Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 567
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 567 – PASSAGE – 3
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 567
READING PASSAGE – 3
EAT DRINK AND BE MERRY
Among athletes who obsess about their weight, we cyclists are second to none. Training rides are filled with conversations about weight lost or gained and the latest diet regimens and food fads. Resolutions are made and broken. We all know the formula; 10 pounds of extra weight on a 5 percent grade slows your ascent by half a mile an hour. It has a ring of Newtonian finality to it. F=MA. The Force needed to turn the pedals equals Acceleration times that Mass on the saddle.
But most of the guys I ride with are like me; in their 40s and 50s with jobs and families, long past racing prime. We ride because it [J is fun, and it feels good to be fit. So why obsess over a few pounds? Because that is the cycling culture-emblematic of our society at large-and it carries its own internal calculus; the amount of guilt is directly proportional to the rise in the quantity and tastiness of the food.
IELTS General Reading Test
The problem is that our bodies have evolved to crave copious amounts of rich and tasty foods, because historically such foods were valuable and rare. How can we modern humans resist? We shouldn’t, at least not entirely, says Barry Glassner, a University of Southern California sociologist and author of the forthcoming book The Gospel of Food; Everything You Think You [j u Know about Food Is Wrong (Ecco).
We have wrongly embraced what Glassner calls “the gospel of naught,” the view that the worth of a meal lies principally in what it lacks. The less sugar, salt, fat, calories, carbs, preservatives, additives, or other suspect stuff, the better the meal, The science behind this culinary religion, Glassner says, is close to naught.
When it comes to healthy absorption of nutrients, taste matters. Glassner cites a study in which Swedish and Thai women were fed a Thai dish that the Swedes found overly spicy. The Thai women, who liked the dish, absorbed more iron from the meal. When the researchers reversed the experiment and served hamburger, potatoes, and beans, the Swedes, who like this food, absorbed more iron. Most telling was a third variation of the experiment, in which both the Swedes and the Thais were given food that was high in nutrients but consisted of a sticky, savourless paste. In this case, neither group absorbed much iron.
IELTS General Reading Test
Speaking of iron, the Atkins diet is out and meat is bad, right? Wrong. Glassner notes a study showing that as meat consumption and blood cholesterol levels increased in groups of Greeks, Italians and Japanese, their death rates from heart disease decreased. Of course, many other variables are involved in determining causal relations between diet and health.
Glassner cites a study showing a 28 percent decrease in risk of heart attacks among non-smokers who exercised 30 minutes a day, consumed fish, fibre and folate; they also avoided saturated fats, trans fats and glucose-spiking carbs. According to Harvard University epidemiologist Karin Michels, it appears more important to increase the number of healthy foods regularly consumed than to reduce the number of less healthy foods regularly consumed.
IELTS General Reading Test
It’s more complicated still. Glassner reviews research showing that heart disease, cancer and other illnesses are significantly increased by viral and bacterial infections, job stress, living in distressed neighbourhoods, early deficits such as malnutrition, low birth weight, lack of parental support, and chronic sleep loss during adolescence and adulthood. Another study found that such diseases are higher in states where participation in civic life is low, racial prejudice is high, or a large gap exists between the incomes of the rich and poor and of women and men.
To clarify this cornucopia of data. Glassner quotes the former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, Marcia Angell; “Although we would all like to believe that changes in diet or lifestyle can greatly improve our health, the likelihood is that, with a few exceptions such as smoking cessation, many if not most such changes will produce only small effects. And the effects may not be consistent. A diet that is harmful to one person may be consumed with impunity by another. “
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 28-34
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
In boxes 28-34 on you answer sheet write
TRUE – if the information in text supports the statement
FALSE – if the information in the text does not support the statement
NOT GIVEN – if there is no information in the text about the statement
28. The writer believes that cyclists are more concerned about their weight than other sportspeople.
29. The writer is a professional cyclist.
30. Barry Glassner enjoys cycling.
31. People seem to get more nutrition from food they like.
32. If non-smokers wish to reduce the risk of heart attacks, the most important thing for them to do is to exercise for 30 minutes each day.
33. Studies indicate that a person’s state of health as child doesn’t influence their health as an adult to a great extent.
34. Marcia Angell believes that smoking damages people’s health.
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 35-40
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text.
35. 10 pounds of extra weight on a 5 percent grade slows your……………
36. Glassner claims that the scientific evidence supporting our ideas of healthy eating is almost …………..
37. In an experiment, Thai and Swedish women didn’t enjoy eating the …………..
38. A person’s health depends on their food, lifestyle and …………..
39. People who involve themselves in ………….. have fewer problems with heart disease and cancer, according to studies.
40. The results of changes in diet have not been proven to be …………..
IELTS General Reading Test
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
28. TRUE
29. FALSE
30. NOT GIVEN
31. TRUE
32. NOT GIVEN
33. FALSE
34. TRUE
35. ASCENT
36. NAUGHT
37. (STICKY, SAVOURLESS) PASTE
38. (MANY) OTHER VARIABLES
39. CIVIC LIFE
40. CONSISTENT
IELTS General Reading Test