Food for Thought 2 Reading Answers

Dec 13, 2022

Food for thought 2 Reading answers contains paragraphs and 13 different types of questions. Candidates will be shown various question types with clear instructions in this IELTS Section. Food for thought 2 Reading answers comprises of three types of questions: Matching heading, sentence completion, and Choose the correct option. For the Matching heading, candidates need to thoroughly go through each passage. For sentence completion, candidates need to skim the passage for keywords and understand the concept. To choose the correct option, candidates must read the IELTS Reading passage and understand the statement provided.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Food for thought 2 Reading answers

There are not enough classrooms at the Msekeni primary school, so half the lessons take place in the shade of yellow-blossomed acacia trees. Given this shortage, it might seem odd that one of the school's purpose-built classrooms has been emptied of pupils and turned into a storeroom for sacks of grain. But it makes sense, Food matters more than shelter.
Msekeni is in one of the poorer parts of Malawi, a landlocked southern African country of exceptional beauty and great poverty. No war lays waste to Malawi, nor is the land unusually crowded or infertile, but Malawians still have trouble finding enough to eat. Half of the children under five are underfed to the point of stunting. Hunger blights most aspects of Malawian life, so the country is as good a place as any to investigate how nutrition affects development, and vice versa.
The headmaster at Msekeni, Bernard Kumanda, has strong views on the subject. He thinks food is a priceless teaching aid. Since 1999, his pupils have received free school lunches. Donors such as the World Food Programme (WFP) provide the food: those sacks of grain (mostly mixed maize and soya bean flour, enriched with vitamin A) in that converted classroom. Local volunteers do the cooking — turning the dry ingredients into a bland but nutritious slop and spitting it out onto plastic plates. The children line up in large crowds, cheerfully singing a song called “We are getting porridge”.
When the school's feeding program was introduced, enrolment at Mseleni doubled. Some of the new pupils had switched from nearby schools that did not give out free porridge, but most were children whose families had previously kept them at home to work. These families were so poor that the long-term benefits of education seemed unattractive when set against the short-term gain of sending children out to gather firewood or help in the fields. One plate of porridge a day completely altered the calculation. A child fed at school will not howl so plaintively for food at home. Girls, who are more likely than boys to be kept out of school, are given extra snacks to take home.
When a school takes in a horde of extra students from the poorest homes, you would expect standards to drop. Anywhere in the world, poor kids tend to perform worse than their better-off classmates. When the influx of new pupils is not accompanied by an increase in the number of teachers, as was the case at Msekeni, you would expect standards to fall even further. But they have not. Pass rates at Mseleni improved dramatically, from 30% to 85%. Although this was an An exceptional example, the nationwide results of school feeding programs were still pretty good. On average, after a Malawian school started handing out free food it attracted 38% more girls and 24% more boys. The pass rate for boys stayed about the same, while for girls it improved by 9.5%.
Better nutrition makes for brighter children. Most immediately, well-fed children find it easier to concentrate. It is hard to focus the mind on long division when your stomach is screaming for food. Mr. Kumanda says that it used to be easy to spot the undernourished kids. “They were the ones who stared into space and didn't respond when you asked the question,” he says. More Crucially, though, more and better food helps brains grow and develop. Like any other organ in the body. The brain needs nutrition and exercise. But if it is starved of the necessary calories, proteins and micronutrients, it is stunted, perhaps not as severely as a muscle would be, but stunted nonetheless. That is why feeding children at schools works so well. And the fact that the effect of feeding was more pronounced in girls than in boys gives a clue to who eats first in rural Malawian households. It isn't the girls.
On a global scale, the good news is that people are eating better than ever before. Homo sapiens has grown 50% bigger since the industrial revolution. Three centuries ago, chronic malnutrition was more or less universal. Now, it is extremely rare in rich countries. In developing countries, where most people live, plates and rice bowls are also fuller than ever before. The proportion of children under five in the developing world who are malnourished to the point of stunting fell from 39% in 1990 to 30% in 2000, says the World Health Organization (WHO). In In other places, the battle against hunger is steadily being won. Better nutrition is making people cleverer and more energetic, which will help them grow more prosperous. And when they eventually join the ranks of the well off, they can start fretting about growing too fast.

Section 2

Solution with Explanation
Questions 1-7:
The reading passage has seven paragraphs, A-G
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-G from the list below.
Write the correct number, i-xi, in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

Why better food helps students’ learning
A song for getting porridge
Surprising use of school premises
Global perspective
Brains can be starved
Surprising academics outcome
Girls are specially treated in the program
How the food program is operated
How food program affects school attendance
None of the usual reasons
How to maintain an academic standard

Paragraph A

Answer: iii
Supporting Statement: there are not enough classrooms at the Msekeni primary school, so half the lessons take place in the shade of yellow-blossomed acacia trees. Given this shortage, it might seem odd that one of the school’s purpose-built classrooms has been emptied of pupils and turned into a storeroom for sacks of grain. But it makes sense. Food matters more than shelter.
Keywords: Msekeni primary school, yellow-blossomed acacia trees.
Keyword location: Paragraph A
Explanation: These lines show how unexpectedly schools are used. That is, it is clear from these lines that since there aren't enough classrooms, half of the lessons take place under acacia trees with yellow blossoms. The school's purpose-built classrooms, which were formerly filled with students, have now been converted into a storage space for grain sacks. Food clearly has a greater impact than shelter, as a result. The answer is therefore iii.

Paragraph B

Answer: x
Supporting Statement: Msekeni, as one of the poorer parts of Malawi, a landlocked southern African country of exceptional beauty and great poverty. No war lays waste to Malawi, nor is the land unusually crowded or infertile, but Malawians still have trouble finding enough to eat. Half of the children under five are underfed to the point of stunting. Hunger blights most aspects of Malawian life, so the country is as good a place as any to investigate how nutrition affects development, and vice versa.
Keywords: Malawi, African country, nutrition affects.
Keyword location: Paragraph B
Explanation: These are a few of the peculiar explanations for why Msekeni is one of Malawi's poorer regions. Therefore, the solution is x.

Paragraph C

Answer: viii
Supporting Statement: donors such as the World Food Programme (WFP) provide the food: those sacks of grain (mostly mixed maize and soya bean flour, enriched with vitamin A) in that converted classroom. Local volunteers do the cooking – turning the dry ingredients into a bland but nutritious slope and spitting it out onto plastic plates. The children line up in large crowds, cheerfully singing a song called “We are getting porridge”
Keywords: World Food Programme, vitamin A, Local volunteers.
Keyword location: Paragraph C, line 4
Explanation: These lines describe the management of the food program. The solution is therefore viii.

Paragraph D

Answer: ix
Supporting Statement: When the school’s feeding program was introduced, enrolment at Msekeni doubled. Some of the new pupils had switched from nearby schools that did not give out free porridge, but most were children whose families had previously kept them at home to work.
Keywords: feeding program, free porridge
Keyword location: Paragraph D
Explanation: These sentences make clear how the feeding program influences students' attendance at school. ix is the result, therefore.

Paragraph E

Answer: vi
Supporting Statement: when a school takes in a horde of extra students from the poorest homes, you would expect standards to drop. Anywhere in the world, poor kids tend to perform worse than their better-off classmates. When the influx of new pupils is not accompanied by an increase in the number of teachers, as was the case at Msekeni, you would expect standards to fall even further. But they have not. Pass rates at Msekeni improved dramatically, from 30% to 85%
Keywords: horde of extra students, influx of new pupils.
Keyword location: Paragraph E
Explanation: These sentences allude to the students' unexpected academic success at Msekeni schools. So, vi is the correct answer.

Paragraph F

Answer: i
Supporting Statement: Better nutrition makes for brighter children. Most immediately, well-fed children find it easier to concentrate. It is hard to focus the mind on long division when your stomach is screaming for food. Mr. Kumanda says that it used to be easy to spot the undernourished kids.
Keywords: better nutrition, screaming for food, undernourished kids.
Keyword location: Paragraph F
Explanation: It is stated that it is clear from these lines why better eating aids in pupils' academic achievement. So, I is the correct answer.

Paragraph G

Answer: iv
Supporting Statement: On a global scale, the good news is that people are eating better than ever before. Homo sapiens has grown 50% bigger since the industrial revolution. Three centuries ago, chronic malnutrition was more or less universal. Now, it is extremely rare in rich countries. In developing countries, where most people live, plates and rice bowls are also fuller than ever before. The proportion of children under five in the developing world who are malnourished to the point of stunting fell from 39% in 1990 to 30% in 2000, says the World Health Organization (WHO).
Keywords: chronic malnutrition, stunting fell, world health organization.
Keyword location: Paragraph G
Explanation: The global perspective is made clear in these lines. The solution is therefore iv.

Questions 8-11:
Complete the sentences below using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage?
Write your answers in boxes 8-11 on your answer sheet

………………….. are exclusively offered to girls in the feeding program.

Answer: extra snacks
Supporting Statement: Girls, who are more likely than boys to be kept out of school, are given extra snacks to take home, which means that extra snacks are exclusively offered to girls in the feeding programme.
Keywords: school, snacks, feeding programme.
Keyword location: Paragraph D, last line
Explanation: According to the above given lines, it is clearly mentioned that extra snacks were offered under the feeding programme scheme. So, the answer is extra snacks.

Instead of going to school, many children in poverty are sent to collect ……………………. in the fields.

Answer: firewood
Supporting Statement: these families were so poor that the long-term benefits of education seemed unattractive when set against the short-term gain of sending children out to gather firewood or help in the fields.
Keywords: long term benefits, education, unattractive, firewood
Keyword location: Paragraph D, line 3
Explanation: These phrases make it clear that many underprivileged youngsters are sent to gather firewood in the fields rather than attending school. Firewood is the appropriate response.

The pass rate as Msekeni has risen to …………………….. with the help of the feeding programme.

Answer: 85%
Supporting Statement: the pass rates at Msekeni improved dramatically, from 30% to 85%.
Keywords: pass rates, dramatically, from 30% to 85%
Keyword location: Paragraph E, line 4
Explanation: The passing rates as reported by Msekeni have increased to 85% thanks to the feeding program, according to these lines. So, 85% is the correct answer.

Since the industrial revolution, the size of the modern human has grown by …………………….

Answer: 50%
Supporting Statement: on a global scale, the good news is that people are eating better than ever before. Homo sapiens has grown 50% bigger since the industrial revolution.
Keywords: good news, global scale, growth, homo sapiens, industrial revolution.
Keyword location: Paragraph G
Explanation: These numbers show a 50% growth in the size of the modern world population since the start of the industrial revolution. Therefore, 50% is the answer.

Questions 12-13:
Choose TWO letters, A-F
Write your answers in boxes 12 and 13 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO of the following statements are true?

Some children are taught in the open air.
Malawi has trouble feeding its large population.
No new staff were recruited when attendance rose.
Girls enjoy a higher status than boys in the family
Boys and girls experience the same improvement in the pass rate.
WHO has cooperated with WFP to provide grain to the school at Msekeni.

Question 12:

Answer: A
Supporting Statement: there are not enough classrooms at the Msekeni primary school, so half the lessons take place in the shade of yellow-blossomed acacia trees.
Keywords: enough classrooms, Msekeni primary school, yellow blossomed acacia trees.
Keyword location: Paragraph A
Explanation: These words imply that some kids receive their education outside. The solution is hence A.

Question 13:

Answer: C
Supporting Statement: when the influx of new pupils is not accompanied by an increase in the number of teachers, as was the case at Msekeni, you would expect standards to fall even further. But they have not.
Keywords: new pupils, number of teachers, standards.
Keyword location: Paragraph E
Explanation: These sentences imply that despite the increasing enrollment of pupils, the number of teachers stayed the same because no additional instructors were hired. The solution is therefore C.

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