Petrol power: an eco-revolution?
Read Petrol power: an eco-revolution? and check the IELTS Reading answers. Laura Ingalls Wilder's semi-autobiographical novel *The Long Winter* describes how the inhabitants of a small town called De Smet in the American Midwest narrowly avoided starvation during the severe winter of 1880–1881. Ove…
Passage preview
Laura Ingalls Wilder's semi-autobiographical novel *The Long Winter* describes how the inhabitants of a small town called De Smet in the American Midwest narrowly avoided starvation during the severe winter of 1880–1881. Over three metres of snow fell on the northern plains, immobilising the railways and cutting off the settlers from the rest of the world. Laura and her neighbours were only saved when her fiancé and his friend trudged 30 kilometres through the snow to fetch food, risking their lives in the process. The story is a reminder of how lethal geographical isolation and crop failures could be before the advent of modern farming and transportation technologies. Not long ago, subsistence farmers in many countries had to cope with the 'lean season' – the period of greatest scarcity before new crops became available. In England, late spring was once referred to as the 'hungry gap'. The situation was made worse by the cost of moving heavy things over muddy dirt roads; three centuries ago, moving goods 50 kilometres on land between, say, Liverpool and Manchester was as expensive as shipping them across the North Atlantic.
Vocabulary from this passage
10 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- bystander noun
A person who is present at an event but is not involved in it.
In the passage:
Q33 says "passers-by"; the passage says workhorses "kicked or bit bystanders" (paragraph 6).
Synonyms: passers-by, onlooker
- depletion of water resources noun phrase
The reduction of a supply of something until little remains.
In the passage:
"thus preventing the depletion of water resources there": food exports protected scarce water (Q38).
Synonyms: exhaustion of supplies, the draining of reserves
- ecologically friendly adjective phrase
Causing little or no harm to the natural environment.
In the passage:
Q39 says "does less harm to the environment"; the passage says a city is "far more ecologically friendly" (paragraph 9).
Synonyms: less harm to the environment, environmentally friendly
Opposites: damaging to nature
- immobilise verb
To stop something from moving or working normally.
In the passage:
Q27 option A says "unable to operate normally"; the passage says snow was "immobilising the railways" (paragraph 1).
Synonyms: unable to operate, paralyse
Opposites: mobilise
- inherently unsustainable adjective phrase
Impossible to continue over time because of its basic nature.
In the passage:
"the delegates concluded that urban living was inherently unsustainable": cities could never continue to work.
Synonyms: fundamentally unworkable
Opposites: sustainable
- it could be argued that verb phrase
Used to introduce a claim the writer thinks is reasonable but not certain.
In the passage:
Q40 says "it is possible that"; the writer states the final conclusion with "It could be argued that" (paragraph 9).
Synonyms: it is possible that, one could say that
- mediocre adjective
Not very good; of only average quality.
In the passage:
"transported to those that had experienced mediocre ones": surplus food went to areas with poor harvests.
Synonyms: average, second-rate
Opposites: outstanding
- paradoxically adverb
In a way that seems to contradict itself but may still be true.
In the passage:
"Paradoxically, much of the urban manure problem was related to the growth of the railways": better transport made the problem worse.
Synonyms: ironically, contrary to expectation
- revert to verb phrase
To return to an earlier state or condition.
In the passage:
"allowed some agricultural land to revert to a wild state": farmland turned back into natural land (Q37).
Synonyms: return to, go back to
- scarcity noun
A situation in which there is not enough of something.
In the passage:
Q28 option C says "limited at certain times"; the passage says the "period of greatest scarcity before new crops became available".
Synonyms: shortage, lack
Opposites: abundance
Answers with explanations
- 27. A
Go to **De Smet** in the first paragraph. **Unable to operate normally** is a paraphrase of **immobilising the railways**: the snow stopped the trains. The harvest and roads are only mentioned as general problems of the time, and nothing says farmers refused to sell.
- 28. C
**Limited at certain times** matches the **'lean season'**, a **period of greatest scarcity** before new crops. Shipping cost and muddy roads are mentioned, but they are about moving goods, and the text never says food could not travel by road.
- 29. B
Find where the writer compares coal with **petroleum-derived** fuels. Oil **displaced coal** because of **higher energy density** and **greater ease of extraction**, so coal was **less efficient**. Cleaner combustion shows the environmental option was oil, not coal. Coal-powered transport let farmers specialise, the opposite of self-sufficient.
- 30. A
The conference is an example of a **problem**: **horse manure** that the delegates could not solve. Later **trains, cars and trucks** were seen as a **significant improvement**, so the problem was solved by modern transport. The delegates' conclusion is reported, not criticised, and health is only a later detail.
- 31. H
The summary follows the order of the paragraph about the cities. **Overpowering stench** is paraphrased by the box phrase **unpleasant smells**. The diseases come next, so they don't fit this gap.
- 32. J
**Linked to the spread of** matches **With flies came outbreaks of**, and **typhoid, cholera and diphtheria** are all **diseases**. Injuries are mentioned in the next sentence, not here.
- 33. B
**Passers-by** is paraphrased as **bystanders**, and being **kicked or bit** by a horse causes **injuries**. Accidental falls tempt you because a horse "collapsed" later, but that created an obstruction, not harm to people.
- 34. E
Look at the sentence about the countryside. Clearing land, removing animal life and vegetation and diverting water had **considerable negative effects on the whole area**. This describes damage to the **environment**. Use of irrigation is an action in the text, not the thing that was damaged.
- 35. C
**Provide ... for urban workhorses** matches **supply the workhorses with**. **Oats and hay** are what the horses ate, so the box word is **food**.
- 36. NO
Find the writer's view of farmers with **poor soil**. Modern transport let **more suitable crops** be grown in **the poorer soils in Europe**. That is a benefit, so the writer disagrees. "It could be argued" is the writer's own careful way of saying it. NO.
- 37. YES
**Positive effects** is paraphrased as **benefited**, and the dates **1830 and 1960** match. The change in farming is the **concentration of food production**, which let land return to forest. The writer agrees: YES.
- 38. NOT GIVEN
This is the only sentence about water. The writer says food exports **prevented** water depletion in dry regions. Nothing says water resources are shared unfairly or that a **fairer distribution** is needed, so the writer's view is not given: NOT GIVEN.
- 39. NO
**Does less harm to the environment** is the same idea as **ecologically friendly**. The writer says the growth of cities is positive, and the quote says a **concrete jungle** is **far more** friendly than a forest. That reverses the statement: NO.
- 40. YES
**It is possible that** matches **It could be argued that**, and **beneficial impact on the world** matches **a major contributor to a wealthier, cleaner and more sustainable world**. The writer puts this forward as the conclusion: YES.