Worldly Wealth IELTS Academic Reading Sample with Explanation
The IELTS test is divided into four sections: Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing. The reading section has three passages or sections respectively for the academic tests or general tests. The duration of the reading test is 1 hour. Candidates need to read them carefully and make small notes regarding the important points. This IELTS test examines students regarding their knowledge in English writing and reading skills. This particular IELTS reading passage contains three different types of questions:
- True, False, or Not Given
- Choose One word answers only.
- Choose the correct answer, A. B, C or D
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Section 1
Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions
Worldly Wealth IELTS Academic Reading Sample
Can the future population of the world enjoy a comfortable lifestyle, with possessions, space, and mobility, without crippling the environment?
- The world's population is expected to stabilize at around nine billion. Will it be possible for nine billion people to have the lifestyle enjoyed today only by the wealthy? One school of thought says no: not only should the majority of the world's people resign themselves to poverty forever, but rich nations must also revert to simpler lifestyles in order to save the planet.
- Admittedly, there may be political or social barriers to achieving a rich world. But in fact there seems to be no insuperable physical or ecological reason why nine billion people should not achieve a comfortable lifestyle, using technology only slightly more advanced than that which we now possess. In thinking about the future of civilization, we ought to start by asking what people want. The evidence demonstrates that as people get richer they want a greater range of personal technology, they want lots of room (preferably near or in natural surroundings) and they want greater speed in travel. More possessions, more space, more mobility.
- In the developed world, the personal technologies of the wealthy, including telephones, washing machines and ears, have become necessities within a generation or two. Increasing productivity that results in decreasing costs for such goods has been responsible for the greatest gains in the standard of living, and there is every reason to believe that this will continue.
- As affluence grows, the amount of energy and raw- materials used for production of machinery will therefore escalate. But this need not mean an end to the machine age. Rather than being thrown away, materials from old machinery can be recycled by manufacturers. And long before all fossil fuels are exhausted, their rising prices may compel industrial society not only to become more energy efficient but also to find alternative energy sources sufficient for the demands of an advanced technological civilization nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, solar energy, chemical photosynthesis, geothermal, biomass or some yet unknown source of energy.
- The growth of cities and suburbs is often seen as a threat to the environment. However, in fact the increasing amount of land consumed by agriculture is a far greater danger than urban sprawl. Stopping the growth of farms is the best way to preserve many of the world's remaining wild areas. But is a dramatic downsizing of farmland possible? Thanks to the growth of agricultural productivity, reforestation and ‘re-wilding’ has been under way in industrial countries for generations. Since 1950 more land in the US has been set aside in parks than has been occupied by urban and suburban growth. And much of what was farmland in the nineteenth century is now forest again. Taking the best Iowa maize growers as the norm for world food productivity, it has been calculated that less than a tenth of present cropland could support a population of 10 billion.
- In The Environment Game, a vision of a utopia that would be at once high-tech and environmentalist. Nigel Calder suggested that ‘nourishing but unpalatable primary food produced by industrial techniques - like yeast from petroleum may be fed to animals, so that we can continue to eat our customary meat, eggs. milk, butter, and cheese and so that people in underdeveloped countries can have adequate supplies of animal protein for the first time.'
- In the long run. tissue-cloning techniques could be used to grow desired portions of meat by themselves. Once their DNA has been extracted to create cow less steaks and chicken less drumsticks, domesticated species of livestock, bred for millennia to be stupid or to have grotesquely enhanced traits, should be allowed to become extinct, except for a few specimens in zoos. However, game such as wild deer, rabbits and wild ducks will be ever more abundant as farms revert to wilderness, so this could supplement the laboratory-grown meat in the diets of tomorrow's affluent.
- With rising personal incomes come rising expectations of mobility. This is another luxury of today’s rich that could become a necessity of tomorrow’s global population - particularly if its members choose to live widely dispersed in a post-agrarian wilderness. In his recent book Free Flight. James Fallows, a pilot as well as a writer, describes serious attempts by both state and private entrepreneurs in the USA to promote an ‘air taxi' system within the price range of today’s middle class and perhaps tomorrow’s global population.
- Two of the chief obstacles to the science fiction fantasy of the personal plane or hover car are price and danger. While technological improvements are driving prices down, piloting an aircraft in three dimensions is still more difficult than driving a car in two. and pilot error causes more fatalities than driver error. But before long our aircraft and cars will be piloted by computers which are never tired or stressed.
- So perhaps there are some grounds for optimism when viewing the future of civilization. With the help of technology, and without putting serious strains on the global environment, possessions, space and mobility can be achieved for all the projected population of the world.
Section 2
Solution and Explanation
Question 1-6:
Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet write
YES if the statement reflects the writer's claims
NO if the statement contradicts the writer's claims
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
Question 1: Today's wealthy people ignore the fact that millions are living in poverty.
Answer: Not Given.
Question 2: There are reasons why the future population of the world may not enjoy a comfortable lifestyle.
Answer: True
Supporting Sentence: There may be political or social barriers to achieving a rich world.
Keywords: billion, achieve, comfortable, lifestyle
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, Line 1
Explanation: The question asked is all about figuring out what people in the future want. As line 1 in Paragraph 2 suggests, "people get richer, they want a greater range of personal technology, they want lots of room." Therefore, it proves that the basic requirements of the future generations would increase. Along with their technological needs, they would require a lot of space to accommodate them and fast mode of transportations.
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Question 3: The first thing to consider when planning for the future is environmental protection.
Answer: False
Supporting Sentence: In thinking about the future of civilization, we ought to start by asking what people want.
Keywords: personal, technology, room, possessions, mobility
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, Line 3
Explanation: With the increase in the demands of the advanced technological civilization, there would also be a high increase in the usage of raw materials. The depletion of raw materials at a fast rate would only cause more trouble to the environment. While planning for the future, the primary consideration should be environmental protection and conservation.
Question 4: As manufactured goods get cheaper, people will benefit more from them.
Answer: True
Supporting Sentence: Increasing productivity that results in decreasing costs for such goods has been responsible for the greatest gains in the standards of living, and there is every reason to believe that this will continue.
Keywords: decreasing, costs, productivity
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, Line 2
Explanation: With the world developing almost every day, the productivity and improvement of living standards have also increased. This has also resulted in the decline of commercial goods which are important for basic living standards.
Question 5: It may be possible to find new types of raw materials for use in the production of machinery.
Answer: Not given.
Question 6: The rising prices of fossil fuels may bring some benefits.
Answer: True
Supporting Sentence: And long before all fossil fuels are exhausted, their rising prices may compel industrial society not only to become more energy efficient but also to find alternative energy sources.
Keywords: alternative, sufficient, energy, fossil
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, Line 2.
Explanation: The onset of technological developments has started a sharp increase in the price of industrial goods and fossil fuels. However, with the passage of time, fossil fuels will indeed get exhausted and we will have to look for alternative energy sources as our options. The last line of paragraph 4 mentions some of these sources such as nuclear fission/fusion, solar energy, geothermal, and many more.
Questions 7-12:
Complete the summary below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 7-12 on your answer sheet.
Question 7:
Answer: agriculture
Supporting Sentence: In fact, the increasing amount of land consumed by agriculture is far greater than urban sprawl.
Keywords: land, consumed, agriculture, danger
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, Line 2
Explanation: According to the writer, the growth of cities is usually portrayed as a threat to the environment. However, in the second line, the focus is more on land consumption by agriculture.The usage of words, 'far greater danger than' is the catch to finding the answer.
Question 8:
Answer: Parks
Supporting Sentence: Since 1950 more land in the US has been set aside in parks than has been occupied by urban and suburban growth.
Keywords: farmland, reforestation, industrial
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, Line 6
Explanation: Over the last 50 years, a huge quantity of land has been used in the United States of America for building parks. This share of afforestation done through parks is more than compared to housing and accommodation.
Question 9:
Answer: productivity
Supporting Sentence: Taking the best Iowa maize growers as the norm for world food production, it has been calculated that less than a tenth of the present cropland could support a population of 10 billion.
Keywords: farmland, world, forest
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, Last Line
Explanation: According to the passage, the percentage of agricultural land would be required if the productivity or fertility of the land is increased. Even if the example of the best farmers is taken, it can be estimated that a fraction of land would be needed to feed a very large population.
Question 10:
Answer: Protein
Supporting Sentence: Food produced by industrial techniques, people in underdeveloped countries can have adequate supplies of animal protein for the first time.
Keywords: primary, techniques, yeat, meat, supplies
Keyword Location: Paragraph F, Line 2
Explanation: The passage suggests that the food produced by industries is although nourishing but not pleasant to taste. Their preparation is done through industrial methods which are harmful such as years of production from petroleum. However, we should stick to our usual animal-produced options such as milk, cheese, meat, and eggs.
Question 11:
Answer: DNA
Supporting Sentence: once their DNA has been extracted to create cow-less steaks and chicken-less drumsticks.
Keywords: tissue-cloning, domesticated, livestock, extinct
Keyword Location: Paragraph G, Line 2
Explanation: In the future, biological experiments such as tissue cloning could be used to produce animal products as much as possible. Some of the specimens produced using this technique should be kept in zoos. This DNA cloning would be used to produce fewer animal-based products
Question 12:
Answer: Game
Supporting Sentence: game such as wild deer, rabbits, and wild ducks will be ever more abundant
Keywords: abundant, farms, wilderness, supplement
Keyword Location: Paragraph G, Line 3
Explanation: With the increase in afforestation projects, not only wilderness will increase but also the numbers of some animals. These animals would provide a better alternative to laboratory-produced meat products.
Questions 13-14:
Choose the correct answer, A. B, C or D
Write your answers in boxes 13-14 on your answer sheet.
Question 13: Greater mobility may be a feature of the future because of changes in
- the location of housing.
- patterns of employment.
- centers of transport.
- the distribution of wealth.
Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: rising expectations of mobility. This is another luxury of today's rich that could become a necessity of tomorrow's global population- particularly if its members choose to live widely dispersed in a post-agrarian wilderness
Keywords: income, expectations, global, wilderness
Keyword Location: Paragraph H, Lines 1 and 2
Explanation: In the current world, the increase in personal incomes is due to industrial development. This results in the increase of expectations of individual mobility.
Question 14: Air transport will be safe because of
- new type of aircraft.
- better training methods.
- three-dimensional models.
- improved technology.
Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: But before long our aircraft and cars will be piloted by computers which are never tired or stressed.
Keywords: improvements, aircraft, global
Keyword Location: Paragraph I, Last line
Explanation: The advantage of technological developments is a decrease in prices. But, the possibility of driving a vehicle in three-dimensional space is tougher than driving it in two. Due to the difficulty, there is a huge margin of error by the pilot which causes more deaths than errors by any driver.
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