism: A widespread phenomenon iii. Animal statistics

iv. Plant-based diets: beneficial inside and out?

v. Going vegan is a luxury

vi. Vegans are healthier than most people vii. The celebrity diet

vili. The financial benefit: one man's story ix. Food for people, not animals

x. Vegans clean the air

14. Section A

Answer: ii. Veganism: A widespread phenomenon

Supporting statement: "No one can deny the trend toward veganism nowadays..."

Keywords: veganism, trend, popularity

Keyword Location: Paragraph A, line 1

Explanation: The paragraph discusses how veganism has become increasingly common across society, from celebrities to everyday people, and provides examples such as supermarket sections and restaurant menus.

15. Section B

Answer: iv. Plant-based diets: beneficial inside and out?

Supporting statement: "However, there are also allegations that being a vegan is better for the environment."

Keywords: benefits, vegan, environment, health

Keyword Location: Paragraph B, line 5

Explanation: The paragraph weighs both personal health benefits and broader environmental claims of veganism, questioning the extent and clarity of such external advantages.

16. Section C

Answer: i. Two sides of the debate

Supporting statement: "So, how can a few vegetarians/vegans have any effect?"

Keywords: debate, impact, global, small number

Keyword Location: Paragraph C, line 4

Explanation: The paragraph explores the argument that only a few people follow veganism, contrasting it with growing support from institutions, indicating two sides of the argument.

17. Section D

Answer: viii. The financial benefit: one man's story

Supporting statement: "Tom Ribbons...has managed to save over $200 a month on groceries."

Keywords: financial benefit, save money, vegetarian-only

Keyword Location: Paragraph D, last line

Explanation: A real-life example demonstrates cost savings from adopting a vegetarian menu, reinforcing the economic feasibility of plant-based eating.

18. Section E

Answer: iii. Animal statistics

Supporting statement: "Every meat-eating individual consumes...an average of 7,000 animals over their lifetime."

Keywords: animal statistics, consumption, 7000

Keyword Location: Paragraph E, line 2

Explanation: The section presents numerical data and projections related to animal lives affected by dietary choices.

19. Section F

Answer: ix. Food for people, not animals

Supporting statement: "Using crops to feed animals instead of people is causing starvation..."

Keywords: crops, feed animals, feed people, starvation

Keyword Location: Paragraph F, line 2

Explanation: The paragraph explains how food resources currently allocated to animals could instead feed billions of people.

20. Section G

Answer: x. Vegans clean the air

Supporting statement: "By switching to a vegan diet...you cut carbon emissions..."

Keywords: vegan diet, carbon emissions, greenhouse gases

Keyword Location: Paragraph G, line 1

Explanation: The section emphasizes the environmental benefit of veganism in terms of reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Questions 21-27

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? Write

YES if the statements agrees with the claims

NO if the statement contradicts the claims

NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

21. There are now more choices for vegetarians and vegans who want to eat out.

Answer: YES

Supporting statement: "Restaurants are also steadily increasing their plant-based options..."

Keywords: restaurants, plant-based options

Keyword Location: Paragraph A, line 4

Explanation: This confirms that more dining options for vegans and vegetarians are available now.

22. Much of the published information on plant-based diets simply affirms our knowledge of the health benefits.

Answer: YES

Supporting statement: "A majority of this information is telling us what we already know..."

Keywords: information, plant-based diets, already know

Keyword Location: Paragraph B, line 6

Explanation: The paragraph clearly says that most research affirms known benefits of plant-based diets.

23. Most people living in first-world countries still choose to buy processed food over natural or organic options.

Answer: YES

Supporting statement: "...those in poverty who dwell inside first world nations still fill their homes with cheap processed food..."

Keywords: poverty, processed food, first-world nations

Keyword Location: Paragraph C, line 3

Explanation: This supports the statement that many people in wealthy countries prefer processed over fresh food.

24. People who must live on a limited budget can still afford to buy food for a plant-based diet.

Answer: YES

Supporting statement: "...he has managed to save over $200 a month on groceries."

Keywords: save money, vegetarian-only menu

Keyword Location: Paragraph D, last line

Explanation: The paragraph provides a real-world example that plant-based diets are affordable even on a limited income.

25. Over 97% of the fish raised in captivity are consumed by humans.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Supporting statement:

Keywords:

Keyword Location:

Explanation: The statement discusses all animals, not specifically fish, so there’s no information provided about the percentage of fish.

26. Many people are motivated to be a vegetarian because their choices are saving animals right now.

Answer: NO

Supporting statement: "It is the mercy toward future animals that keeps them going."

Keywords: future animals, motivation

Keyword Location: Paragraph E, line 7

Explanation: The passage contradicts the statement by clarifying that most vegans are motivated by future impact, not immediate animal rescue.

27. More of the world's crops should be used to feed the animals who need it instead of

People.

Answer: NO

Supporting statement: "Using crops to feed animals instead of people is causing starvation..."

Keywords: crops, starvation, feed animals

Keyword Location: Paragraph F, line 2

Explanation: The passage argues the opposite—that crops should be diverted from animals to feed people.

Check IELTS reading samples:

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.

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