Is It Time To Halt the Rising Tide of Plastic Packaging? Reading Answers

Jan 31, 2023

Is It Time To Halt the Rising Tide of Plastic Packaging? Reading Answers containing a write up of plastic packaging can be a marvelous thing. Is It Time To Halt the Rising Tide of Plastic Packaging? Reading Answers contain a total of 7 paragraphs. Related to the paragraphs are 13 questions. Candidates in this IELTS Section will be shown various question types with clear instructions. The paragraphs describe all about the plastic packaging. The reasons for cheap plastic packaging and its side effects have also been mentioned.

Is It Time To Halt the Rising Tide of Plastic Packaging? Reading Answers is an IELTS Reading passage which comprises two types of questions: Complete the summary and choose the correct option. Candidates must carefully and properly read each paragraph. It is necessary to interpret each text. In order to respond to the questions, you must identify the paragraph's main idea. It's vital to keep in mind the crucial facts. The answers must not exceed more than two words. The information which has not been provided in the paragraphs must be marked as not given. The answer must not be more than two words.To gain proficiency, candidates can practice from IELTS reading practice test.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Is It Time To Halt the Rising Tide of Plastic Packaging? Reading Answers

Close up, plastic packaging can be a marvellous thing. Those who make a living from it call it a forgotten infrastructure that allows modern urban life to exist. Plastics have helped society defy natural limits such as the seasons, the rotting of food and the distance most of us live from where our food is produced. And yet we do not like it. Partly we do not like waste, but plastic waste, with its hydrocarbon roots and industrial manufacture, is especially galling. In 2008, the UK, for example, produced around two million tonnes of plastic waste, twice as much as in the early 1990s. The very qualities of plastic – its cheapness, its indestructible aura – make it a reproachful symbol of an unsustainable way of life.
The facts, however, do not justify our unease. All plastics are, at least theoretically, recyclable. Plastic packaging makes up just 6 to 7 per cent of the contents of British dustbins by weight and less than 3 percent of landfills. Supermarkets and brands, which are under pressure to reduce the quantity of packaging of all types that they use, are finding good environmental reasons to turn to plastic: it is lighter, so requires less energy for transportation than glass, for example; it requires relatively little energy to produce, and it is often re-usable. An Austrian study found that if plastic packaging were removed from the tire supply chain, other packaging would have to increase fourfold to make up for it. So are we just wrong about plastic packaging?
Is it time to stop worrying and learn to love the disposable plastic wrapping around sandwiches? Certainly, there are bigger targets for environmental savings such as improving household insulation and energy emissions. Naturally, the tire plastics industry is keen to point them out. What’s more, concern over plastic packaging has produced a squall of conflicting initiatives from retailers, manufacturers, and local authorities. It’s a squall that dies down and then blows harder from one month to the next. ‘It is being left to the individual conscience and supermarkets playing the market,’ says Tim Lang, a professor specializing in food polio’. ‘It’s a mess.’
Dick Scarle of the Packaging Federation points out that societies without sophisticated packaging lose all their food before it reaches consumers and that in the UK, waste in supply chains is about 3 per cent. In India, it is more titan 50 per cent. The difference comes later: the British throw out 30 percent of the food they buy – an environmental cost in terms of emissions equivalent to a fifth of the cars on their roads. Packagers agree that cardboard, metals, and glass all have their good points, but there’s nothing quite like plastic. With more than 20 families of polymers to choose from and then sometimes blend, packaging designers and manufacturers have a limitless variety of qualities to play with.
But if there is one law of plastic that, in environmental terms at least, prevails over all others, it is this: a little goes a long way. This means, first, that plastic is relatively cheap to use – it represents just over one-third of the UK packaging market by value but it wraps more than half the total number of items bought. Second, it means that even though plastic encases about 53 per cent of products bought, it only makes up 20 per cent by weight of the packaging consumed. And in the packaging equation, weight is the main issue because the heavier something is, the more energy you expend moving it around. Because of this, righteous indignation against plastic can look foolish.
One store commissioned a study to find precise data on which had a less environmental impact: selling apples loose or ready-wrapped. Helene Roberts, head of packaging, explains that in fact, they found apples in fours on a tray covered by plastic film needed 27 per cent less packaging in transportation than those sold loose. Sieve Kelsey, a packaging designer, finds die debate frustrating. He argues that the hunger to do something quickly is diverting effort away from more complicated questions about how you truly alter supply chains. Rather than further reducing the weight of a plastic bottle, more thought should be given to how packaging can be recycled. Helene Roberts explains that their greatest packaging reduction came when the company switched to reusable plastic crates and stopped consuming 62,000 tonnes of cardboard boxes every year.
Plastic packaging is important, and it might provide a way of thinking about broader questions of sustainability. To target plastic on its own is to evade the complexity of the issues. There seems to be a universal eagerness to condemn plastic. Is this due to an inability to make the general changes in society that are really required? ‘Plastic as a lightweight food wrapper is now built-in as the logical thing,’ Lang says. ‘Does that make it an environmentally sound system of packaging? It only makes sense if you have a structure such as exists now. An environmentally-driven packaging system would look completely different’ Dick Scarle put the challenge another way. “The amount of packaging used today is a reflection of modern life.”

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 14-18

Reading Passage 2 has five paragraphs A-E.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph, A-E from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-viii in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

A lack of consistent policy
Learning from experience
The greatest advantage
The role of research
A unique material
An irrational anxiety
Avoiding the real challenges
A sign of things to come

Paragraph A
Paragraph B
Paragraph C
Paragraph D
Paragraph E

Question 14.

Answer: vi- An irrational anxiety
Supporting Sentence: The very qualities of plastic – its cheapness, its indestructible aura – make it a reproachful symbol of an unsustainable way of life. The facts, however, do not justify our unease.
Keywords: plastic, unsustainable, life, justify, unease.
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, Lines 7-8
Explanation: It goes without saying that plastic, with traits like affordability and indestructibility, is a reproachful symbol of an unsustainable way of life. Plastic is an unflattering emblem of an unsustainable way of life because of its inherent characteristics, including its low cost and aura of indestructibility. But the evidence does not support our concern. The facts, however, do not support our worry, as this explanation (vi) heading is appropriate for paragraph A.

Question 15.

Answer: i- A lack of consistent policy
Supporting Sentence: Naturally, the tire plastics industry is keen to point them out. What’s more, concern over plastic packaging has produced a squall of conflicting initiatives from retailers, manufacturers and local authorities. It’s a squall that dies down and then blows harder from one month to the next.
Keywords: policy, plastic, retailers, manufacturers, local authorities.
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, Lines 4-6
Explanation: The tire plastics business is naturally eager to draw attention to them. Manufacturers, merchants, and municipal governments have taken a variety of contradictory activities in response to concerns about plastic packaging, as is explicitly mentioned in paragraph B. So heading I works well as the heading for paragraph B.

Question 16.

Answer: v- A unique material
Supporting Sentence: Packagers agree that cardboard, metals and glass all have their good points, but there’s nothing quite like plastic.
Keywords: packagers, cardboard, metals, glass, plastic, unique.
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, 4th Line
Explanation: The implication that plastic is preferable to cardboard, metals, and glass is made extremely clear in paragraph C. Packaging professionals concur that plastic is superior to other materials like glass, metals, and cardboard but that all three have advantages. Therefore, heading (v) should be used as the heading for paragraph C.

Question 17.

Answer: iii- The greatest advantage
Supporting Sentence: But if there is one law of plastic that, in environmental terms at least, prevails over all others, it is this: a little goes a long way. This means, first, that plastic is relatively cheap to use – it represents just over one-third of the UK packaging market by value but it wraps more than half die total number of items bought. Second, it means that even though plastic encases about 53 per cent of products bought, it only makes up 20 per cent by weight of the packaging consumed.
Keywords: plastic, environmental terms, prevails, cheap, weight.
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, Lines 1-3
Explanation: If we disregard its detrimental effects on the environment, plastic has the most advantages. Plastic is quite inexpensive to use; even while it covers more than half of all things purchased, it only accounts for slightly more than one-third of the value of the UK packaging sector. Second, despite the fact that 53% of the things that consumers purchase are enclosed in plastic, only 20% of the packaging used by weight is comprised of plastic. The header in (iii) is therefore the appropriate heading for paragraph D.

Question 18.

Answer: vii- Avoiding the real challenges
Supporting Sentence: ‘Plastic as a lightweight food wrapper is now built in as the logical thing,’ Lang says. ‘Does that make it an environmentally sound system of packaging? It only makes sense if you have a structure such as exists now. An environmentally driven packaging system would look completely different’ Dick Scarle put the challenge another way.
Keywords: plastic, lightweight, environmentally, packaging system, different, challenge.
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, Lines 11-14
Explanation: The use of plastic to wrap light items has become customary, as indicated in paragraph E. Plastic only makes sense if you already have the current framework. Based on environmental considerations, a packaging system would be entirely different in design. Even though we are aware of how awful plastic is for the environment, we still use it. Therefore, heading (vii) should be used as the heading for paragraph E.

Questions 19-23:

Look at the following statements (Questions 19-23) and the list of people below.
Match each statement to the correct person A-D.
Write the correct letter, A-D in boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.

A comparison of two approaches to packaging revealed an interesting result.
People are expected to do the right thing.
Most food roaches UK shops in good condition.
Complex issues are ignored in the search for speedy solutions.
It is merely because of the way societies operate that using plastic seems valid.

People

Tim Lang
Dick Seatle
Helene Roberts
Steve Kelsey

Question 19.

Answer: C- Helene Roberts
Supporting Sentence: One store commissioned a study to find precise data on which had less environmental impact: selling apples loose or ready-wrapped. Helene Roberts, head of packaging, explains that in fact they found apples in fours on a tray covered by plastic film needed 27 per cent less packaging in transportation than those sold loose.
Keywords: Helene Roberts, a study, environmental impact, apples, loose, ready-wrapped.
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, Lines 1-2
Explanation: As per in paragraph E, it has been mentioned that a study was ordered by one corporation to determine which method of selling apples loose or ready-wrapped had the least detrimental consequences on the environment. According to Helene Roberts, head of packaging, apples bought loose require 27% more packing for shipment than apples bought in groups of four on a tray covered in plastic film. So, the correct answer is C.

Question 20.

Answer: A- Tim Lang
Supporting Sentence: There seems to be a universal eagerness to condemn plastic. Is this due to an inability to make general changes in society that are really required? ‘Plastic as a lightweight food wrapper is now built in as the logical thing,’ Lang says.
Keywords: Tim Lang, plastic, lightweight, food, society.
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, Lines 9-11
Explanation: As per paragraph E, it has been clearly mentioned that There appears to be a widespread desire to decry plastic. Plastic is now considered the logical choice as a lightweight food wrapper, according to Lang. This is to be expected given that there seems to be a widespread tendency to detest plastic. Thus, the correct answer is A.

Question 21.

Answer: B- Dick Scarle
Supporting Sentence: Dick Scarle of the Packaging Federation points out that societies without sophisticated packaging lose half their food before it reaches consumers and that in the UK, waste in supply chains is about 3 per cent.
Keywords: Dick Scarle, Packaging, UK, food, supply chains, consumers.
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, 1st Line
Explanation: As per paragraph C, it has been mentioned that According to Dick Scarle of the Packaging Federation, in civilizations without sophisticated packaging, food is lost before it reaches customers 50% of the time, and in the UK, supply chain loss is roughly 3%. So, the correct answer is B as per the explanation provided.

Question 22.

Answer: D- Steve Kelsey
Supporting Sentence: Steve Kelsey, a packaging designer, finds die debate frustrating. He argues that the hunger to do something quickly is diverting effort away from more complicated questions about how you truly alter supply chains. Rather than further reducing the weight of a plastic bottle, more thought should be given to how packaging can be recycled.
Keywords: Steve Kelsey, hunger, quickly, diverting.
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, Lines 3-5
Explanation: As per lines of paragraph E, it has been stated that packaging designer Steve Kelsey claims that the need to finish projects fast is diverting attention away from more difficult issues such as how to successfully restructure supply networks. He comes to the conclusion that complicated problems are ignored in favor of quick fixes. So, the correct answer is D as per the explanation provided.

Question 23.

Answer: A- Tim Lang
Supporting Sentence: ‘It is being left to the individual conscience and supermarkets playing the market,’ says Tim Lang, a professor specializing in food polio’. ‘It’s a mess.’
Keywords: Tim Lang, individual, conscience, mess.
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, Lines 7-8
Explanation: Manufacturers, merchants, and municipal governments have taken a variety of contradictory activities in response to concerns about plastic packaging, as is explicitly mentioned in paragraph B. There is no standardized procedure in place. Tim Lang asserts that the way societies are set up gives the impression that using plastic is acceptable. So, the correct answer is A.

Questions 24-26:
Complete the summary below.
Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the text for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

A revolutionary material

Plastic packaging has changed the way we consume food. However, we instinctively dislike it partly because it is the product of 24………………………… processes, but also because it seems to be 25………………………….so we feel it is wasteful. Nevertheless, it is thanks to plastic that for many people their choice of food is no longer restricted by the 26………………………. in which it is available or the location of its source.

Question 24.

Answer: Industrial
Supporting Sentence: Partly we do not like waste, but plastic waste, with its hydrocarbon roots and industrial manufacture, is especially galling.
Keywords: Plastic, industrial, manufacture.
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, 5th Line
Explanation: As it is stated expressly in paragraph A, plastic is a byproduct of industrial operations.We don't like waste in general, but plastic waste is especially irritating because of its hydrocarbon origins and industrial manufacturing. So, the correct answer is industrial as per the explanation provided for the same.

Question 25.

Answer: Indestructible
Supporting Sentence: The very qualities of plastic – its cheapness, its indestructible aura – make it a reproachful symbol of an unsustainable way of life.
Keywords: plastic, indestructible.
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, 7th Line
Explanation: Because of its low cost as well as indestructibility, plastic is an offensive symbol of an unsustainable way of life, as was said in paragraph A. Plastic is an unflattering emblem of an unsustainable way of life because of its inherent characteristics, including its low cost and aura of indestructibility. So, the correct answer is indestructibility as per the explanation given.

Question 26.

Answer: Seasons
Supporting Sentence: Plastics have helped society defy natural limits such as the seasons, the rotting of food and the distance most of us live from where our food is produced.
Keywords: Plastics, seasons, rotting of food.
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, 3rd Line
Explanation: Seasonal variations, food spoilage, and the fact that the majority of us live distant from the farms that produce our food are just a few of the insurmountable challenges that society has been able to overcome thanks to the usage of plastics. Plastics have helped society overcome limitations imposed by nature, such as seasonal changes, food spoilage, and the distance most of us live from the farms that provide our food. In paragraph A, this is expressed in explicit terms. So, the correct answer is seasons.

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