Table of Contents
Passage
A Until now, governments and development agencies have tried to tackle the problem through large-scale projects: gigantic dams, sprawling irrigation canals and vast new fields of high-yield crops introduced during the Green Revolution, the famous campaign to increase grain harvests in developing nations. Traditional irrigation, however, has degraded the soil in many areas, and the reservoirs behind dams can quickly fill up with silt, reducing their storage capacity and depriving down stream farmers of fertile sediments. Furthermore, although the Green Revolution has greatly expanded worldwide farm production since 1950, poverty stubbornly persists in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Continued improvements in the productivity of large farms may play the main role in boosting food supply, but local efforts to provide cheap, individual irrigation systems to small farms may offer a better way to lift people out of poverty.
B The Green Revolution was designed to increase the overall food supply, not to raise the incomes of the rural poor, so it should be no surprise that it did not eradicate poverty or hunger. India, for example, has been self-sufficient in food for 15 years, and its granaries are full, but more than 200 million Indians—one fifth of the country’s population are malnourished because they cannot afford the food they need and because the country’s safety nets are deficient. In 2000 189 nations committed to the Millennium Development Goals, which called for cutting world poverty in half by 2015. With business as usual, however, we have little hope of achieving most of the Millennium goals, no matter how much money rich countries contribute to poor ones.
C The supply-driven strategies of the Green Revolution, however, may not help subsistence farmers, who must play to their strengths to compete in the global marketplace. The average size of a family farm is less than four acres in India, 1.8 acres in Bangladesh and about half an acre in China. Combines and other modern farming tools are too expensive to be used on such small areas. An Indian farmer selling surplus wheat grown on his one-acre plot could not possibly compete with the highly efficient and subsidized Canadian wheat farms that typically stretch over thousands of acres. Instead subsistence farmers should exploit the fact that their labor costs are the lowest in the world, giving them a comparative advantage in growing and selling high value, intensely farmed crops.
D Paul Polak saw firsthand the need for a small-scale strategy in 1981 when he met Abdul Rahman, a farmer in the Noakhali district of Bangladesh. From his three quarter-acre plots of rain-fed rice fields, Abdul could grow only 700 kilograms of rice each year—300 kilograms less than what he needed to feed his family. During the three months before the October rice harvest came in, Abdul and his wife had to watch silently while their three children survived on one meal a day or less. As Polak walked with him through the scattered fields he had inherited from his father, Polak asked what he needed to move out of poverty. “Control of water for my crops,” he said, “at a price I can afford.”
E Soon Polak learned about a simple device that could help Abdul achieve his goal: the treadle pump. Developed in the late 1970s by Norwegian engineer Gunnar Barnes, the pump is operated by a person walking in place on a pair of treadles and two handle arms made of bamboo . Properly adjusted and maintained, it can be operated several hours a day without tiring the users. Each treadle pump has two cylinders which are made of engineering plastic. The diameter of a cylinder is 100.5mm and the height is 280mm. The pump is capable of working up to a maximum depth of 7 meters. Operation beyond 7 meters is not recommended to preserve the integrity of the rubber components. The pump mechanism has piston and foot valve assemblies. The treadle action creates alternate strokes in the two pistons that lift the water in pulses.
F The human-powered pump can irrigate half an acre of vegetables and costs only $25 (including the expense of drilling a tube well down to the groundwater). Abdul heard about the treadle pump from a cousin and was one of the first farmers in Bangladesh to buy one. He borrowed the $25 from an uncle and easily repaid the loan four months later. During the five-month dry season, when Bangladesh is typically farm very little, Abdul used the treadle pump to grow a quarter-acre of chili peppers, tomatoes, cabbage and eggplants. He also improved the yield of one of his rice plots by irrigating it. His family ate some of the vegetables and sold the rest at the village market, earning a net profit of $100. With his new income, Abdul was able to buy rice for his family to eat, keep his two sons in school until they were 16 and set aside a little money for his daughter’s dowry. When Polak visited him again in 1984, he had doubled the size of his vegetable plot and replaced the thatched roof on his house with corrugated tin. His family was raising a calf and some chickens. He told me that the treadle pump was a gift from God.
G Bangladesh is particularly well suited for the treadle pump because a huge reservoir of groundwater lies just a few meters below the farmers’ feet. In the early 1980s IDE initiated a campaign to market the pump, encouraging 75 small private-sector companies to manufacture the devices and several thousand village dealers and tube-well drillers to sell and install them. Over the next 12 years one and a half million farm families purchased treadle pumps, which increased the farmers’ net income by a total of $150 million a year. The cost of IDE’s market-creation activities was only $12 million, leveraged by the investment of $37.5 million from the farmers themselves. In contrast, the expense of building a conventional dam and canal system to irrigate an equivalent area of farmland would be in the range of $2,000 per acre, or $1.5 billion.
Questions
Questions 1-6 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1 It is easier to resolve food problem in large scale rather than in small scale.
2 Construction of gigantic dams costs more time in developing countries.
3 Green revolution failed to increase global crop production from the mid of 20th century.
4 Agricultural production in Bangladash declined in last decade.
5 Farmer Abdul Rahman knew how to increase production himself.
6 Small pump spread into big project in Bangladesh in the past decade.
Questions 7-11 Filling the blanks in diagram of treadle pump’s each parts.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
A fanner can use it for 7 …………………. without rest
Questions 12-14 Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
12 How large can a treadle pump irrigate the field according to the passage?
13 What is Abdul’s new roof made of?
14 How much did Bangladesh farmers invest by IDE’s stimulation?
Answers
Below are the answers, key words and full explanations for the IELTS Reading passage Foot Pedal Irrigation (the treadle pump, Passage 1, Questions 1–14).
Questions 1–6: True / False / Not Given
1. It is easier to resolve the food problem on a large scale rather than a small scale.
Answer: FALSE
Key words: large farms, small farms, better way
Explanation: The passage argues the opposite emphasis: large farms “may play the main role in boosting food supply, but local efforts … to small farms may offer a better way to lift people out of poverty.“
Answer: FALSE
2. Construction of gigantic dams costs more time in developing countries.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Key words: dams, time
Explanation: Dams are mentioned (silt, storage capacity), but nothing is said about how much time they take to build.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
3. The Green Revolution failed to increase global crop production from the mid-20th century.
Answer: FALSE
Key words: greatly expanded, since 1950
Explanation: “the Green Revolution has greatly expanded worldwide farm production since 1950” — it did increase production, so the statement is false.
Answer: FALSE
4. Agricultural production in Bangladesh declined in the last decade.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Key words: Bangladesh, production decline
Explanation: The passage discusses treadle-pump use in Bangladesh but never states that its overall agricultural production declined.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
5. Farmer Abdul Rahman knew how to increase production himself.
Answer: TRUE
Key words: control of water, at a price I can afford
Explanation: When asked what he needed to escape poverty, Abdul answered clearly: “Control of water for my crops … at a price I can afford” — he knew what would raise his production.
Answer: TRUE
6. The small pump spread into a big project in Bangladesh.
Answer: TRUE
Key words: campaign, one and a half million farm families
Explanation: IDE’s marketing campaign grew into a large programme: “Over the next 12 years one and a half million farm families purchased treadle pumps.“
Answer: TRUE
Questions 7–11: Diagram Labelling (NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER)
7. A farmer can use it for ……… without rest
Answer: several hours
Key words: operated, without tiring
Explanation: “it can be operated several hours a day without tiring the users.“
Answer: several hours
8. Handles of the pump’s material
Answer: bamboo
Key words: handle arms, made of
Explanation: The pump is “operated by a person walking in place on a pair of treadles and two handle arms made of bamboo.“
Answer: bamboo
9. Two of these are made of engineering plastic
Answer: cylinders
Key words: two cylinders, engineering plastic
Explanation: “Each treadle pump has two cylinders which are made of engineering plastic.“
Answer: cylinders
10. Part of the pump mechanism (with the foot valve assemblies)
Answer: Piston
Key words: pump mechanism, assemblies
Explanation: “The pump mechanism has piston and foot valve assemblies” and “the treadle action creates alternate strokes in the two pistons.“
Answer: Piston
11. Maximum working depth (metres)
Answer: 7
Key words: maximum depth, metres
Explanation: “The pump is capable of working up to a maximum depth of 7 meters.“
Answer: 7
Questions 12–14: Short-answer Questions (NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER)
12. How large an area can a treadle pump irrigate?
Answer: half an acre (1/2 an acre)
Key words: human-powered pump, irrigate
Explanation: “The human-powered pump can irrigate half an acre of vegetables.“
Answer: half an acre
13. What is Abdul’s new roof made of?
Answer: corrugated tin
Key words: replaced, thatched roof
Explanation: He “replaced the thatched roof on his house with corrugated tin.“
Answer: corrugated tin
14. How much did Bangladeshi farmers invest through IDE’s stimulation?
Answer: $37.5 million
Key words: leveraged, investment, farmers themselves
Explanation: IDE’s market-creation cost was “leveraged by the investment of $37.5 million from the farmers themselves.“
Answer: $37.5 million
Answer Key (Quick Reference)
| Q | Answer | Q | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FALSE | 8 | bamboo |
| 2 | NOT GIVEN | 9 | cylinders |
| 3 | FALSE | 10 | Piston |
| 4 | NOT GIVEN | 11 | 7 |
| 5 | TRUE | 12 | half an acre |
| 6 | TRUE | 13 | corrugated tin |
| 7 | several hours | 14 | $37.5 million |
