Organic Farming And Chemical Fertilizers, The Pearl & Scent Of Success - IELTS Reading Answers

The ‘Organic Farming And Chemical Fertilizers, The Pearl & Scent Of Success’ Academic Reading passage is a good resource for anyone who is preparing for the IELTS Reading test. This passage will help you understand what kind of reading passages you will encounter and the questions that you will be asked to solve.

By taking the ‘Organic Farming And Chemical Fertilizers, The Pearl & Scent Of Success’ IELTS Reading Answer, you can acquaint yourself with 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 Features (Q. 1-4, Q. 35-38)
• IELTS Yes/No/Not Given (Q. 5-9)
• IELTS Summary Completion (Q. 10-13, Q.18-23)
• IELTS Matching Information (Q. 14-17, Q. 28-34)
• IELTS True/False/Not Given (Q. 24-27)
• IELTS Multiple Choice Questions (Q. 39-40)

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

Reading Passage 1

The Academic passage ‘Organic Farming and Chemical Fertilizers’ is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test.

Questions 1 – 4

Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-D) with opinions or deeds below.

Write the appropriate letters A-D in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

A.Vaclav Smil

B. Bill Liebhardt

C. Kenneth Cassman

D. Ron Olson

1. The use of chemical fertilizer can be optimized by combining weather information.

2. Organic framing yield is nearly equal to traditional ones.

3. A better agricultural setting is a significant key to solve environmental tough nut.

4. Substantial production loss would happen in case all farmers shifted from using synthetic fertilizer.

Questions 5 – 9

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1

In boxes 5-9 on your answer sheet, write

YES, if the statement agrees with the information
NO, if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN, if there is no information on this

5. Increasing population, draining irrigation, eroding farmland push agricultural industry to extremity.

6. There are only two options for farmers; they use chemical fertilizer or natural approach.

7. Chemical fertilizer currently is more expensive than natural fertilizers.

8. In order to keep nutrients in the soil, organic farmers need to rotate the planting method.

9. “organic agriculture” is the way that environment-damaging technologies are all strictly forbidden.

Questions 10-13

Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using no more than two words from the Reading Passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.

Several 10 …………………… approaches need to be applied in the order that the global population wouldn’t go starved. A team called 11…………………… repeated the viewpoint of a scholar by a survey in British farming. More and more European farmers believe in 12……………………farming these years. The argument of organic against 13……………………seems in an inaccurate direction.

Reading Passage 2

The Academic passage ‘The Pearl’ is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test.

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2.

Questions 14-17

Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs, A-G. Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

14. ancient stories around the pearl and customers

15. Difficulties in the cultivating process.

16. Factors can decide the value of natural pearls.

17. Different growth mechanisms that distinguish the cultured pearls from natural ones.

Questions 18 – 23

Complete the summary below.

Choose a letter from A-K for each answer. Write them in boxes 5-10 on your answer sheet.

In ancient history, pearls have great importance within the rich and rulers, which was treated as a gem for women in 18……………….. And pearls were even used as medicine and sex drug for people in 19……………….. There are essentially three types of pearls: natural, cultured and imitation. Most freshwater cultured pearls sold today come from China while the 20……………….. is famous for its imitation pearl industry. The country 21…………………… usually manufactures some of the glitteriest cultured ones while the nation such as 22……………….. produces the larger sized pearl due to the favourable environment along the coastline. In the past, one country of 23 ……………….. in the Gulf produced the world’s best pearls. Nowadays, the maJor remaining suppliers of the natural pearls belong to India

A. America

B. Ancient Rome

C. Australia

D. Bahrain

E. China

F. Japan

G. India

H. Korea

I. Mexico

J. Persia

K. Spain

Questions 24 – 27

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 24-27 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE, if the statement is true
FALSE, if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN, if the information is not given in the passage

24. Often cultured pearl’s centre is significantly larger than in a natural pearl.

25. Cultivated cultured pearls are generally valued the same as natural ones.

26. The size of pearls produced in Japan is usually of a smaller size than those who came from Australia.

27. Akoya pearls from Japan Glows more deeply than the South Sea pearls of Australia

Reading Passage 3

The Academic passage ‘Scent of Success’ is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test.

Questions 28-34

Reading Passage 3 has six paragraphs, A—G.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-G, in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

28. Description of one family member persuading another of selling cleaning products

29. An account of the cooperation of all factory staff to cope with a sales increase

30. An account of the creation of the formula of Shower Power

31. An account of buying the original OzKleen company

32. Description of Shower Power’s international expansion

33. The reason for changing the packaging size of Shower Power

34. An example of some innovative ideas

Questions 35 – 38

Look at the following people and list of statements below.

Match each person with the correct statement

Write the correct letter A-E in boxes 8-11 on your answer sheet.

35. Grant Keamey

36. Tom Quinn

37. PeterQuinn

38. BelindaMcDonnell

List of statement

A. Described his story of selling his product to a chain store

B. Explained there was a shortage of money when sales suddenly increased

C. Believe innovations need support to succeed

D. Believes new products like Shower Power may incur risks

E. Says business won’t succeed with innovations

Questions 39 – 40

Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.

Write your answers in boxes 12-13 on your answer sheet.

39. Tom Quinn changed the bottle size to 750ml to make Shower Power

A. Easier to package.

B. Appealing to individual customers.

C. Popular in foreign markets.

D. Attractive to supermarkets.

40. Why did Tom Quinn decide not to sell OzKleen?

A. No one wanted to buy OzKleen.

B. New products were being developed in OzKleen.

C. He couldn’t make an agreement on the price with the buyer.

D. He wanted to keep things unchanged.

Organic Farming And Chemical Fertilizers, The Pearl & Scent Of Success Answers With Explanations

Don’t miss the answer key for the Organic Farming And Chemical Fertilizers, The Pearl & Scent Of Success IELTS Reading passage, complete with detailed explanations, and prepare to score a high IELTS Reading band score.

1. Answer: D

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph K, line 5

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, this entire paragraph is dedicated to the optimum utilization of technology for farming. It is also clear from the line, “Eventually, farmers may -incorporate long-term weather forecasts into their planning as well so that they can cut back on fertilizer use when the weather is likely to make harvests poor anyway, says Ron Olson.” Here, “incorporate and weather forecasts, fertilizers” are the main keywords.

2. Answer: B

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph I, line 4

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, this entire paragraph is dedicated to the difference between organic farming and conventional synthetic fertilizer based farming. It is paraphrased from the line, “Bill Liebhardt, a research manager at the Rodale Institute in Kutztown, Pennsylvania recently compiled the results of such comparisons for corn, wheat, soybeans, and tomatoes in the US and found that the organic fields averaged between 94 and 100 per cent of the yields of nearby conventional crops.” Here, the term “average difference is between 94 and 100 percent” has been paraphrased to nearly equal.

3. Answer: C

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 8

Answer explanation: The answer is clearly mentioned in the said paragraph and line. You must note the paraphrasing here. In the passage, it is said that “Agriculture must become the solution to environmental problems in 50 years. If we don’t have systems that make the environment better~not just hold the fort-then we’re in trouble, says Kenneth Cassman, an agronomist at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.” Here, “agriculture, the solution, and environmental problems” are the keywords.

4. Answer: A

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph J, line 5

Answer explanation: If you observe, this paragraph has been dedicated to synthetic farming. The answer is clearly mentioned in the said paragraph and line “Vaclav Smil of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, estimates that if farmers worldwide gave up the 80 million tonnes of synthetic fertilizer they now use each year, total grain production would fall by at least half.” Here the term ‘total grain production would fall‘ suggests the substantial loss that would happen to the production of synthetic fertilizers.

5. Answer: YES

Question type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 1

Answer explanation: In the said paragraph, you can refer to, “The world’s population continues to climb. And despite the rise of high-tech agriculture, 800 million people don’t get enough to eat. Clearly, it’s time to rethink the food we eat and where it comes from. Feeding 9 billion people will take more than the same old farming practices if want to do it without felling rainforests and planting every last scrap of the prairie.” In the given sentence, “the world’s population continues to climb” has been paraphrased to increasing population. Moreover, ‘planting every last scrap of prairie’ is paraphrased to “pushing agriculture to extremity”

6. Answer: NO

Question type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph G, line 1

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, this entire paragraph is dedicated to organic farming and the synthetic fertilizers approach. From the given line, “relying solely on chemical fertilizers to provide soil nutrients without doing other things to build healthy soil is damaging.” We can comprehend that chemical fertilizers are not safe to build healthy soil. Hence, organic farming is the only ideal approach farmers can follow.

7. Answer: NOT GIVEN

Question type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions

Answer location: N/A

Answer explanation: None of the given paragraphs claim the price difference between organic farming and chemical fertilization.

8. Answer: YES

Question type: Yes/No/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph J, line 2

Answer explanation: The answer is clearly mentioned in the said paragraph and line “Farmers can’t grow such crops every year if they want to maintain or build soil nutrients without synthetic fertilizers. They need to alternate with soil-building crops such as pasture grasses and legumes such as alfalfa.” Here, the phrase ‘need to alternate’ refers that in order to main the soil nutrients organic farmers need to rotate the planting method.

9. Answer: NO

Question: Yes/No/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph L, line 1

Answer explanation: In the said paragraph, you can refer to, “Organic techniques certainly have their benefits, especially for poor farmers. But strict “organic agriculture”, which prohibits certain technologies and allows others, isn’t always better for the environment.” From the given lines, we can learn that organic farming does not entirely prohibit environment damaging technologies, rather restricts some and allows others.

10. Answer: Farming

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 3

Answer explanation: The answer is clearly mentioned in the said paragraph and line “Feeding 9 billion people will take more than the same old farming practices.” Here, the term will take more has been paraphrased to several. Hence, in order to feed 9 billion starving people, there need to be several farming approaches applied.

11. Answer: Curry

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph A, 2nd last line

Answer explanation: In the said paragraph, you can refer to, “that view was echoed in January by the Curry report, a government panel that surveyed the future of farming and food in Britain.” Confirms that it was the “Curry” reporting team which re-stated the viewpoint of scholars.

12. Answer: Natural/Organic

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 3

Answer explanation: You can note the paraphrasing here. In the passage, it states that “perhaps these easy assumptions explain why sales of organic food across Europe are increasing by at least 50 per cent per year.” Since the sale of organic food is surging, it is clear that more European farmers are relying on natural or organic farming.

13. Answer: Chemical

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 3

Answer explanation: You can note the paraphrasing here. In the passage, it states that “but more fundamentally, the organic versus-chemical debate focuses on the wrong question.” which suggests that debate is going in the wrong direction.

Reading Passage 2

14. Answer: A

Question type: Matching Information Questions

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 1

Answer explanation: The entire sentence has been paraphrased here. In the passage, it states that “Throughout history, pearls have held a unique presence within the wealthy and powerful.” Therefore, this complete passage discusses ancient stories of the Roman empire, Orient and Persian Empire, and American Indian thereby conveying the importance of pearl.

15. Answer: E

Question type: Matching Information Questions

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 5

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, this entire paragraph is dedicated to the production of cultivated pearls. It is paraphrased from the line, “by the end of a 5 to 10-year cycle, only 50% of the oysters will have survived. And of the pearls produced, only approximately 5% are of substantial quality for top jewellery makers.” Here, the term “only 50% survives” suggests this passage discusses the difficulties of cultivating process.

16. Answer: F

Question type: Matching Information Questions

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 6

Answer explanation: In the said paragraph, you can refer to, “the actual value of a natural pearl is determined in the same way as it would be for other “precious” gems. The valuation factors include size, shape, and colour, quality of surface, orient, and lustre. In general, cultured pearls are less valuable than natural pearls.” This confirms that this passage discusses the variety of factors that determine the value of the pearl.

17. Answer: C

Question type: Matching Information Questions

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 1

Answer explanation: In the said paragraph, you can refer to, “the only difference between natural pearls and cultured pearls is that the irritant is a surgically implanted bead or piece of shell called Mother of Pearl.” This confirms that this passage discusses different types of growth mechanisms that distinguish cultured pearls from natural ones.

18. Answer: B

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 3

Answer explanation: The answer is clearly mentioned in the said paragraph and line “Roman women wore pearls to bed so they could be reminded of their wealth immediately upon waking up. Before jewellers learned to cut gems, the pearl was of greater value than the diamond.” Here, this line confirms that pearls were gems for Ancient Roman women.

19. Answer: J

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 5

Answer explanation: In the said paragraph, you can refer to, “in the Orient and Persia Empire, pearls were ground into powders to cure anything from heart disease to epilepsy, with possible aphrodisiac uses as well.” Confirms that it was the people of Persia who used pearl powder as medicine.

20. Answer: K

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 4

Answer explanation: The answer is clearly mentioned in the said paragraph and line “the Island of Mallorca (in Spain) is known for its imitation pearl industry.” Here, this line confirms that Spain is famous for its imitation pearl industry.

21. Answer: F

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 4

Answer explanation: The answer is clearly mentioned in the said paragraph and line“Akoya pearls from Japan are some of the most lustrous. A good quality necklace of 40 Akoya pearls measuring 7 mm in diameter .” This line confirms that it is Japan the country that usually manufactures some of the glitteriest cultured pearls.

22. Answer: C

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph F, 3rd last line

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, the last part of the paragraph is dedicated to the large size pearls. It is also clear from the line, “the South Sea waters of Australia tend to produce the larger pearls; probably because the water along the coastline is supplied with rich nutrients from the ocean floor.” Here, the word water along the coastline is supplied with rich nutrients has been paraphrased in the question as favorable environmental conditions along the coastline.

23. Answer: D

Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph G, line 1

Answer explanation: In the said paragraph, you can refer to, “historically, the world’s best pearls came from the Persian Gulf, especially around what is now Bahrain.” Confirms that the country of Bahrain produces the world’s best pearls.

24. Answer: TRUE

Question type: True/False/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 3

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, this entire paragraph is dedicated to the production difference between natural and cultivated pearls. It is paraphrased from the line, “the only difference between natural pearls and cultured pearls is that the irritant is a surgically implanted bead or piece of shell called Mother of Pearl. The resulting core is, therefore, much larger than in a natural pearl.” Here, the term “much larger than natural pearl” suggests that it’s true that cultivated pearls’ centres are larger than natural pearls.

25. Answer: FALSE

Question type: True/False/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 9

Answer explanation: A line in the said paragraph mentions that “in general, cultured pearls are less valuable than natural pearls, whereas imitation pearls almost have no value.” Therefore, we can deduce that cultivated pearls are not valued the same as natural pearls.

26. Answer: TRUE

Question type: True/False/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph F, 5th last line

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, the last part of the paragraph is dedicated to pearls sizes. It is also clear from the line, “Akoya pearls from Japan are some of the most lustrous. A good-quality necklace of 40 Akoya pearls measuring 7 mm in diameter sells for about $1,500, while a super- high-quality strand sells for about $4,500. Size, on the other hand, has to do with the age of the oyster that created the pearl (the more mature oysters produce larger pearls) and the location in which the pearl was cultured. The South Sea waters of Australia tend to produce the larger pearls.” Here, these lines from the passage confirm that size of pearls in Japan is usually smaller than the one that came from Australia.

27. Answer: TRUE

Question type: True/False/Not Given Questions

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 12

Answer explanation: In the given paragraph a line claims that “among cultured pearls, Akoya pearls from Japan are some of the most lustrous.” Akoya pearls are some of the most lustrous and not the lustrous amongst all. So we don’t know whether it glittered more than Australian pearls or not. No such comparison is given in the passage. So it is NOT GIVEN

Reading Passage 3

28. Answer: F

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 2

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, the first part of the paragraph refers to “convinced her father that shower power should be in supermarkets.” Thus, we can infer that the daughter of Coles Myer is persuading another family member to sell cleaning products such as shower power.

29. Answer: E

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 2

Answer explanation: In the said paragraph, you can refer to, “it was all hands on deck at the factory, labelling and bottling Shower Power to keep up with demand.” As the idiom ‘all hands on deck’ implies that all team members are required. It suggests that it was a difficult situation for factory staff to cope with sales.

30. Answer: C

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 8

Answer explanation: A line in the said paragraph infers that “he is credited with finding the Shower Power formula.” This line alludes to the account of the creation of the formula of Shower Power.

31. Answer: B

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 3

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, this entire paragraph is dedicated to shower powder innovation. It is clear from the given line, “Tom Quinn and John Heron bought a struggling cleaning products business, OzKleen .” Hence, it signifies the account of buying the original OzKleen company.

32. Answer: G

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph G, line 5

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, there’s a line in the said paragraph that describes the Shower Power’s international expansion, i.e., ‘the cleaning products are sold everywhere.’

33. Answer: D

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 1

Answer explanation: A line in the paragraph denotes the reason for changing the size of Shower Power. The reason is that “Tom Quinn decided to sell it in 750ml bottles after the constant “raves” from customers at their retail store at, near Brisbane.”

34. Answer: A

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 5

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, the passage states examples of some ideas that innovate “are spruiking to potential investors include new water-saving showerheads, a keyless locking system, ping-pong balls that keep pollution out of rainwater tanks and so on.”

35. Answer: C

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph A, last line

Answer explanation: In the said paragraph, it is mentioned that according to Grant Kearney, “an idea only becomes innovation when it is connected to the right resources and capabilities.” The right resources and capabilities are the support required for innovations to succeed.

36. Answer: A

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 4

Answer explanation: If you observe, in the said paragraph Tom Quinn said, “we did a dummy label and went to see Woolworths.” Thus, we can infer from this line that he is describing his story of selling his product to a chain store.

37. Answer: D

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 3

Answer explanation: Paragraph F puts forward the information that “Peter Quinn says the company was wary of how long the sales would last and hesitated to spend money on upgrading the manufacturing process.” According to Peter Quinn, he was able to sense a problem about how long the sales would last. Therefore, we can deduce that he believes new products like Shower Power may incur risks.

38. Answer: B

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 1

Answer explanation: Few lines in the said paragraph convey that “Shower Power was released in Australian supermarkets in 1997 and became the top-selling product in its category within six months.” Besides that “Belinda McDonnell recalls it was hand-to-mouth, cash flow was very difficult.” Since it was a hand-to-mouth difficult cash flow situation, it implies that there was a shortage of money when sales suddenly increased.

39. Answer: B

Question type: Multiple-Choice Questions

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 2

Answer explanation: If you read thoroughly, there’s a line that claims “Tom Quinn to sell it in 750ml bottles after the constant ‘raves’ from customers at their retail store,near Brisbane.” And “how good Shower Power was.” This line indicates that Tom Quinn changed the bottle size to make it more appealing to individual customers.

40. Answer: D

Question type: Multiple-Choice Questions

Answer location: Paragraph G, last line

Answer explanation: A line in the said paragraph indicates the reason why Tom Quinn decided not to sell Ozkleen. It was because he says ‘he is happy with things as they are.’ From this line, we can infer that we wanted things to remain unchanged.

Also, check:

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