Tackling Obesity In The Western World Reading Answers

Dec 3, 2022

Tackling Obesity In The Western World Reading Answers 13 questions that need to be answered in 20 minutes. Tackling Obesity In The Western World Reading Answers comprises two types of questions, namely- matching headings and completing the summary. IELTS Reading passage helps the candidates to increase their reading skills. For completing the summary, candidates must understand the brief and the statement provided. For choosing the correct answers in matching headings and information, candidates need to read the IELTS passage efficiently. Reading the passage thoroughly would help candidates to understand the statement provided and answer it with the choice of options. Candidates can get more such topics from IELTS Reading practice papers.

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Section 1

Tackling Obesity In The Western World Reading Answers

Obesity is a huge problem in many Western countries and one which now attracts considerable medical interest as researchers take up the challenge to find a ‘cure’ for the common condition of being seriously overweight. However, rather than take responsibility for their weight, obese people have often sought solace in the excuse that they have a slow metabolism, a genetic hiccup which sentences more than half the Australian population (63% of men and 47% of women) to a life of battling with their weight. The argument goes like this: it doesn’t matter how little they eat, they gain weight because their bodies break down food and turn it into energy more slowly than those with a so-called normal metabolic rate.
‘This is nonsense,’ says Dr Susan Jebb from the Dunn Nutrition Unit at Cambridge in England. Despite the persistence of this metabolism myth, science has known for several years that the exact opposite is in fact true. Fat people have faster metabolisms than thin people. ‘What is very clear,’ says Dr Jebb, ‘is that overweight people actually burn off more energy. They have more cells, bigger hearts, bigger lungs and they all need more energy just to keep going.’
It took only one night, spent in a sealed room at the Dunn Unit to disabuse one of their patients of the beliefs of a lifetime: her metabolism was fast, not slow. By sealing the room and measuring the exact amount of oxygen she used, researchers were able to show her that her metabolism was not the culprit. It wasn’t the answer she expected and probably not the one she wanted but she took the news philosophically.
Although the metabolism myth has been completely disproved, science has far from discounted our genes as responsible for making us whatever weight we are, fat or thin. One of the world’s leading obesity researchers, geneticist Professor Stephen O’Rahilly, goes so far as to say we are on the threshold of a complete change in the way we view not only morbid obesity, but also everyday overweight. Prof. O’Rahilly’s groundbreaking work in Cambridge has proven that obesity can be caused by our genes. ‘These people are not weak- willed, slothful or lazy,’ says Prof. O’Rahilly, ‘They have a medical condition due to a genetic defect and that causes them to be obese.’
In Australia, the University of Sydney’s Professor Ian Caterson says while major genetic defects may be rare, many people probably have minor genetic variations that combine to dictate weight and are responsible for things such as how much we eat, the amount of exercise we do and the amount of energy we need. When you add up all these little variations, the result is that some people are genetically predisposed to putting on weight. He says while the fast/slow metabolism debate may have been settled, that doesn’t mean some other subtle change in the metabolism gene won’t be found in overweight people. He is confident that science will, eventually, be able to ‘cure’ some forms of obesity but the only effective way for the vast majority of overweight and obese people to lose weight is a change of diet and an increase in exercise.
Despite the $500 million a year Australians spend trying to lose weight and the $830 million it costs the community in health care, obesity is at epidemic proportions here, as it is in all Western nations. Until recently, research and treatment for obesity had concentrated on behaviour modification, drugs to decrease appetite and surgery. How the drugs worked was often not understood and many caused severe side effects and even death in some patients. Surgery for obesity has also claimed many lives.
It has long been known that a part of the brain called the hypothalamus is responsible for regulating hunger, among other things. But it wasn’t until 1994 that Professor Jeffery Friedman from Rockefeller University in the US sent science in a new direction by studying an obese mouse. Prof. Friedman found that unlike its thin brothers, the fat mouse did not produce a hitherto unknown hormone called leptin. Manufactured by the fat cells, leptin acts as a messenger, sending signals to the hypothalamus to turn off the appetite. Previously, the fat cells were thought to be responsible simply for storing fat. Prof. Friedman gave the fat mouse leptin and it lost 30% of its body weight in two weeks.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Prof. O’Rahilly read about this research with great excitement. For many months two blood samples had lain in the bottom of his freezer, taken from two extremely obese young cousins. He hired a doctor to develop a test for leptin in human blood, which eventually resulted in the discovery that neither of the children’s blood contained the hormone. When one cousin was given leptin, she lost a stone in weight and Prof. O’Rahilly made medical history. Here was the first proof that a genetic defect could cause obesity in humans. But leptin deficiency turned out to be an extremely rare condition and there is a lot more research to be done before the ‘magic’ cure for obesity is ever found.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Questions 1-8:

Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A-H. From the list of headings below choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xi) in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.

List of headings

Obesity in animals
Hidden dangers
Proof of the truth
New perspective on the horizon
No known treatment
Rodent research leads the way
Expert explains energy requirements of obese people
A very uncommon complaint
Nature or nurture
Shifting the blame
Lifestyle change required despite new findings

Paragraph A
Paragraph B
Paragraph C
Paragraph D
Paragraph E
Paragraph F
Paragraph G
Paragraph H

Answers

Question 1

Answer: (x) Shifting the blame
Supporting Sentence: ‘However, rather than take responsibility for their weight, obese people have often sought solace in the excuse that they have a slow metabolism, a genetic hiccup which sentences more than half the Australian population (63% of men and 47% of women) to a life of battling with their weight.
Keywords: excuse, argument
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, 2^nd sentence
Explanation: The author mentions that obese people donot take responsibility for their weight. They tend to come up with the excuse that their body has a slow metabolism. The author discusses this in the whole paragraph. The obess people does not take the blame, rather shifts it on metabolism. Since this paragraph discusses this, the aptest heading for it is (x) Shifting the blame.

Question 2

Answer: (vii) Expert explains energy requirements of obese people
Supporting Sentence: 'What is very clear,' says Dr Jebb, 'is that overweight people burn off more energy.’
Keywords: faster metabolisms, burn off more energy
Keyword Location: Third sentence of Paragraph B
Explanation: The author starts the Paragraph B starts by quoting Drlose Susan Jebb from the Dunn Nutrition Unit at Cambridge in England. She disagrees with the excuse of slow metabolism. The expert says that obess people has more metabolism and in turn burns more energy. Since in this paragraph, an expert is giving her opinion on the excuse said by obese people, (vii) is the most appropriate answer.

Question 3

Answer: (iii) Proof of the truth
Supporting Sentence: ‘By sealing the room and measuring the exact amount of oxygen she used, researchers were able to show her that her metabolism was not the culprit’
Keywords: not the culprit
Keyword Location: Second sentence of Paragraph C
Explanation: The paragraph shows how the excuse was proved wrong. It was done by measuring the amount of oxygen used by one of Dunn Unit’s patients. The results showed that there was nothing wrong with the metabolism. This experiment is the proof of the truth and hence the heading “proof of Truth” is correct.

Question 4

Answer: (iv) New perspective on the horizon
Supporting Sentence: Prof. O'Rahilly's groundbreaking work in Cambridge has proven that obesity can be caused by our genes.’
Keywords: complete change in the way we view, caused by our genes
Keyword Location: Fourth sentence of Paragraph D
Explanation: As per the passage, Professor Stephen O'Rahilly, says we are on the threshold of a complete change in the way we view not only morbid obesity but also everyday overweight. The Paragraph D discusses how there was a groundbreaking discovery that obesity is hereditary. This discovery is shares new light on the thought about obesity. Thus, (iv) New perspective on the horizon is the correct heading for the paragraph.

Question 5

Answer: (xi) Lifestyle change required despite new findings
Supporting Sentence: ‘He is confident that science will, eventually, be able to 'cure' some forms of obesity but the only effective way for the vast majority of overweight and obese people to lose weight is a change of diet and an increase in exercise. ’
Keywords: change of diet, increase in exercise.
Keyword Location: Second sentence of Paragraph E
Explanation: The author in the passage says that obesity can be caused due to heredity. As of now there is no cure but change in lifestyle can help reduce obesity. The author directly states that obese people can lose weight with a change of diet and an increase in exercise.

Question 6

Answer: (ii)Hidden dangers
Supporting Sentence: ‘How the drugs worked was often not understood and many caused severe side effects and even death in some patients. Surgery for obesity has also claimed many lives.’
Keywords: severe side effects and even death
Keyword Location: Last sentence of Paragraph F
Explanation: In Paragraph F, it says that there sure are a few medications and treatments that are used by people to help lose weight. However, these medications are seen to cause severe side effects and even death in some patients. Since this paragraph deals with the dangerous face of weight loss medications, the apt heading for Paragraph F is (ii)Hidden dangers.

Question 7

Answer: (vi) Rodent research leads the way
Supporting Sentence: ‘But it wasn't until 1994 that Professor Jeffery Friedman from Rockefeller University in the US sent science in a new direction by studying an obese mouse.
Keywords: studying an obese mouth
Keyword Location: Second sentence of Paragraph G
Explanation: The poaragraph also talks about leptin. Professor Jeffery Friedman from Rockefeller University in the US discovered that injecting leptin which its body lacked in an obese mouse hormone helped it in losing 0% of its body weight in two weeks. Since the discovery was first started with rodent or mouse, rodent research leads the way is the correct answer.

Question 8

Answer: (viii) A very uncommon complaint
Supporting Sentence: ‘But leptin deficiency turned out to be an extremely rare condition and there is a lot more research to be done before the 'magic' cure for obesity is ever found..’
Keywords: leptin deficiency, a rare condition
Keyword Location: Last sentence of Paragraph H
Explanation: The use of leptin hormone injection was a groundbreaking discovery to reduce weight. The author states that leptin deficiency in obese people is a rare condition is uncommon and unfortunate. Thus we can give this paragraph the heading, (viii) A very uncommon complaint.

Questions 9-13

Complete the summary of Reading Passage 1 (Questions 9-13) using words from the box.

Weight	Exercise	Sleep	Mind	Body
Metabolism	Less	Behaviour	More
Physical	Use	Metal	Consume	Genetic

Choose your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.

OBESITY

Example: People with a weight problem often try to deny responsibility.

They do this by seeking to blame their 9 ……………… for the fact that they are overweight and erroneously believe that they use 10 ……………… energy more than thin people to stay alive. However, recent research has shown that a 11 ……………… problem can be responsible for obesity as some people seem programmed to 12 ……………… more than others. The new research points to a shift from trying to change people’s 13 ……………… to seeking an answer to the problem in the laboratory.

Answers

Question 9

Answer: Metabolism
Supporting Sentence: ‘However, rather than take responsibility for their weight, obese people have often sought solace in the excuse that they have a slow metabolism.’
Keywords: slow metabolism
Keyword Location: Paragraph A second sentence
Explanation: In the question where we need to fill the blank, the ‘they’ and ‘their’ refers to obese people. The author in the passage says that obese people tend to blame their metabolism to be responsible for their overweight. Hence, metabolism is the correct answer.

Question 10

Answer: Less
Supporting Sentence: ‘The argument goes like this: it doesn't matter how little they eat, they gain weight because their bodies break down food and turn it into energy more slowly than those with a so-called normal metabolic rate.’
Keywords: energy more slowly
Keyword Location: Paragraph A last sentence
Explanation: As per the passage, obese people do not take responsibility for their weight. They blames it on slow metabolism and believes that they use far less energy than thin people. Since they believe that they use less energy, less is the correct answer.

Question 11

Answer: Genetic
Supporting Sentence: ‘Prof. O'Rahilly's groundbreaking work in Cambridge has proven that obesity can be caused by our genes.’
Keywords: obesity can be caused by our genes
Keyword Location: Paragraph D third sentence
Explanation: The author mentions that a new groundbreaking discovery was made by Prof. O'Rahilly. The reasearch he did showed that obesity can be caused by our genes or hereditary. The question here is a reference to the supporting statement in the passage and hence the answer is genes.

Question 12

Answer: Consume
Supporting Sentence: ‘In Australia, the University of Sydney's Professor Ian Caterson says while major genetic defects may be rare, many people probably have minor genetic variations that combine to dictate the weight and are responsible for things such as how much we eat, the amount of exercise we do and the amount of energy we need.’
Keywords: how much we eat
Keyword Location: Paragraph E first sentence
Explanation: The passgae states that obesity sure is hereditary. However, health also depends on the amount of food we consume and our exercise routines also play a huge role. Thus the word here is consume.

Question 13

Answer: behaviour
Supporting Sentence: ‘Until recently, research and treatment for obesity had concentrated on behaviour modification, drugs to decrease appetite and surgery.’
Keywords: behaviour modification
Keyword Location: Paragraph F second sentence
Explanation: The passage states that behabiuor modification has been implemented as a treatment. Some recent medications and recent treatments of obesity are designed to modify behaviour and to have the patients have a low appetite. The fill in the blanks question refers to this portion in the passage and hence the answer is behaviour.

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