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BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 434
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 434 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 434
READING PASSAGE – 2
Freeganism
A. Freeganism is a lifestyle in which people try to use less. Freegans find free food, or grow their own in community gardens. They recycle and help each other fix things instead of throwing them away. They might live in houses which are empty so as not to pay rent. Often, they ride bicycles or rely on public transport. As a result, they are able to work fewer hours because they do not need so much money. A few freegans even try to avoid money.
B. Freegan is a new word, made up of the two words: ‘free’ and ‘vegan’. A vegan is someone who does not eat or use any animal products. However, not all freegans are vegans. Some are vegetarians; others enjoy meat.
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C. Freeganism started in the 1960s in the US. It arose from environmental and anti-globalisation movements. It did not grow much until the mid-90s. A famous booklet called ‘Why Freegan’, written in 1999, by Warren Oakes, a musician, describes common things freegans do or believe. For example: to get food, freegans may go ‘dumpster diving’, ‘plate scraping’, wild foraging, or they may garden, or barter.
A dumpster is an American word for a very large rubbish bin like the one in the illustration. ‘Plate scraping’ is taking leftover food from restaurants. Wild foraging is looking for food that is not grown on farms, but in parks or wild places. Of course, gardening is growing one’s own food. Bartering is the process whereby people swap things that they both want without using money.
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D. People become freegans for different reasons. Perhaps they think it is better for the world environment to consume less; or they think people should spend more time with their friends and families,and less time working for money. Certainly, they do not like useful items being put into rubbish or landfill. A large area outside the city where large amounts of rubbish are buried is called landfill. Due to all the rubbish in landfills, the sites remain unusable for farming or housing for many years, which upsets freegans.
E. Reports on television and in magazines have shown how weird dumpster-diving freegans are: how desperate and antisocial pulling food out of the rubbish like homeless or very poor people. After all, this practice is dirty, smelly, and illegal. What journalists do not say is that the UK and Australia currently consume and discard equal amounts of good food. In the US, even more good food is destroyed.
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Meanwhile, one billion people worldwide are unable to eat the World Health Organisation’s recommended daily intake of nutrients, and these people exist in both rich and poor countries. Freegans hope to change this. Despite bad press, the number of freegans worldwide is growing: a recent estimate by a Swedish organization suggested more than 500,000 in 50 countries.
F. Not all freegan dumpster divers search for food; not all freegans are dumpster divers. Many dumpster divers search for anything that can be recycled or reused, from clothes, to furniture, to tools in need of small repairs. An alternative source of inexpensive food exists in the form of co-operatives. These are shops which are owned by groups of local people. They do not aim to make a large profit, but to sell food at reasonable prices, and to provide what is in season and grown locally. Imported food may be forbidden as it is costly to the environment to transport it great distances.
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G. Some freegans plant their own crops at home or in community gardens. They may also take small amounts of food from the wild, particularly things which are not sold commercially. They feel they are fighting against a huge army of farmers and consumers because freegans believe large-scale farming, as currently practiced, is bad for the environment. They also do not support the giant multinational companies that control large amounts of land worldwide.
Methods such as factory farming, where animals are kept in very small areas inside, freegans hate. Many crops are sprayed with chemicals, or have things added to them like color or wax, which freegans think are dangerous and wasteful. They support organic farming if they buy from farms at all. Freeganism may not be a movement that ever becomes mainstream, but its central concerns may encourage people to modify their wasteful behavior.
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Question 14-19
The Read Passage which has seven sections A-G.
Choose the correct heading for sections B-G from the list of heading.
Write the correct number, i-ix.
List of Heading:
i. Buy it all the co-op
ii. A composite word
iii. A different kind of farming
iv. The dream of Warren Oakes
v. Media v Freegans
vi. Origins and activities
vii. What is Freeganism
viii. Useless; waste less
ix. The UK is OK for freegans
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14. Section B
15. Section C
16. Section D
17. Section E
18. Section F
19. Section G
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Question 20-23
Do the following statements agree with the information in the text on the previous pages?
In boxes 20-23 on your answer sheet, write:
True – if the statement agrees with the information.
False – if the statement contradicts the information.
Not given – if there is no information on this.
20. Although freeganism began more than 40 years ago, it did not take off until the late 1990s.
21. Rubbish dumps or landfill sites are quite disturbing to freegans.
22. In developed countries, barely any food is thrown away.
23. It is predicted that freeganism will grow significantly in the next decade.
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Question 24-27
Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-H below.
Write the correct letter A-H.
A. dumpster dive.
B. transporting it long distance is another environmental cost.
C. the media.
D. agriculture.
E. challenges patterns of consumption and employment.
F. is probably hard to follow.
G. recycle.
H. grown locally is less expensive
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24. Freegans always.
25. Freegans generally do not buy imported food because.
26. Freegans have a special interest in
27. As a way of living, Freeganism
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ANSWERS
14. ii
15. vi
16. viii
17. v
18. i
19. iii
20. FALSE
21. TRUE
22. FALSE
23. NOT GIVEN
24. G
25. B
26. D
27. E
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