Free Advanced C1 Reading Passage & Test 3

Online Advanced English Reading Test-3. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions!

Some people believe that meat consumption contributes to famine and depletes the Earth’s natural resources. Indeed, it is often argued that cows and sheep require pasturage that could be better used to grow grain for starving millions in poor countries. Additionally, claims are made that raising livestock requires more water than raising plant foods. But both these arguments are illogical. As for the pasturage argument, this ignores the fact that a large portion of the Earth’s dry land is unsuited to cultivation. For instance, desert and mountainous areas are not suitable for cultivation, but are suitable for animal grazing. However, modern commercial farming methods prefer to raise animals in an enclosed space feeding them on grains and soybeans. Unfortunately the bulk of commercial livestock is not range-fed but stall-fed. Stall-fed animals do not ingest grasses and shrubs (like they should), but are fed an unnatural array of grains and soybeans – which could be eaten by humans. The argument here, then, is not that eating meat depletes the Earth’s resources, but that commercial farming methods do. Such methods subject livestock to deplorable living conditions where infections, antibiotics, and synthetic hormones are common. These all lead to an unhealthy animal and, by extension, to an unhealthy food product.

1. Contrary to what is often argued, the passage points out that ………………………. .

 grazing for sheep and cows needs to be upgraded so as to increase meat production

 a very extensive part of the earth’s surface is ideally suitable for the cultivation of crops

 synthetic hormones can be used to improve the quality of meat

 the famine in the world is not directly related to the consumption of meat

2. One important point made in this passage is that …………………………….. .

 the way livestock is raised on modern farms involves various health hazards

 desert and mountainous regions should be developed as arable land for cultivation

 meat production in the developed world needs to be increased to combat famine

 every measure must be taken to conserve the Earth’s natural resources

3. By the “pasturage argument” is meant the argument that …………………….. .

 only cattle that are allowed to graze freely produce good meat

 dry mountainous areas could be watered and turned into good pasturage

 livestock should be stall-fed on grains and not allowed to graze freely

 cultivated land ought to be turned into pasturage

4. One argument that is clearly opposed in the passage ………………………. .

 concerns the value of antibiotics in the raising of healthy livestock

 concerns the introduction of soybeans as the basic feed for livestock

 is that land used for pasturage should be utilized for the cultivation of crops

 is related to the inadequate methods employed in the prevention of famine

5. The writer attacks present day commercial farming methods …………………………. .

 but admits that there is a higher production rate than there was with earlier methods

 because, among other things, it makes no effort to cultivate dry, mountainous regions

 and claims that they are responsible for depleting the natural resources of the world

 though it ensures that there is sufficient food for everyone

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