Growing Forced Rhubarb – IELTS General Reading Answers

Candidates preparing for IELTS are encouraged to aim for completing IELTS Reading passages, such as ‘Growing Forced Rhubarb’, within a 20-minute timeframe. Achieving this requires consistent practice to develop the ability to quickly scan the provided text, identify key terms, and swiftly locate answers within this brief duration.

The IELTS General Reading passage ‘Growing Forced Rhubarb’ consists of 13 questions which encompass various question types commonly found in IELTS Reading. To gain a comprehensive understanding of these question types, consider practicing IELTS General Reading practice tests regularly.

The question types found in these passages are:

• IELTS Reading Matching Headings to Paragraphs (Q. 1-6)
• IELTS Reading Multiple-Choice Question (Q. 7-9)
• IELTS Reading Summary Completion (Q. 10-13)

Reading Passage 

Forced Rhubarb

Rhubarb has large fan shaped leaves and long, green edible stalks which are commonly cooked with sugar to make pies and other desserts. One type of rhubarb is grown in the dark to produce longer, rosier stalks and this is called forced rhubarb.

A In the north of England, a cold winter is good news for some and not just snowmen and woolly hat makers. According to Yorkshire farmer David Westwood, this year’s forced rhubarb is the best for years. Westwood, a softly spoken Yorkshiremen should know. He’s been growing and selling rhubarb for 62 years since he started picking on the farm aged 11. His son Jonathan works on the farm too, making him the sixth generation of the Westwoods to grow the pink stems of petioles as they are otherwise known.

B We meet at his farm a few miles from the city of Wakefield which with the cities of Bradford and Leeds form the three points of the Rhubarb Triangle, the heart of the British rhubarb industry. ‘It doesn’t grow as well anywhere else,’ insists Westwood. He has a number of theories as to why this is. The loam soil on a clay base is perfect for the roots or crowns which rhubarb grows from. In Victorian times – the mid to late 1800s – when rhubarb’s popularity was at its peak the local coal mines provided cheap fuel for heating the sheds, a crucial part of the forcing process which involves depriving the plants of light as they develop. At the same time the effluence from the industry enriched the soil for farmers. On top of that, according to Westwood, the high levels of pollution in the air would have been ideal for the rhubarb as rhubarb loves soot.

C Westwood’s farm produces both the greenish outdoor rhubarb, the kind that grows well in gardens all over the country and the startlingly pink forced rhubarb. It’s this that is the cream of the crop, the upper class of the rhubarb family. Forced rhubarb is the one that’s most likely to convert rhubarb haters who’ve been traumatised by harshly flavoured school pies made from green overgrown outdoor stems. The slender magenta spears, with a sherbet-tangy flavour and delicate texture are a far cry from that coarse bitter stuff. It’s also a rare local fruit (although technically a vegetable) at a time when imports dominate and a welcome splash of color in the drab winter months. No wonder chefs and food writers have fallen in love with forced rhubarb all over again. It’s enjoying a remarkable renaissance for only 20 years ago; it was in such decline that Westwood, one of the last 13 growers left from a peak of 2000, was considering abandoning it.

D There are certainly simpler ways to grow food. First the plant roots or crowns are grown outside for more than two years. Then at the start of their third winter they are left in the ground until it is cold enough to break the crown’s dormancy. This is one of the factors that gives British rhubarb the edge over imports from the Netherlands which arrive in the country a scene stealing couple of weeks before the Yorkshire crop. To bring them to market that early the Dutch crowns are fed with gibberellic acid to replace the hormones naturally generated by a period of cold weather. Westwood is relaxed on the subject of the imported rhubarb remarking only. “It’s good looking all right but the flavor’s nowhere near.” Back in Yorkshire sometime around the middle of November the crowns are dug up, transferred to a shed with earthen floors and watered in. The light is blocked out completely and the heating is turned on. In the warm and dark the shoots appear so quickly that the buds can be heard gently popping. Within 3 weeks or so the first round of picking or pulling as it’s known can begin.

E In Westwood’s 1920s rhubarb sheds it is pitch black. I slip and slide on the narrow troughs that serve as paths between the beds of rhubarb crowns. It’s a relief when a team of pullers arrives, all local men, some of whom have been working for Westwood for 40 years. Each carries a sturdy candle and their pale flickering light reveals a sea of yellow leaves stretching 40 meters to the far wall. The men walk the beds plucking the satiny stems expertly choosing only the ones that have reached the length of an arm. Then cradling the fuchsia pink bundles in their arms they move on to the next patch. It’s an extraordinary sight in this age of mechanised, computerised agriculture. ‘The pulling’s done much the same way as it always has been’ Westwood says. ‘Electric light spoils the color.’ A labour intensive process it goes some way to explain the admittedly eye-watering price of the best forced rhubarb that and the heating now from oil or propane rather than coal.

F So how was this arcane cold dark heat process in use since Victorian times discovered? Westwood’s story is appealingly earthy. A gardener threw an old crown onto the horse stable muck pile; the manure was hot, and the plant was soon covered. The stable boy must have been puzzled by the startling pink spears that came pushing through the dirt a week or two later but happily he had the good sense to gather them. Where there’s muck there’s money – and good eating indeed.

Questions 1- 6

List of headings

i. The extra time is worth it
ii. The preferred rhubarb for consumers
iii. Yorkshire’s declining air quality
iv. Observing the selection process
v. Suggesting a possible beginning
vi. A long standing family business
vii. The best region for forces rhubarb

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

Questions 7 – 9

7 What aspect of forced rhubarb does the writer praise in paragraph C?
A its suitability for pies
B the smoothness of its stems
C its superiority over other types of rhubarb
D the number of places it can be successfully grown

8 Why does the writer think forced rhubarb has become more popular among cooking experts?
A it is cheap and easy to grow
B it is attractive and pleasant to eat
C local farmers are producing more of it
D imported varieties are in limited supply

9 In the final paragraph the writer suggests that forced rhubarb was first produced
A by accident
B as animal feed
C through trail and error
D while growing something else

Questions 10- 13

Growing forced rhubarb

During November rhubarb crowns are removed from the soil and replanted in dark sheds that have plenty of heating. These conditions encourage such fast growth that the buds make a 10 ………………… sound as the pink stalks appear.

The growing period lasts around three weeks. After that the rhubarb can be picked by a group of people known as 11 ………………… They use a 12 …………………. to inspect the stems and to make sure they are as long as a human 13 …………………

Answers for the Growing Forced Rhubarb Reading Passage with Location and Explanations

Take a look at the answer key for the IELTS Reading passage, Growing Forced Rhubarb, which includes detailed explanations for each question.

1 Answer: vi
Question type: Matching Headings
Answer Location: Paragraph A, Lines 2-4
Answer Explanation: Paragraph A introduces David Westwood, a Yorkshire farmer, and his family’s multi-generational involvement in growing rhubarb, highlighting it as a long-standing family business.

2 Answer: vii
Question type: Matching Headings
Answer Location: Paragraph B, Lines 1-3
Answer Explanation: Paragraph B describes the unique conditions of Yorkshire, particularly the Rhubarb Triangle, emphasizing it as the best region for forced rhubarb production.

3 Answer: ii
Question type: Matching Headings
Answer Location: Paragraph C, Lines 1-3
Answer Explanation: Paragraph C extols the virtues of forced rhubarb, suggesting it as the preferred rhubarb for consumers due to its superior taste and quality.

4 Answer: i
Question type: Matching Headings
Answer Location: Paragraph D, Lines 1-3
Answer Explanation: Paragraph D discusses the process of growing forced rhubarb, emphasizing the extra time and effort required, suggesting that the extra time is worth it.

5 Answer: iv
Question type: Matching Headings
Answer Location: Paragraph E, Lines 1-3
Answer Explanation: Paragraph E describes the observation of the selection process for picking forced rhubarb, indicating that the selection process is observed.

6 Answer: v
Question type: Matching Headings
Answer Location: Paragraph F, Lines 1-3
Answer Explanation: Paragraph F suggests a possible beginning for the process of growing forced rhubarb, highlighting the story of its discovery.

7 Answer: C
Question type: Multiple-Choice Question
Answer Location: Paragraph C
Answer Explanation: The passage in paragraph C praises forced rhubarb for its superiority over other types of rhubarb, suggesting that it is the cream of the crop and likely to convert rhubarb haters.

8 Answer: B
Question type: Multiple-Choice Question
Answer Location: Paragraph C
Answer Explanation: The writer suggests that forced rhubarb has become more popular among cooking experts because of its attractive appearance and pleasant taste, as described in paragraph C.

9 Answer: A
Question type: Multiple-Choice Question
Answer Location: Paragraph F
Answer Explanation: In the final paragraph, the writer suggests that forced rhubarb was first produced by accident, as described in the story of its discovery in paragraph F.

10 Answer: Popping
Question type: Summary completion
Answer Location: Paragraph D
Answer Explanation: The passage mentions, “the buds can be heard gently popping,” indicating that the sound is associated with the appearance of the pink stalks during the growing period.

11 Answer: Pullers
Question type: Summary completion
Answer Location: Paragraph E
Answer Explanation: The passage refers to the group of people who pick the rhubarb as “pullers,” as mentioned in paragraph E.

12 Answer: Candle
Question type: Short answer
Answer Location: Paragraph E
Answer Explanation: The passage mentions that the pullers carry “sturdy candles” while inspecting the stems, indicating their use as a tool during the picking process.

13 Answer: Arm
Question type: Summary completion
Answer Location: Paragraph E
Answer Explanation: The passage states, “choosing only the ones that have reached the length of an arm,” indicating that the pullers use the length of an arm as a measure for selecting the rhubarb stems.

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Tips to Solve the Passage Question Types in the Growing Forced Rhubarb Reading Answers 

Since now you know the answers to ‘Growing Forced Rhubarb’ Reading Answers, let us check out some quick IELTS General Training Reading tips to answer the passage question types in the Reading Answers of Growing Forced Rhubarb Reading Answers.

Matching Headings:

In this type of question, you will have to match a list of options with the relevant set of statements. Some tips to answer matching heading questions and obtain a high IELTS band score are given below:

• Read questions and underline or circle keywords. This will help you find out where you would have to read and find later. Also, focus on how often every detail or name is appearing in the passage.
• Scan the passage and look for information given in the features and questions.
• Skim through the areas that are surrounded by keywords and features in the passage.
• Don’t get confused in case the text has synonyms of the information that is originally present in the question.
• Keep in mind that answers will not be in an order as questions.

Multiple-Choice Questions:

You will be given a reading passage followed by several questions based on the information in the paragraph in multiple-choice questions. Your task is to understand the question and compare it to the paragraph in order to select the best solution from the available possibilities.

• Before reading the passage, read the question and select the keywords. Check the keyword possibilities if the question statement is short on information.
• Then, using the keywords, read the passage to find the relevant information.
• To select the correct option, carefully read the relevant words and match them with each option.
• You will find several options with keywords that do not correspond to the information.
• Try opting for the elimination method mostly.
• Find the best option by matching the meaning rather than just the keywords.

Summary Completion: 

Summary Completion is a type of reading question in IELTS that requires you to fill in a gap in a paragraph with a word or phrase from the passage.

To answer summary completion questions, you can use the following strategies:

• Reading the sentences carefully will give you an idea of the type of word or phrase that is missing.
• Next, scan the passage for the keywords. The keywords in the sentence can help you to identify the correct word or phrase.
• Read the sentence with the missing word or phrase. It will help you to see how the word or phrase fits into the sentence.
• Finally, check your answer. Once you have filled in the gap, make sure that your answer makes sense in the context of the sentence.

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