Unit 1: Exercise 1
In this unit, you will answer IELTS Reading short answer questions and read a text
.’called ‘How our sweet tooth is hurting us
Before you read the text, look at the statements. Do you think that they are True or
.False? Choose your answers
The expression to have a sweet tooth means to like eating sweet foods, especially sweets and .1
.chocolate
True o
False o
.In 18th-century Europe, more poor people than rich people lost their teeth because of sugar .2
True o
False o
.If you drink a typical can of soda, you’ll consume about 10 sugar cubes .3
True o
False o
.In general, children in the USA consume a lot more sugar than their parents .4
True o
False o
.It is now possible to order chocolate-covered insects online .5
True o
False o
Unit 1: Exercise 2
Before you try to answer IELTS Reading short answer questions, it is a good idea to
.quickly read the text so that you understand what it is about
. Quickly read the text. Then answer the questions
How our sweet tooth is hurting us
Over the last three centuries, the amount of sugar in the Western diet has continued to rise. Back at
the start of the 18th century, a typical English family consumed less than 2 kg of sugar per year. By
the end of that century, that amount had risen 400%. Compare that to the 40 kg that people now
consume annually in the USA. In Germany, the second-most sugar-loving nation in the world, people
eat roughly 103 grams on average per day. In the Netherlands, the country with the third-biggest
sweet tooth, people eat 102.5 grams. Of course, there are some countries in the world where sweet
food is less popular: in India, people eat only about 5 grams per day on average; in Indonesia, it’s
14.5 grams; and in China, it’s just under 16 grams. If you’re not sure what 40 kg looks like, it means
that the average person in the USA now eats approximately 22 teaspoons of sugar a day. The
recommended limit, suggested by researchers from the World Health Organisation, is no more than
.8 if you want to stay healthy, but just one can of soda contains around 10
It is common knowledge that many drinks, in bottles or canned, contain a lot of sugar. Although
advertisements say that they are ‘energy-giving’, professional athletes and sportsmen and women
usually stay away from them. It is teenagers that are their greatest consumers. And – although
advertisers promise that these drinks will make people feel energetic and active – because of the
type of chemicals they have, once a person has drunk all the soda, they simply feel hungry instead.
However, sugar is also in products that many shoppers find surprising, for example, cereal, which
actually has a lot. Because they believe it is a healthy kind of food, parents buy it for their children’s
.breakfast
A large part of the problem, according to nutritionists, is that people find it hard to understand the
labels on the back of food products. Nutritionists think this should be a lot easier for them. But at
the moment, manufacturers don’t have to write ‘sugar’ on them, but can use words like ‘corn syrup’
or ‘dextran’, which can result in confusion for consumers. But why should we be worried about our
sugar consumption? Firstly, it is harmful to young children because it causes tooth decay; the pain
from this can mean that children don’t get the amount of sleep they need. As a result, they can’t
concentrate when they are in class. In this case, schools and governments have a duty to educate
them about good and bad food choices. For adults, the problems increase. Eating too much sugar
.makes people quickly gain weight, it affects the heart and liver, and can lead to diabetes
.Which of the ideas in sentences 1–5 are mentioned in the text? Choose Yes or No
.The increase in the amount of sugar we eat .1
.The places in the supermarket where you can find sugary products .2
.The way that advertising sugary products has changed .3
.The health problems that sugar causes in children .4
.The health problems that sugar causes in adults .5
Unit 1: Exercise 3
In many IELTS Reading texts, you often see information or opinions given by different
.people
.Match the people with the definitions
Advertiser consumer manufacturer nutritionist researcher
:a person or company that makes a product .1
:a person who buys or uses a product .2
:a person who studies a subject carefully .3
:a person who gives advice about healthy eating .4
:a person who makes commercials to sell a product .5
Unit 1: Exercise 4
.Who do you think might say the following things? Match the people with the statements
In IELTS Reading texts, you need to identify and understand opinions and ideas. To
.help you do this, think about who is giving their opinion or idea
Advertiser consumer manufacturer nutritionist researcher
My report studies the effects of sugar on the health of people ‘ .1
’.aged 15–24 in the USA
Feeling tired? New Choco-nut breakfast cereal will give you all the‘ .2
’!energy you need
There are ten sugar cubes in every can of soda so you shouldn’t ‘ .3
’.drink soda every day
’.Our factory sells 50% more sugar today than 50 years ago‘ .4
I know sugar is bad for me, but I usually eat two bars of chocolate ‘ .5
’.every day
Unit 1: Exercise 5
Read the information. Then match the words in bold with the phrases that have a
.similar meaning. Use the phrases in the box
In any IELTS Reading task, it is important that you can recognise examples of synonyms and
.paraphrasing
:Example
If the phrase ‘too much sugar made him ill’ is in a question or option, you should look for phrases
or words with a similar meaning in the text, e.g. ‘he became unwell as a result of the sugar’ or ‘he
.felt sick because of the sugar’ (ill, sick and unwell all have a similar meaning)
Recommend that you stay away from not clear consume harmful to was
unexpected
.Sugar can be very bad for children .1
. My doctor said I was eating the wrong foods, which surprised me .2
.We should buy and eat healthier food that doesn’t have a lot of sugar .3
.I try to avoid chocolate when I’m hungry because it’s not very healthy .4
.I think you should go on a diet.5
A lot of information about good sugar and bad sugar is hard to .6
.understand
Unit 1: Exercise 6
Read the information. Then look at the questions. Select the key words that show you
the type of information you need to look for. The numbers in brackets at the end of
.each question show you how many selections you need to make
Before you begin to look for the exact answers in the IELTS Reading text, it’s important to think
about the type of information you need to look for and quickly find paragraphs which contain that
information. For example, if the key word in the question is ‘country’ you need to quickly read
.through the text to find a paragraph that contains places and countries
Which country consumes the least sugar per person? (3 selections) .1
What is the maximum recommended number of teaspoons of sugar that a person should .2
consume a day? (4 selections)
Which group of people drink more sugary drinks than anyone else? (3 selections) .3
How do people really feel after finishing sugary drinks? (3 selections) .4
Which food product has an unexpected amount of sugar? (3 selections) .5
What do nutritionists want to be clearer for consumers? (3 selections) .6
What may decrease as a result of tooth decay in children? (3 selections) .7
Unit 1: Exercise 7
Read the information. Then read the questions. Use the words and phrases in bold to
.help you work out the correct answers
Note that the answers do not relate to the reading text. Focus on the language, not the
.content
In short answer questions, it’s also important to understand whether you need to write a noun or an
:adjective, and whether the noun should be plural or singular. For example
?How do advertisers say you feel after finishing sugary drinks
energise ×energu ✓energetic×
Energetic is the correct answer because it is an adjective, describing how people feel. Energise is a verb and
.energy is a noun and so these words cannot be the ones you need
What is the maximum recommended number of teaspoons of sugar that a person should .1
consume a day? 9/a few/a lot of
Which group of people drink more sugary drinks than anyone else? Students/studies/student .2
How do people really feel after finishing sugary drinks? Happiness/exciting/excited .3
Which food product has an unexpected amount of sugar? Cheese/dinner/emonade .4
What do nutritionists want to be clearer for consumers? Information/instructions/notice .5
What may decrease as a result of tooth decay in children? Concentration/daily/clean .6
Unit 1: Exercise 8
Read the information. Then match the paraphrases and synonyms in the box with the
.phrases. The first one has been done for you
Remember that the wording in the IELTS Reading short answer questions will be different from the
.words used in the text
.Looking for paraphrases or synonyms can help you to find the answers more easily
The phrases on the left are taken from the short answer questions. The paraphrases in the box are
.taken from the reading text
this can mean that greatest consumers recommended limit which actually has a lot
think this should be a lot easier for them soda
sweet food is less popular the least sugar .1
maximum recommended number .2
group of people drink more .3
sugary drink(s) .4
unexpected amount of sugar .5
want to be clearer for consumers .6
as a result of .7
Unit 1: Exercise 9
.Answer the questions
.Choose ONE WORD OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer
How our sweet tooth is hurting us
Over the last three centuries, the amount of sugar in the Western diet has continued to rise. Back at
the start of the 18th century, a typical English family consumed less than 2 kg of sugar per year. By
the end of that century, that amount had risen 400%. Compare that to the 40 kg that people now
consume annually in the USA. In Germany, the second-most sugar-loving nation in the world, people
eat roughly 103 grams on average per day. In the Netherlands, the country with the third-biggest
sweet tooth, people eat 102.5 grams. Of course, there are some countries in the world where sweet
food is less popular: in India, people eat only about 5 grams per day on average; in Indonesia, it’s
14.5 grams; and in China, it’s just under 16 grams. If you’re not sure what 40 kg looks like, it means
that the average person in the USA now eats approximately 22 teaspoons of sugar a day. The
recommended limit, suggested by researchers from the World Health Organisation, is no more than
.8 if you want to stay healthy, but just one can of soda contains around 10
It is common knowledge that many drinks, in bottles or canned, contain a lot of sugar. Although
advertisements say that they are ‘energy-giving’, professional athletes and sportsmen and women
usually stay away from them. It is teenagers that are their greatest consumers. And – although
advertisers promise that these drinks will make people feel energetic and active – because of the
type of chemicals they have, once a person has drunk all the soda, they simply feel hungry instead.
However, sugar is also in products that many shoppers find surprising, for example, cereal, which
actually has a lot. Because they believe it is a healthy kind of food, parents buy it for their children’s
.breakfast
A large part of the problem, according to nutritionists, is that people find it hard to understand the
labels on the back of food products. Nutritionists think this should be a lot easier for them. But at
the moment, manufacturers don’t have to write ‘sugar’ on them, but can use words like ‘corn syrup’
or ‘dextran’, which can result in confusion for consumers. But why should we be worried about our
sugar consumption? Firstly, it is harmful to young children because it causes tooth decay; the pain
from this can mean that children don’t get the amount of sleep they need. As a result, they can’t
concentrate when they are in class. In this case, schools and governments have a duty to educate
them about good and bad food choices. For adults, the problems increase. Eating too much sugar
.makes people quickly gain weight, it affects the heart and liver, and can lead to diabetes
__________________ ?Which country consumes the least sugar per person .1
What is the maximum recommended number of teaspoons of sugar that a person should .2
________________ ?consume a day
________________ ?Which group of people drink more sugary drinks than anyone else .3
________________ ?How do people really feel after finishing sugary drinks .4
________________ ?Which food product has an unexpected amount of sugar .5
___________________ ?What do nutritionists want to be clearer for consumers .6
__________________ ?What may decrease as a result of tooth decay in children .7
