Growing Skyscrapers: The Rise of Vertical Farms Reading Answers

Jul 31, 2025

Growing Skyscrapers: The Rise of Vertical Farms Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. Growing Skyscrapers: The Rise of Vertical Farms Reading Answers has a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. In the question set, complete the summary of paragraphs a-f. Choose no more than three words. In the next question set, you have to state whether the statement is yes, no or not given according to the passage.

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 some 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.

Check: Get 10 Free Sample Papers
Check: Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for Free Trial Class Now

Section 1

GROWING SKYSCRAPERS: THE RISE OF VERTICAL FARMS

A.Together, the world's 6.8 billion people use land equal in Size to South America to grow food and raise livestock, an astounding agricultural footprint. And demographers predict the planet will host 9.5 billion people by 2050. Because each of us requires a minimum of 1,500 calories a day, civilization will have to cultivate another Brazil's worth of land, 2.1 billion acres, if farming continues to be practiced as it is today. That much new, arable earth simply does not exist. To quote the great American humourist Mark Twain: “Buy land. They're not making it anymore.”

B.Agriculture also uses 70 percent of the world's available freshwater for irrigation, rendering it unusable for drinking as a result of contamination with fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and silt. If current trends continue, safe drinking water will be impossible to come by in certain densely populated regions. Farming involves huge quantities of fossil fuels, to 20 percent of all the gasoline and diesel fuel consumed in the U.S. The resulting greenhouse gas emissions are of course, a major concern, but so is the price of food as it becomes linked to the price of fuel, a mechanism that roughly doubled the cost of eating in most places worldwide between 2005 and 2008.

C.Some agronomists believe that the solution lies in even more intensive industrial farming, carried out by an ever-decreasing number of highly mechanized farming consortia that grow crops having higher yields — a result of genetic modification and more powerful agrochemicals. Even if this solution were to be implemented, it is a short-term remedy at best, because the rapid shift in climate continues to rearrange the agricultural landscape, foiling even the most sophisticated strategies. Shortly after the Obama administration took office, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu warned the public that climate change could wipe out farming in California by the end of the century.

D.What is more, if we continue wholesale deforestation just to generate new farmland, global warming will accelerate at an even more catastrophic rate. And far greater volumes of agricultural runoff could well create enough aquatic “dead zones” to turn most estuaries and even parts of the oceans into barren wastelands.

E.As if all that were not enough to worry about, food borne illnesses account for a significant number of deaths worldwide salmonella, cholera, Escherichia coli and shigella, to name just a few. Even more of problems are life-threatening parasitic infections, such as malaria and schistosomiasis. Furthermore, the common practice of using human feces as a fertilizer in most of Southeast Asia, many parts of Africa, and Central and South America (commercial fertilizers are too expensive) facilitates the spread of parasitic worm infections that afflict 2.5 billion people.

F.Clearly, radical change is needed. One strategic shift would do away with almost every ill just note: grow crops indoors, under rigorously controlled conditions, in vertical farm. Plants grown in high-rise buildings erected on now vacant city lots and in large, multistory rooftop greenhouses could produce food year-round using significantly less water, producing little waste, with less risk of infectious diseases, and no need for fossil-fueled machinery or transport from distant rural farms. Vertical farming could revolutionize how we feed ourselves and the rising population to come. Our meals would taste better, too; “locally grown” would become the norm.

G.The working descriptions sound outrageous at first. But engineers, urban planners and agronomists who have scrutinized the necessary technologies are convinced that vertical farming is not only feasible but should be tried.

H.Growing our food on land that used to be intact forests and prairies is killing the planet, setting up the processes of our own extinction. The minimum requirement should be a variation of the physician's credo: “Do no harm.” In this case, do no further harm to the earth. Humans have risen to conquer impossible odds before. From Charles Darwin's time in the mid-1800s and forward, with each Malthusian prediction of the end of the world because of a growing population came a series of technological breakthroughs that bailed us out. Farming machines of all kinds, improved fertilizers and pesticides, plants artificially bred for greater productivity and disease resistance, plus vaccines and drugs for common animal diseases, all resulted in more food than the rising population needed to stay alive.

I.That is, until the 1980s, when it became obvious that in many places farming was stressing the land well beyond its capacity to support viable crops. Agrochemicals had destroyed the natural cycles of nutrient renewal that intact ecosystems use to maintain themselves. We must switch to agricultural technologies that are more ecologically sustainable.

J.As the noted ecologist Howard Odum reportedly observed: “Nature has all the answers, so what is your question?” Mine is: How can we all live well and at the same time allow for ecological repair of the world's ecosystems? Many climate experts Nations Food and Agriculture environmentalist and 2004 Nobel from officials at the United Organization to sustainable Peace Prize winner Wangari Manthai agree that allowing farmland to revert to its natural grassy or wooded states is the easiest and most direct way to slow climate change. These landscapes naturally absorb carbon dioxide, the most abundant greenhouse gas, from the ambient air. Leave the land alone and allow it to heal our planet.

K.Examples abound. The demilitarized zone between South and North Korea, created in 1953 after the Korean War, began as a 2.5-mile-wide strip of severely scarred land but today is lush and vibrant, fully recovered. The once bare corridor separating former East and West Germany is now verdant. The American dust bowl of the 1930s, left barren by overfarming and drought, is once again a highly productive part of the nation's breadbasket. And all of New England, which was clear-cut at least three times since the 1700s, is home to large tracts of healthy hardwood and boreal forests.

Questions 28-36

Complete the summary of paragraphs A-F.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.

Demographers estimate that the world population would increase significantly. Because the consumption of 28_______on a daily basis, humans need to bring more land under plough under the current agricultural practices. However, this is difficult to achieve. Agriculture is responsible for the deterioration of drinking water because most of it serves the purpose of 29________ and the situation is threatening to some 30 _________communities. 31________ are another drawback entailed by farming because of the emissions. The increase in the food price would greatly influence global food cost. Some specialists advocate the adoption of more intensive industrial farming for more efficient farming. However, this is a 32_________since climate changes have a series of negative impacts. New farmland is produced from 33__________, which would consequently accelerate the increase in the world temperature. More unproductive wastelands would be created by much more serious 34_________. The most serious concern should be paid to 35_________contributing significantly to the global mortality rates. Some radical changes could be made in 36____________which could bring about revolutions in the way we feed ourselves and the coming-on-the-rise population.

28_______

Answer: CALORIES

Supporting statement: "Because each of us requires a minimum of 1,500 calories a day, civilization will have to cultivate another Brazil's worth of land, 2.1 billion acres, if farming continues to be practiced as it is today."

Keywords: calories, cultivate, land

Keyword Location: Para A, Lines 3-4

Explanation: The sentence explicitly states that each person requires a minimum number of calories daily, necessitating more land cultivation.

29_______

Answer: IRRIGATION

Supporting statement: "Agriculture also uses 70 percent of the world's available freshwater for irrigation, rendering it unusable for drinking as a result of contamination with fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and silt."

Keywords: freshwater, irrigation, unusable for drinking

Keyword Location: Para B, Lines 1-2

Explanation: The text highlights that a large percentage of freshwater is used for irrigation, leading to its contamination and making it unsuitable for drinking.

30_______

Answer: DENSELY POPULATED

Supporting statement: "If current trends continue, safe drinking water will be impossible to come by in certain densely populated regions."

Keywords: safe drinking water, impossible, densely populated

Keyword Location: Para B, Line 3

Explanation: This sentence directly states that the lack of safe drinking water will affect "densely populated regions."

31_______

Answer: FOSSIL FUELS

Supporting statement: "Farming involves huge quantities of fossil fuels, to 20 percent of all the gasoline and diesel fuel consumed in the U.S…………mechanism that roughly doubled the cost of eating in most places worldwide between 2005 and 2008."

Keywords: farming, fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions

Keyword Location: Para B, Lines 4-5

Explanation: The paragraph discusses that farming uses huge quantities of fossil fuels, leading to greenhouse gas emissions and increased food prices.

32_______

Answer: SHORT-TERM REMEDY

Supporting statement: "Even if this solution were to be implemented, it is a short-term remedy at best, because the rapid shift in climate continues to rearrange the agricultural landscape, foiling even the most sophisticated strategies."

Keywords: solution, short-term remedy, climate change

Keyword Location: Para C, Lines 4-5

Explanation: The text explicitly states that increased industrial farming is a short-term remedy due to the impact of climate change.

33_______

Answer: WHOLESALE DEFORESTATION

Supporting statement: "What is more, if we continue wholesale deforestation just to generate new farmland, global warming will accelerate at an even more catastrophic rate."

Keywords: wholesale deforestation, new farmland, global warming

Keyword Location: Para D, Lines 1-2

Explanation: The sentence links wholesale deforestation directly to the creation of new farmland and the acceleration of global warming.

34_______

Answer: AGRICULTURAL RUNOFF

Supporting statement: "And far greater volumes of agricultural runoff could well create enough aquatic “dead zones” to turn most estuaries and even parts of the oceans into barren wastelands”

Keywords: agricultural runoff, dead zones, barren wastelands

Keyword Location: Para D, Lines 2-4

Explanation: The text indicates that increased agricultural runoff can lead to the creation of unproductive wastelands.

35_______

Answer: FOOD BORNE ILLNESSES

Supporting statement: "As if all that were not enough to worry about, food borne illnesses account for a significant number of deaths worldwide salmonella, cholera, Escherichia coli and shigella, to name just a few."

Keywords: food borne illnesses, deaths worldwide

Keyword Location: Para E, Lines 1-2

Explanation: The passage directly identifies food borne illnesses as a major contributor to global mortality.

36_______

Answer: VERTICAL FARM

Supporting statement: "One strategic shift would do away with almost every ill just note: grow crops indoors, under rigorously controlled conditions, in vertical farm."

Keywords: strategic shift, grow crops indoors, vertical farm

Keyword Location: Para F, Lines 1-2

Explanation: The paragraph introduces vertical farm as a radical change that could revolutionize food production.

Questions 37-40

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Write

YES if the statement agrees with the information

NO if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

37. Since Charles Darwin's time until the 1950s, mankind has managed to survive owing directly to a range of technologies developed for the well-being of us.

Answer: YES

Supporting statement: "From Charles Darwin's time in the mid-1800s and forward… came a series of technological breakthroughs that bailed us out… farming machines… improved fertilizers and pesticides… vaccines and drugs… resulted in more food than the rising population needed to stay alive."

Keywords: Charles Darwin's, technological breakthroughs, technological breakthroughs

Keyword Location: Para H, Lines 4-6

Explanation: The text clearly states that from Darwin's time onward, humanity survived population growth due to technological innovations in agriculture and medicine.

38. Agrochemicals were the only factor that upset the ecosystem.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: The paragraph mentions agrochemicals as a damaging factor, but it does not state that they were the only factor. There is no mention ruling out other causes, so the statement is too strong to be supported.

39. The most effective approach to overcoming climate changes is to reconvert the cropped lands into meadow or forest.

Answer: YES

Supporting statement: "…allowing farmland to revert to its natural grassy or wooded states is the easiest and most direct way to slow climate change."

Keywords: farmland, grassy or wooded, climate change

Keyword Location: Para J, Lines 5-7

Explanation: The phrase easiest and most direct way clearly supports the idea that the reconversion of land is viewed as the most effective method to counter climate change.

40. The efforts to recover the natural landscapes are unsuccessful around the world.

Answer: NO

Supporting statement: "Examples abound… DMZ between South and North Korea… now lush and vibrant… East and West Germany… verdant… Dust Bowl… highly productive… New England… healthy forests."

Keywords: DMZ, South and North Korea, East and West Germany

Keyword Location: Para K, Lines 1-3

Explanation: The paragraph gives multiple examples of successful natural landscape recovery, directly contradicting the statement that such efforts have been unsuccessful.

Read More IELTS Reading Related Samples