The Rise of Agritourism Reading Answers

Apr 25, 2025

The Rise of Agritourism Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. The Rise of Agritourism Reading Answers has a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. In the question set (14-19) given you have to choose the correct answer from the options given. In the question set (20-26) given you have to fill the blanks with the correct option in no more than three words for each answer.

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 a number of IELTS reading practice problems in this section that resemble actual test situations. These questions are designed to help you improve your ability to recognize essential concepts, extract particular facts, and make inferences. Practicing The Rise of Agritourism 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.

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Section 1 The Rise of Agritourism

In advanced industrialised countries, small farmers have been challenged by changing economic and social conditions, such as increased global competition, falling commodity prices, and capital- and technology-intensive agricultural production. In addition, there has been added public pressure to make expensive changes in farming methods, due to public environmental concerns about industrialised agricultural production in combination with political pressures to reduce agricultural subsidies. These changing economic and social conditions have disproportionately impacted smaller farms in Europe and the US.

Agritourism is becoming an increasingly popular way for rural property owners to earn additional income from agricultural properties. In addition to more traditional farm tours and seasonal activities, such as hay rides, corn mazes and u-pick fruits, farm owners are devising new ways to bring people to their door by offering more entertainment-oriented activities. Some farmers are offering their barns as venues for weddings, parties, dances and other special events. Others are opening their homes to visitors for vacations, so guests can experience life on a working farm by helping out with routine farm chores, such as feeding or herding the livestock, milking the animals, making cheese, collecting eggs, picking vegetables and preparing farm fresh meals. Agritourism works in combination with a growing public desire to engage in rural experiences and outdoor recreational activities. By combining agriculture and tourism, agritourism offers these rural experiences to urban residents and economic diversification to farmers.

Part Of the attraction Of agritourism is the nostalgia it creates for a simpler time and its authenticity. Tourists are being sold, not only on beautiful sceneries and visual aesthetics, but also experiences that are meant to open up a new world for these customers who are tired Of the hustle and bustle of city life. Authenticity has been an abiding theme in tourism studies and it may have a special meaning in this combination of agriculture and tourism. For one thing, the image of the family farm remains imbued with deep authenticity, the surviving representation of an old world ideal. To partake in agritourism is therefore likely to convey the sense of having a deeply authentic experience. Critics have claimed that this desire to reconnect with the life world Of one's ancestors may conflict with the nature Of modern agriculture and whether the tourist will want to face its true realities. It seems therefore that often the most distinctive innovative effort involves the reinvention of tradition and rural tourism products. Examples are the recreation of home-produced products long since replaced by manufactured commodities and the provision of hands-on-experiences in crafts often recreated for tourists. As a result, some critics argue that the tourists who are running to the countryside are overcrowding and ruining the pristine beauty that they so desperately want to experience.

Agritourism can benefit the life and economy of local communities, as well as the farms themselves. Agritourism firstly means that some farms can continue in business and employ workers. Employment underscores the genuine importance of agritourism farms to local economies, as rural communities are usually areas that both have high unemployment and few alternatives for the unemployed to find work. Secondly, a significant number Of agritourists come from areas reasonably local to the visited farms. This means that tourist spending on agritourism often stays in the region, helping to generate taxable revenues and more disposable incomes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's agricultural census, taken every five years, found that last year approximately 23,000 farms took part in agritourism. These farms each earned $24,300 from agritourism, compared to five years ago, when farms engaged in this brought in only $7,200 per farm. The trend is clearly growing and the money generated will stimulate local economies. Thirdly, agritourism benefits the local community in terms Of education. Many farms Offer tours for elementary school-age children, who can learn where their food is coming from and how it is produced.

Farms choosing to develop agritourism have had reasonable government support. Over the last 20 years, European Union countries have spent 2 billion euros to subsidise agritourism development in rural farming areas that cannot compete in a global market with declining commodity prices. This, in turn, helps governments by keeping farmers on land, protecting picturesque rural landscapes that attract tourists, and supporting the production Of regional agricultural products As well as finance, local and national governments should create in the areas under their jurisdiction favourable environments for the development of agritourism, by changing regulatory and tax constraints, so that more farms are encouraged to enter the industry. It is clear that there are strong economic and social benefits that agritourism can provide farmers, customers and the local areas where the farms are situated. Agritourism contributes to and enhances the quality of life in communities by expanding recreational opportunities, rural economies, and promoting the retention of agricultural lands. Working agricultural landscapes reflect the efforts of generations of farm families and often provide a defining sense of culture, heritage, and rural character. Agritourism provides educational opportunities for school children and adults to learn about this agrarian heritage, the production of food, and resource stewardship. Finally, many agritourism operations provide consumers with direct access to fresh farm goods. Agritourism is an industry with an enormous potential for growth. With it, farming could become more efficient and sustainable, rural areas could become more beautiful and farmers could become better off and more significant employers and contributors to economies.

Questions 14-19

Choose the correct letter.

14. Farmers today face demands from the public about

A. reacting to global competition.

B. improving workers' conditions.

C. changing to more environmentally friendly production methods.

D. making production cheaper.

Answer: C

Supporting statement: In addition, there has been added public pressure to make expensive changes in farming methods,

Keywords: public, changes

Keyword Location: Para 1, Line 4

Explanation: According to the text farmers have been pressured by the public to make changes in the way of production methods they use by opting for more environmentally friendly techniques compared to the old traditional one.

15. Farmers today are experiencing pressure from governments, as the latter wishes to

A. reduce the amount of money they provide to help farmers.

B. increase taxes to gain more public income.

C. force farmers to employ more workers.

D. reduce the amount of pesticides used in agricultural production.

Answer: A

Supporting statement:with political pressures to reduce agricultural subsidies.

Keywords: political, subsidies

Keyword Location: Para 1 Lines 6-7

Explanation: According to the text nowadays, the farmers are more pressured by the fact that the government wants to reduce the subsidies provided for agricultural purposes.

16. Farmers can attract tourists by

A.undercutting the competition of traditional holidays on prices.

B. being close to transport hubs.

C. letting people get married on the farm.

D. marketing on a door-by-door basis.

Answer: C

Supporting statement:Some farmers are offering their barns as venues for weddings, parties,

Keywords: offering, venues

Keyword Location: Para 2, Line 4

Explanation: The text states that farmers can attract more tourists to their farms simply by offering their barns as a place of wedding venue, parties, dances and other special events.

17. Farming authenticity partly depends on

A. the beauty of the farms' surroundings.

B. the public's traditional perceptions of a small farm.

C. how the farm workers dress and behave.

D. the type of livestock the farms have.

Answer: B

Supporting statement: For one thing, the image of the family farm remains imbued with deep authenticity,

Keywords: remains, authenticity

Keyword Location: Para 3, Line 6

Explanation: The text states that since agriculture and tourism are combined, authenticity may have a unique meaning. It has been a recurring issue in tourist studies. For starters, the image of the family farm, which is the lasting representation of an ideal from the past, is still very authentic. Therefore, engaging in agritourism is likely to evoke the feeling of having an extremely authentic experience.

18. Farms can create authenticity by

A. making tourist workers get up very early in the morning.

B. having interactive displays of farm workings.

C. not showing animals being killed.

D. re-establishing Old processes that are not usually used any more.

Answer: D

Supporting statement:recreation of home-produced products long since replaced by manufactured commodities and the provision of hands-on-experiences in crafts often recreated for tourists.

Keywords: home -produced, commodities

Keyword Location: Para 3, Line 12

Explanation: According to the text by reinventing traditional practices and rural tourism offerings, such as re-creating locally made goods that have long ago been replaced by manufactured goods and offering tourists hands-on experiences in crafts that are frequently replicated, farms can reestablish authenticity.

19. One criticism of agritourism is that

A. farm workers lose their jobs.

B. tourists change how farms operate.

C. the extra numbers of people in the countryside spoil its appeal.

D. only the farmer receives the extra income.

Answer: C

Supporting statement: tourists who are running to the countryside are overcrowding and ruining the pristine beauty that they so desperately want to experience.

Keywords: countryside, overcrowding

Keyword Location: Para 3, Line 14

Explanation: According to the text, the natural beauty that the tourists so eagerly want to enjoy in the farm and the countryside lifestyle is being ruined by crowding, according to some critics who monitor agritourism.

Questions 20-26

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

The Benefits Of Agritourism

• Farms continue in business and are employers.

• Tourist (20)................ remains in the area.

Answer: SPENDING

Supporting statement:This means that tourist spending on agritourism often stays in the region

Keywords: spending, Stays

Keyword Location: Para 4, Lines 6-7

Explanation: The text mentions that many agritourists originate from places that are quite close to the farms they visit. Thus, agritourism spending by visitors generally stays in the locality.

• It generates taxes and creates (21).............

Answer: (DISPOSABLE) INCOMES

Supporting statement: helping to generate taxable revenues and more disposable incomes.

Keywords: taxable, disposable

Keyword Location: Para 4, Line 7

Explanation: The text mentions that a sizable portion of agritourism visitors originate from regions that are quite close to the farms they visit. This indicates that agritourism-related visitor spending generally stays in the region, thereby contributing to the creation of taxable incomes and increased disposable incomes.

• Local economies grow because Of the extra money spent.

• Children can learn about farming.

•(22)……… benefit by keeping farms in operation on the

Answer: GOVERNMENTS

Supporting statement:Farms choosing to develop agritourism have had reasonable government support.

Keywords: develop, support

Keyword Location: Para 5, Line 1

Explanation: According to the text, the government benefits from the farms as it help in the growth of the local economy and also provides education opportunities to the children to learn about farming.

• Rural(23)...........are preserved.

Answer: LANDSCAPES

Supporting statement: This, in turn, helps governments by keeping farmers on land, protecting picturesque rural landscapes

Keywords: governments, landscapes

Keyword Location: Para 5, Lines 4-5

Explanation: The text mentions that the farms involved in agritourism help the government as they protect the rural landscape, create education opportunities, preserve the natural surroundings and help in the growth of the local economy.

•(24)..........continue to be manufactured.

Answer: (REGIONAL) (AGRICULTURAL) PRODUCTS

Supporting statement: and supporting the production Of regional agricultural products

Keywords: supporting, regional

Keyword Location: Para 5, Line 5

Explanation: The text states that the farms also help in the manufacturing of regional agricultural products.

• Improved quality Of life and more recreational possibilities in communities.

• Diversified (25)............

Answer: RURAL ECONOMICS

Supporting statement:enhances the quality of life in communities by expanding recreational opportunities, rural economies, and promoting the retention of agricultural lands.

Keywords: Economies, promoting

Keyword Location: Para 5, Line 12

Explanation: The text states that by increasing recreational options, supporting rural economies, and encouraging the preservation of agricultural lands, agritourism improves and adds to the quality of life in local communities.

• Land remains in use by agriculture.

• Education for all.

• People can easily buy(26)...........

Answer: (FRESH) (FARM) GOODS

Supporting statement: Finally, many agritourism operations provide consumers with direct access to fresh farm goods.

Keywords: consumers, farm good

Keyword Location: Para 5, Lines 16-17

Explanation: The text states that agritourism offers educational opportunities for people and schoolchildren to learn about resource stewardship, food production, and our agrarian history. Last but not least, a lot of agritourism operations offer tourists direct access to fresh produce from farms.

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