A Meat Eater’s Counter – IELTS Reading Answers

The ‘A Meat Eater’s Counter’ Academic Reading Practice Test is a good resource for anyone who is preparing for the IELTS Reading test. The passages in the test are similar in difficulty to the passages that you will encounter on the actual IELTS Reading test.

By taking the ‘A Meat Eater’s Counter’ IELTS Reading Answer practice test, you can get a feel for the types of questions that you will be asked and the level of difficulty that you can expect.

The question types in this Reading Passage include:

• IELTS Matching Heading (Q1-6)
• IELTS Table Completion (Q7-13)

For more IELTS Reading practice, take more IELTS reading practice tests.

Reading Passage

A Meat Eater’s Counter

A. You might be forgiven sometimes for thinking that vegetarians are somehow superior human beings. In today’s climate of New Age spiritualism, animal rights, and Mother Earth naturalism, confirmed meat-eaters must necessarily be categorized as selfish, environmentally irresponsible, spiritually deprived gluttons, whose dietary desire is akin to cannibalism. Each lamb chop, carving of roast beef, or chicken drumstick, signifies a brutal execution of a sentient animal, to whose suffering we remain callously indifferent. Here, I would like to offer some arguments to counter the more extreme claims of the bean sprout crowd.

B. Vegetarians’ first justification is that eating meat is cruel to animals. But when pondering cruelty, it may pay to reflect on how animals fare in the wild. I was recently watching a documentary concerning herbivores on the African plains — where the parasite and insect-tormented herds lead lives of hair-raising and nerve-jittering bolts and dashes as they are constantly stalked by a range of predators. Now, compare this to the animals munching grass in our domestic pastures. Our four-legged friends, watered, well-fed, and attended to when sick, have an essentially stress-free and easy existence.

C. But, the vegetarians claim, our slaughterhouses deal out brutal deaths. Brutal? Let us reflect again on that documentary. At one point, it showed an injured zebra, an animal that was quickly spotted by a pack of hyenas. The rest was a display of such cruelty and barbarity that it would make vegetarians think twice before intoning the mantra that ‘nature is good’. Yet being viciously torn to pieces by snapping jaws is more or less the inevitable end of most animals in the wild. It is simply a fact that they do not expire peacefully — they face, instead, brutalizing and painful exits. If not becoming another animal’s dinner, they starve to death, or are victims of floods, droughts, and other merciless acts of nature. Compared to this, the relatively quick and clean death that we humans deliver to our cud-chewing cousins must be considered a privileged way to go.

D. So, eating meat is not ‘cruel’ — at least, not compared to the natural world, and in fact can even allow the animals in question a certain quality of life that they would almost certainly never enjoy in the wild. But the vegetarians counter that, we, the human species, have a higher awareness and should avail ourselves of other forms of food, rather than causing the deaths of living creatures. Yet it is worth realizing that for tens of thousands of years, our species did not have this luxury of choice. Killing animals was essential to staying alive. It is only very recently (in terms of human history), that society has reached a stage of affluence whereby a sufficiently high amount of non-animal nutrition can be obtained, and then only by a privileged and small percentage of the world’s population. Thus, the argument from the moral high ground is, at best, an arbitrary one.

E. But then the vegetarians come out with their next core claim to superiority — that their diet is healthier. Eating meat is going to have such nasty consequences for the heart, lungs, kidneys, and immune system that we will end up in an early grave. One can agree that this may be true for people who eat too much meat, but is it true for those who eat meat in proportion to an otherwise balanced diet? So many dubious facts and figures are produced to ‘prove’ the vegetarians’ viewpoint that I would recommend a quick read of a well-known book entitled, ‘How to Lie with Statistics’. This emphasizes two foundations for statistical validity: gaining truly representative samples, and eliminating outside variables, both of which the green-eaters ignore.

F. It is the second point I would like to look at. The lean and fit, health-conscious vegetarian doing his daily yoga and nightly guitar-strumming will certainly live much longer, on average, than the meat-eating, chain-smoking, beer-swilling, donut-chomping couch potatoes of this world, but not necessarily due (or in any way related) to the former’s abstinence from meat. It is not hard to deduce that those cigarettes, beer, donuts, and sedentary lifestyles are almost certainly responsible for the meat-eater’s diminished life expectancy. For a true comparison, one must compare lean and fit, health-conscious vegetarians with lean and fit, health-conscious non-vegetarians, the latter of whom mix moderate amounts of meat in their diet.

G. And this is the point. It is almost impossible in this complex, mixed, and multi-faceted modern society to find enough people who can constitute a truly representative sample while eliminating the many outside variables. Any assertion that statistics ‘prove’ vegetarians live longer must note that these vegetarians have already made (compared to the average sofa sprouts) a very rigorous and disciplined health-enhancing lifestyle change, which is probably accompanied by many other similar choices, all of which are almost certainly the real cause of any statistical trends. Factor these into the equation, and so far there is no convincing statistical evidence that vegetarianism is better for health.

Questions 1-6

List of Headings

i. Animals attack
ii. Needless killing countered
iii. Better people?
iv. A need for statistics
v. The real cause of longer lives
vi. Untrustworthy numbers
vii. Cruel killing countered
viii. Comparing lives
ix. Quick efficient killing
x. The real cause of early deaths

1. Paragraph B
2. Paragraph C
3. Paragraph D
4. Paragraph E
5. Paragraph F
6. Paragraph G

Questions 7-10

Questions 11-13

A Meat Eater’s Counter Reading Answer With Location and Explanations

Check out IELTS Reading answers with their location and explanations!

1. Answer: Viii

Answer Location: Para B, Line 3

Question Type: Matching Information

Answer Explanation: Now, compare this to the animals munching grass in our domestic pastures. Our four-legged friends, watered, well-fed, and attended to when sick, have an essentially stress-free and easy existence.

2. Answer: Vii

Answer Location: Para C, Line 3

Question Type: Matching Information

Answer Explanation: The rest was a display of such cruelty and barbarity that it would make vegetarians think twice before intoning the mantra that ‘nature is good’.

3. Answer: ii

Answer Location: Para D, Line 4

Question Type: Matching Information

Answer Explanation: It is only very recently (in terms of human history), that society has reached a stage of affluence whereby a sufficiently high amount of non-animal nutrition can be obtained, and then only by a privileged and small percentage of the world’s population.

4. Answer: Vi

Answer Location: Para E, Line 4

Question Type: Matching Information

Answer Explanation: So many dubious facts and figures are produced to ‘prove’ the vegetarians’ viewpoint that I would recommend a quick read of a well-known book entitled, ‘How to Lie with Statistics’. This emphasizes two foundations for statistical validity: gaining truly representative samples, and eliminating outside variables, both of which the green-eaters ignore.

5. Answer: X

Answer Location: Para F, Line 3

Question Type: Matching Information

Answer Explanation: It is not hard to deduce that cigarettes, beer, donuts, and sedentary lifestyles are almost certainly responsible for the meat eater’s diminished life expectancy.

Tips for Answering the Question Types in A Meat-Eater’s Counter Reading Answers

Now let’s get started with the IELTS exam preparation tips for each question type of ‘A Meat Eater’s Counter’ IELTS Reading answers.

Matching Heading

1. Underline or highlight: As you find information that matches the question, underline or highlight it in the passage. This will make it easier to refer back to when answering the questions.
2. Skim the passage: Quickly read through the passage to get a general sense of the content and layout. This will help you identify where the information you need might be located.
3. Read the instructions carefully: Before you start, make sure you understand what you need to match. Sometimes, you’ll be asked to match headings to paragraphs or statements to sections, so be clear on the task.
4. Use keywords: Look for keywords or key phrases in the question and the passage. These words are often repeated or paraphrased in the text and can guide you to the correct answer.
5. Check for synonyms: Be aware of synonyms and paraphrases. Sometimes, the exact words from the question may not appear in the passage, but similar words or phrases will. Keep an eye out for these.

Table Completion

1. Use context clues: Contextual information can be a valuable resource when completing the table. The sentences or paragraphs before and after the gap may provide clues to the missing data. Look for relationships and patterns in the text.
2. Identify key information: Pay attention to the headings and column labels in the table. They can guide you on what specific information to look for in the passage. Highlight or underline keywords and numbers in the table to stay focused.
3. Skim the passage first: Before diving into the table, skim the entire passage quickly. Look for keywords, headings, and relevant information that can help you locate the data needed to complete the table.
4. Pay attention to synonyms and paraphrasing: The passage might not use the exact same words or phrases as the table. Be on the lookout for synonyms or paraphrased versions of the required information. Understanding context and recognizing synonyms can be crucial for successful completion.
5. Maintain accuracy: Ensure that the information you fill in the table is accurate. Double-check your answers, especially if they involve numbers, dates, or specific details. Remember that incorrect answers can result in a lower score.

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