Reading 1

4 Complete the True/False/Not given strategies with

the words in the box.
agrees carefully contradict mentioned opposite
scan underline

1 Read each statement so that you

know what information you are looking for.
2 the words which will help you to
find the relevant section in the passage.
3 the passage to find the relevant
information for the first question. Look for
paraphrases or synonyms of the statements: they
will probably not be written in the same way.
4 Read the information and decide what it is saying.
Does it match the statement in the question or
Lead-in it?
5 If the information in the passage
1 Work in pairs. What do you know about the
with the statement, then it is True.
origins of agriculture? Think about where it
6 If the information says the to the
started and when and what people did for food
statement, then it is False.
before agriculture.
7 If you think the answer is True or False but cannot
find it in the passage, the answer
Test training: Topic sentences
is probably Not given.
2 Look at the topic sentence from the paragraph.
Predict which of the following details (1–5) Test practice: True/False/Not given
the rest of the paragraph will give about the statements
Agricultural Revolution.
5 Read the passage and complete Questions 1–5.
At the end of the Ice Age, 10,000–12,000 years ago,
the Agricultural Revolution took place, something which Questions 1–5
was to transform people’s lives forever.
Do the following statements agree with the
1 when it took place       information given in the reading passage?
2 where it began       Write
3 types of plant species grown       TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
4 how people lived before that time      
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
5 the reasons it happened      
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
3 Skim the paragraph quickly and tick which of the
supporting details are mentioned.
1 Studies prove that the Agricultural Revolution
1 when it took place       was prompted by a rise in the birth rate.
2 where it began      
3 types of plant species grown       2 The Agricultural Revolution enabled people to
4 how people lived before that time       eat more than the daily minimum requirement.
5 the reasons it happened      
At the end of the Ice Age, 10,000–12,000 years ago, 3 An increase in illness amongst the population at
the Agricultural Revolution took place, something that time is likely to have been caused by factors
which was to transform people’s lives forever. Whether connected to the Agricultural Revolution.
this was a consequence or a cause of the dramatic
population growth which we know occurred around 4 Not until modern times have people in
this time is still unclear. What is beyond doubt, Greece and Turkey reached the same average
however, is that during this period, evidence of the height as their hunter-gatherer ancestors.
domestication of select plants and animals began to
emerge in the archaeological record. This happened 5 The superior strength of hunter-gatherers’
more or less simultaneously in a number of regions bones is explained by the fact that they did a
throughout the world, the practice spreading until
greater amount of work than agriculturalists.
by the first century AD the vast majority of the global
population were agriculturalists.

Expert IELTS 6 Teacher’s Online Materials © Pearson Education Limited 2017 Photocopiable 1
 Reading 1

Test training: Answering short-answer Vocabulary

questions 8 Complete the sentences from the passage with
6 Here is some advice for how to answer short- the words in the box.
answer questions. Decide if the advice is for forage expectancy nutrition sedentary settle
before, while or after you read. simultaneously starvation transformed
1 Check that the answers fit grammatically with the
questions/statements. 1 Hunter-gatherers had to move around to find
2 Look for paraphrases of the words in the their food. However, once people started farming
questions/statements. their lifestyle became quite  .
3 Make sure you have kept to the word limit, 2 While hunter-gatherers had a varied diet, early
otherwise your answer will be marked wrong. farmers suffered from poor as
    their diet was often limited to a few types of food.
4 Read the instructions so that you know how many 3 Malnourishment and
words you are allowed to use. actually increased after the start of farming.
5 Check you have copied the words correctly as One consequence of this was shorter life
they appear in the passage.  .
6 Read the questions/statements and underline the 4 Farming allowed people to in
words which will help you to locate the answers in one place, but this led to the spread of disease.
the passage. 5 From archaeological evidence it appears that
7 Scan the passage to find the relevant paragraph. farming began in different places
The questions will follow the same order as the around the world.
information in the passage. 6 Before farming, people had to hunt animals and
8 Underline the information you need. for wild plants to survive.
7 With the advent of farming the lives of people
were  as they no longer had to
Test practice: Short-answer questions move camp in search of food.
7 Read the passage again and complete Questions Follow-up
6–10.
9 Work in pairs and discuss which of the strategies
Questions 6–10 for answering the two task types you found
useful. Use the table to help you.
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A True/False/Not given Short-answer questions
NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

6 To what extent did people’s teeth get worse as a

result of an agricultural diet?
7 What chemical element was lacking in the diet
of agriculturalists?
8 What physical evidence is there that catching
10 Work in pairs and discuss the questions.
illnesses from others at that time was common?
1 Which important social changes have you
9 What was greatly reduced as a result of witnessed in your lifetime?
diet and illness in post-agricultural times? 2 Why might some groups of people (e.g. the
young, the old) welcome or fear change? What
10 What kind of food did the early farmers have kind of changes might they welcome and which
problems processing? might they fear, and why?

Expert IELTS 6 Teacher’s Online Materials © Pearson Education Limited 2017 Photocopiable 2
Reading 1

A better life?
For over two million years, humans foraged for wild
plants and hunted wild animals: since no food was
grown and little stored, these hunter-gatherers
had to endure a daily struggle if they were to avoid
starvation. Then ‘progress’ came, in the form of the
Agricultural Revolution.

At the end of the Ice Age, 10,000-12,000 years ago, the Studies also show that hunter-gatherers living about
Agricultural Revolution took place, something which 7,000 years ago had bone density proportionally similar to
was to transform people’s lives forever. Whether that seen in modern primates. By contrast, agriculturalists
this was a consequence or a cause of the dramatic living 6,000 years later had significantly lighter and
population growth which we know occurred around weaker bones. However, these findings do not imply that
this time is still unclear. What is beyond doubt, the latter worked fewer hours: data suggests that the
however, is that during this period, evidence of the differences can principally be attributed to changes in
domestication of select plants and animals began to the pattern of physical activity, from being highly mobile
emerge in the archaeological record. This happened foragers to relatively sedentary agriculturalists.
more or less simultaneously in a number of regions
Another example of paleopathology at work is the study
throughout the world, the practice spreading until by
of Native American skeletons from burial mounds in the
the first century AD the vast majority of the global
Illinois and Ohio River valley, when they assessed health
population were agriculturalists.
changes that occurred when a hunter-gatherer culture
Perhaps the most significant consequence of this changed to intensive maize farming around AD 1150.
change was the ability to produce a surplus of food Studies by George Armelagos and his colleagues then at
beyond the immediate needs of daily subsistence. the University of Massachusetts show these early farmers
The care and controlled breeding of selected species paid a price for their new-found livelihood.
led to genetic changes that allowed greater production
When compared with their hunter-gatherer ancestors,
and increased the geographical ranges across which
the farmers were found to have significant health
the domesticated species could be grown, thus
deficiencies which indicated malnutrition. For example,
greatly expanding the potential food resources
a bone condition called porotic hyperostosis increased
available to humans.
by four times indicating iron-deficiency anaemia, bone
These developments produced a revolution in human lesions were three times more evident which points to an
lives. Most notably, small communities that had increase in infectious diseases and a rise in degenerative
previously been forced to make seasonal moves across spinal conditions was the result of the gruelling physical
the landscape to follow the shifting availability of work. One expert observed that life expectancy dropped
naturally occurring resources could now settle in one by about seven years from the pre-agricultural average of
place for long periods and expand in size. The negative twenty-six years to just nineteen years in post-agricultural
aspect to this was that because agriculture encouraged society indicating the negative impact of nutritional
people to settle together in crowded societies, it deficiencies and infectious disease on the population.
accelerated the spread of parasites and infectious
The evidence suggests that while hunter-gatherers enjoyed
diseases, whereas when populations were scattered in
a varied diet including wild plants and protein, early
small bands that continually moved camp, epidemics
farmers obtained most of their food from a limited amount
could not take hold.
of starchy crops such as wheat, gaining cheap calories but
The health of agriculturalists of this time can in part also poor nutrition. Using new food sources such as dairy
be assessed by the newly emerging techniques of products proved difficult as humans had not adapted to
paleopathology, which study the remains of ancient digest them. In addition, dependence on a restricted number
peoples. One example of this work concerns historical of crops meant the risk of starvation if one crop failed.
changes in size: skeletons from Greece and Turkey
The lasting impact of the Agricultural Revolution was
show that around 10,000 years ago male hunter-
to enable Homo sapiens to succeed as a species in
gatherers were 5’9’’ tall, while women were 5’5’’.
direct proportion to the increase in the amount of food
Following the adoption of agriculture, this dropped
they produced. However, the short-term effect was that
and by 3000 BC had reached an average height of only
small groups of relatively healthy people disappeared,
5’3’’ tall for men and 5’ for women before very slowly
to be replaced by large villages of people suffering from
beginning to rise again.
disease and malnourishment.

Expert IELTS 6 Teacher’s Online Materials © Pearson Education Limited 2017 Photocopiable 3