The Truth about the Environment IELTS Reading Answers — Adapted Review

How to approach this passage

1. Create two columns while reading: claims attributed to environmentalists and claims made by the writer. A view quoted at the start may later be challenged.
2. In Questions 27–32, check the direction of comparisons. More abundant and less abundant are opposites, and a statement about percentages is not automatically a statement about absolute numbers.
3. For the multiple-choice questions, identify why an example was included. The reference to a campaign group supports an argument about claims; merely naming the organisation does not reveal that argument.
4. For Questions 38–40, choose the letter from the supplied word list. Read the whole completed sentence so the answer fits both its grammar and the writer's recommendation.

Worked review example

Question 28 claims that natural-resource data collection began only in 1972. The passage discusses changes since 1972 without establishing when data collection began, so NOT GIVEN is correct. The date alone does not establish the history of the data.

Common mistake to avoid

Treat this as a reading-comprehension exercise in a historical text, not as current environmental advice or a request to judge whether every claim remains accurate today.