Out of Africa The Tobacco War's New Battleground Reading Answers

Aug 1, 2025

Out of Africa: The Tobacco War's New Battleground Reading Answers contain 13 questions and belong to the assessment system of the IELTS General Reading test. Out of Africa: The Tobacco War's New Battleground Reading Answers must be answered within 20 minutes. In this IELTS reading section, question types include: Write the correct letter and Do the following statements agree with the information.

Out of Africa: The Tobacco War's New Battleground Reading Answers offers a comprehensive overview of Africa which is now a key target for anti-tobacco efforts as smoking rates rise, fueled by industry tactics and lifestyle shifts, with advocates pushing prevention through education, regulation, and global support. To practice similar reading tests, candidates can refer to the IELTS Reading Practice Test section.

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Topic:

BURNING HOPES:

Anti-tobacco advocacy groups are aiming high on Africa, a region of high concern due to its residents’ growing habit.

PART 1

A.Africa is already beleaguered by infectious diseases, such as AIDS and malaria, but now the continent’s residents face growing health threats from preventable illnesses brought on by lifestyle changes, especially from poor diets and smoking. In an effort to stave off these maladies, advocates have turned their sights on tobacco use, which is on the rise throughout Africa and projected to double by 2021. Of the approximately one billion people across the world who use tobacco, 60 million to 80 million live in Africa.

B.Along with lobbying for higher tobacco taxes and broader public health messages, advocates are hoping to eliminate smoking in public places in an effort to protect people from both first and second-hand smoke. About 200 million people worldwide live in municipalities where smoking is outlawed in public places, according to a report published Tuesday by Global Smoke Free Partnership (a joint initiative backed by the American Cancer Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer etc.) and announced in time for the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) “Cancer in Africa” conference taking place this week in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Reducing second-hand smoke exposure can reduce the rates of lung cancer, heart attacks and breathing trouble in non-smokers.

C.“It’s one of the most frustrating things,” Thomas Glynn, director of International Cancer Control for the American Cancer Society (ACS) and acting head of the Global Smoke Free Partnership says, pointing out that the science on nicotine-related illnesses can be prevented—especially among those who smoke with the right laws and education. A few countries in Africa have taken a firm stance on public smoking. The Indian Ocean nation, Mauritius, and South Africa have passed strong national smoke-free laws, and Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, has a local ordinance in effect. But in many areas throughout the continent, politically connected and economically strong tobacco companies with their addictive products are shaping up to be a substantial opponent (British American Tobacco, a member of the industry group the Tobacco Institute of Africa, did not respond to request for comment).

D.Tobacco causes about 5.4 million deaths worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a number that is set to rise in the coming decades even as use decreases in many developed countries. But it is not just the smokers who suffer the ill effects of their habits. Since 1986 second-hand smoke has been recognized internationally as a contributor to cancer. The U.S. Surgeon General went so far as to cite second-hand smoke as unsafe level of exposure to second-hand smoke.

E.Aside from the millions of tobacco-related deaths annually, a range of long-term disabling diseases and premature deaths can’t be ruled out on health and productivity. “We focus on lung cancer deaths, but more people die of other diseases and can never return to full function,” says a report issued earlier this year by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a London-based think-tank supported by Pfizer.

F.In developed countries, where bans in areas with “smoke-free” laws dropped by 36 percent within six months after enactment, according to a report released in September by the American Heart Association. California, one of the first states in the U.S. to institute substantial local law banning public smoking, has seen a reduction in lung cancer, Glynn notes. “From a biological plausibility point of view, this makes sense,” he says.

G.“The science is established,” Glynn says. “It’s not the legal and regulatory issues that are being dealt with.” But in cities such as Abuja, where half of school students do not know that second-hand smoke is dangerous, creating public awareness and enforcement can be daunting. And in countries that grow tobacco, such as Tanzania, where about 60 percent of the country’s income is tied to the crop, limiting the product’s growth can be met with formidable financial resistance.

PART 2 (only title visible):

Why has Africa become the new international target for stemming the tobacco tide?

“You have to look at it from the perspective of the tobacco industry,” Glynn says. Africa is home to about 12 percent of the world’s population but only 4 percent of the world’s tobacco users. “That makes it a battleground, but that also makes it a golden opportunity for prevention,” he says. “No one has ever accused the tobacco industry of being stupid,” Glynn says, noting that they have an obligation to look out for their shareholders just like any enterprise. But, he notes, their tactics can be strident. Aside from lobbying politicians to weaken smoke-free legislation, such as by keeping some smoking areas in public places or mandating ventilation rather than complete bans, the companies have targeted their advertising to women and even children. “I have seen children wearing child-sized Marlboro T-shirts,” Glynn says. “Smoking is not as prevalent among women in Africa, which is not uncommon in developing regions,” says Fred Pampel, associate vice chancellor for research at the University of Colorado at Boulder, who has studied the demographics of tobacco use in Africa. But that is no necessarily for the better. “Often adoption of smoking by females lags behind males by about 10 years,” he says, “so things could change quickly for the worse.”

The sheer number of young people also presents both promise and potential trouble for nicotine-related health issues in Africa. As King notes: “what the tobacco industry is banking on is the reservoir of non-smokers among the youth population.” As propagating health messages to many African citizens and healthcare workers about tobacco’s hazards has proved difficult, so has gathering data about its use. Even figures about tobacco consumption used in the ACS’s report are far from definitive. “They’re educated estimates,” Glynn says. Knowing the data about who smokes and why would help health officials better spread awareness. Better numbers require better surveillance and more cancer registries. Funding data-gathering work, however, can present a challenge when many advocates point to cancer patients who need immediate treatment. Nicotine-related diseases are only some of the non-communicable sicknesses killing people in Africa, but Glynn proposes that with the spread of the vaccine for cervical cancer and improved breast and prostate cancer screening, those forms of malignancy will decrease, whereas tobacco-related lung cancer will rise.

“It’s very sad in that this is very predictable,” Glynn says about “the march of the Western lifestyle” that brings along with it tobacco use, unhealthy diets, less physical activity and more preventable diseases. But he does not believe extinguishing these threats are insurmountable challenges, agreeing with other experts that it will take a combination of education, political will, grassroots efforts and global awareness.

Question 1-6

Part 1 of READING PASSAGE 1 has seven paragraphs A-G. Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-G. Write the correct number.

LIST OF HEADINGS

i. Loss of lives for ignorance of the threats

ii. Lifestyle changes substantially

ili. The difficulties of enforcing laws

iv. Passive smoking is widespread

v. Opponents of laws and regulations go together

vi. Harm goes beyond death

vii. Smoking as an increasing health risk

viii. Calling for stopping smoking in public

ix. Tobacco croppers resistances

X The positive outcomes

xi. Establishing laws against smoking despite opposition

1. Paragraph A

Answer: vii. Smoking as an increasing health risk

Supporting statement: “...residents face growing health threats from preventable illnesses... especially from poor diets and smoking.”

Keywords: [growing health threats, smoking, preventable illnesses]

Keyword Location: Paragraph A, Line 1

Explanation: This paragraph introduces the emerging threat of smoking and tobacco-related illnesses in Africa, making “smoking as an increasing health risk” the best fit.

2. Paragraph C

Answer: xi. Establishing laws against smoking despite opposition

Supporting statement: “...a few countries... have passed strong national smoke-free laws... tobacco companies... are shaping up to be a substantial opponent.”

Keywords: [laws, smoke-free, opponent, tobacco companies]

Keyword Location: Paragraph C, Line 4

Explanation: The paragraph discusses the creation of anti-smoking laws and the resistance from powerful tobacco companies, aligning with the idea of laws being created despite opposition.

3. Paragraph D

Answer: iv. Passive smoking is widespread

Supporting statement: “...not just the smokers who suffer... second-hand smoke has been recognized internationally as a contributor to cancer.”

Keywords: [second-hand smoke, contributor to cancer, unsafe exposure]

Keyword Location: Paragraph D, Line 2

Explanation: This paragraph centers on the dangers of second-hand smoke, hence “Passive smoking is widespread” fits best.

4. Paragraph E

Answer: vi. Harm goes beyond death

Supporting statement: “...a range of long-term disabling diseases and premature deaths can’t be ruled out...”

Keywords: [disabling diseases, premature deaths, productivity]

Keyword Location: Paragraph E, Line 1

Explanation: The paragraph emphasizes the broader consequences of smoking beyond death, including disability and reduced function.

5. Paragraph F

Answer: x. The positive outcomes

Supporting statement: “...areas with ‘smoke-free’ laws dropped [smoking] by 36 percent... California... has seen a reduction in lung cancer.”

Keywords: [reduction in smoking, positive results, smoke-free laws]

Keyword Location: Paragraph F, Line 1

Explanation: This paragraph highlights the effectiveness of smoking bans, showing positive health outcomes as a result.

6. Paragraph G

Answer: iii. The difficulties of enforcing laws

Supporting statement: “...creating public awareness and enforcement can be daunting...”

Keywords: [awareness, enforcement, daunting, tobacco-growing countries]

Keyword Location: Paragraph G, Line 2

Explanation: The paragraph outlines challenges in enforcement and resistance in tobacco-growing regions, pointing to difficulties in implementation.

Question 7-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in READING PASSAGE 1?

YES if the statement agrees with the information

NO if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

7. The proportion of smokers is substantially lower than its population size in Africa.

Answer: YES

Supporting statement: “Africa is home to about 12 percent of the world’s population but only 4 percent of the world’s tobacco users.”

Keywords: [12 percent population, 4 percent tobacco users]

Keyword Location: Part 2, Paragraph 1, Line 2

Explanation: The passage clearly shows a significant gap between population percentage and smoker percentage in Africa.

8. African women smoke as frequently as men at present.

Answer: NO

Supporting statement: “Smoking is not as prevalent among women in Africa...”

Keywords: [not prevalent, women, Africa]

Keyword Location: Part 2, Paragraph 2, Line 2

Explanation: The passage indicates that women currently smoke less than men, so the statement contradicts the text.

9. The trend in picking up smoking is identical in spite of gender differences.

Answer: NO

Supporting statement: “...adoption of smoking by females lags behind males by about 10 years...”

Keywords: [lags behind, females, 10 years]

Keyword Location: Part 2, Paragraph 2, Line 3

Explanation: It is explicitly stated that female uptake of smoking occurs later than for males, so the trends differ.

10. The adolescent smokers are more profitable than elderly ones.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: While youth are seen as potential customers, the text does not make a comparison of profitability with elderly smokers.

11. It is the local health officials' responsibility to collect data of cigarette users.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: The passage discusses data collection needs but does not specify whose job it is, so it’s not given.

12. Challenges arise from collecting data through more intense surveillance and cancer patients registries.

Answer: YES

Supporting statement: “Better numbers require better surveillance and more cancer registries... can present a challenge...”

Keywords: [challenge, surveillance, registries]

Keyword Location: Part 2, Paragraph 3

Explanation: The passage notes that data gathering is challenging due to the need for better infrastructure like surveillance and registries.

13. The ultimate cure lies in the collaboration of multiple forces.

Answer: YES

Supporting statement: “...it will take a combination of education, political will, grassroots efforts and global awareness.”

Keywords: [combination, education, political will, grassroots]

Keyword Location: Final line, Part 2

Explanation: The passage concludes that multiple coordinated efforts are needed to fight the tobacco epidemic, affirming the statement.

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