READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–13, which are based on Reading
Passage 1 on the following pages.

Questions 1–7

Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs, A–G.

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i–x, in boxes 1–7 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

i A unique sensory experience

ii Getting back to basics
iii The gift that keeps on giving
iv Variations in alcohol content
v Old methods of transportation
vi Culinary applications
vii Making kefir
viii A fortunate accident
ix Kefir gets an image makeover
x Ways to improve taste

1 Section A
2 Section B
3 Section C
4 Section D
5 Section E
6 Section F
7 Section G

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 2

 The MAGIC of KEFIR

A The shepherds of the North Caucasus region of Europe were only trying to
transport milk the best way they knew how – in leather pouches strapped to the side of
donkeys – when they made a significant discovery. A fermentation process would
sometimes inadvertently occur en route, and when the pouches were opened up on
arrival they would no longer contain milk but rather a pungent, effervescent, low-
alcoholic substance instead. This unexpected development was a blessing in disguise.
The new drink – which acquired the name kefir – turned out to be a health tonic, a
naturally-preserved dairy product and a tasty addition to our culinary repertoire.

B Although their exact origin remains a mystery, we do know that yeast-based

kefir grains have always been at the root of the kefir phenomenon. These grains are
capable of a remarkable feat: in contradistinction to most other items you might find
in a grocery store, they actually expand and propagate with use. This is because the
grains, which are granular to the touch and bear a slight resemblance to cauliflower
rosettes, house active cultures that feed on lactose when added to milk. Consequently,
a bigger problem for most kefir drinkers is not where to source new kefir grains, but
what to do with the ones they already have!

C The great thing about kefir is that it does not require a manufacturing line in
order to be produced. Grains can be simply thrown in with a batch of milk for
ripening to begin. The mixture then requires a cool, dark place to live and grow, with
periodic unsettling to prevent clumping (Caucasus inhabitants began storing the
concoction in animal-skin satchels on the back of doors – every time someone entered
the room the mixture would get lightly shaken). After about 24 hours the yeast
cultures in the grains have multiplied and devoured most of the milk sugars, and the
final product is then ready for human consumption.

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 3

D Nothing compares to a person’s first encounter with kefir. The smooth,
uniform consistency rolls over the tongue in a manner akin to liquefied yogurt. The
sharp, tart pungency of unsweetened yogurt is there too, but there is also a slight hint
of effervescence, something most users will have previously associated only with
mineral waters, soda or beer. Kefir also comes with a subtle aroma of yeast, and
depending on the type of milk and ripening conditions, ethanol content can reach up
to two or three percent – about on par with a decent lager – although you can expect
around 0.8 to one per cent for a typical day-old preparation. This can bring out a tiny
edge of alcohol in the kefir’s flavour.

E Although it has prevailed largely as a fermented milk drink, over the years
kefir has acquired a number of other uses. Many bakers use it instead of starter yeast
in the preparation of sourdough, and the tangy flavour also makes kefir an ideal
buttermilk substitute in pancakes. Kefir also accompanies sour cream as one of the
main ingredients in cold beetroot soup and can be used in lieu of regular cow’s milk
on granola or cereal. As a way to keep their digestive systems fine-tuned, athletes
sometimes combine kefir with yoghurt in protein shakes.

F Associated for centuries with pictures of Slavic babushkas clutching a shawl

in one hand and a cup of kefir in the other, the unassuming beverage has become a
minor celebrity of the nascent health food movement in the contemporary West.
Every day, more studies pour out supporting the benefits of a diet high in probiotics1.
This trend toward consuming probiotics has engulfed the leisure classes in these
countries to the point that it is poised to become, according to some commentators,
“the next multivitamin”. These days the word kefir is consequently more likely to
bring to mind glamorous, yoga mat-toting women from Los Angeles than austere
visions of blustery Eastern Europe.

G Kefir’s rise in popularity has encouraged producers to take short cuts or alter
the production process. Some home users have omitted the ripening and culturation
process while commercial dealers often add thickeners, stabilisers and sweeteners.

1
Probiotic = substance containing beneficial and intestine-friendly microorganisms

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 4

But the beauty of kefir is that, at its healthiest and tastiest, it is a remarkably
affordable, uncluttered process, as any accidental invention is bound to be. All that is
necessary are some grains, milk and a little bit of patience. A return to the
unadulterated kefir-making of old is in everyone’s interest.

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 5

Questions 8–11

Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the
passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 8–11 on your answer sheet.

8 What do kefir grains look like?

9 What needs to happen to kefir while it is ripening?
10 What will the yeast cultures have consumed before kefir is ready to drink?
11 The texture of kefir in the mouth is similar to what?

Questions 12 and 13

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

Write the correct letters in boxes 12 and 13 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO products are NOT mentioned as things which kefir can replace?

A Ordinary cow’s milk

B Buttermilk
C Sour cream
D Starter yeast
E Yoghurt

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 6

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading
Passage 2 on the following pages.

Questions 14–21
Reading Passage 2 has nine paragraphs, A–I.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A–H from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i–xi, in boxes 14–21 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

i A historical delicacy
ii The poor may benefit
iii Presentation is key to changing attitudes
iv Environmentally friendly production
v Tradition meets technology
vi A cultural pioneer
vii Western practices harm locals
viii Good source of nutrients
ix Growing popularity
x A healthy choice
xi A safety risk

14 Section A
15 Section B
16 Section C
17 Section D
18 Section E
19 Section F
20 Section G
21 Section H

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 7

 FOOD FOR THOUGHT
A Why not eat insects? So asked British entomologist Vincent M. Holt in the
title of his 1885 treatise on the benefits of what he named entomophagy – the
consumption of insects (and similar creatures) as a food source. The prospect of
eating dishes such as “wireworm sauce” and “slug soup” failed to garner favour
amongst those in the stuffy, proper, Victorian social milieu of his time, however, and
Holt’s visionary ideas were considered at best eccentric, at worst an offense to every
refined palate. Anticipating such a reaction, Holt acknowledged the difficulty in
unseating deep-rooted prejudices against insect cuisine, but quietly asserted his
confidence that “we shall some day quite gladly cook and eat them”.

B It has taken nearly 150 years but an eclectic Western-driven movement has
finally mounted around the entomophagic cause. In Los Angeles and other
cosmopolitan Western cities, insects have been caught up in the endless pursuit of
novel and authentic delicacies. “Eating grasshoppers is a thing you do here”, bug-
supplier Bricia Lopez has explained. “There’s more of a ‘cool’ factor involved.”
Meanwhile, the Food and Agricultural Organization has considered a policy paper on
the subject, initiated farming projects in Laos, and set down plans for a world
congress on insect farming in 2013.

C Eating insects is not a new phenomenon. In fact, insects and other such
creatures are already eaten in 80 per cent of the world’s countries, prepared in
customary dishes ranging from deep-fried tarantula in Cambodia to bowls of baby
bees in China. With the specialist knowledge that Western companies and
organisations can bring to the table, however, these hand-prepared delicacies have the
potential to be produced on a scale large enough to lower costs and open up mass
markets. A new American company, for example, is attempting to develop
pressurisation machines that would de-shell insects and make them available in the
form of cutlets. According to the entrepreneur behind the company, Matthew Krisiloff,
this will be the key to pleasing the uninitiated palate.

D Insects certainly possess some key advantages over traditional Western meat
sources. According to research findings from Professor Arnold van Huis, a Dutch
entomologist, breeding insects results in far fewer noxious by-products. Insects
produce less ammonia than pig and poultry farming, ten times less methane than
livestock, and 300 times less nitrous oxide. Huis also notes that insects – being cold-
blooded creatures – can convert food to protein at a rate far superior to that of cows,
since the latter exhaust much of their energy just keeping themselves warm.

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 8

E Although insects are sometimes perceived by Westerners as unhygienic or
disease-ridden, they are a reliable option in light of recent global epidemics (as Holt
pointed out many years ago, insects are “decidedly more particular in their feeding
than ourselves”). Because bugs are genetically distant from humans, species-hopping
diseases such as swine flu or mad cow disease are much less likely to start or spread
amongst grasshoppers or slugs than in poultry and cattle. Furthermore, the squalid,
cramped quarters that encourage diseases to propagate among many animal
populations are actually the residence of choice for insects, which thrive in such
conditions.

F Then, of course, there are the commercial gains. As FAO Forestry Manager
Patrick Durst notes, in developing countries many rural people and traditional forest
dwellers have remarkable knowledge about managing insect populations to produce
food. Until now, they have only used this knowledge to meet their own subsistence
needs, but Durst believes that, with the adoption of modern technology and improved
promotional methods, opportunities to expand the market to new consumers will
flourish. This could provide a crucial step into the global economic arena for those
primarily rural, impoverished populations who have been excluded from the rise of
manufacturing and large-scale agriculture.

G Nevertheless, much stands in the way of the entomophagic movement. One

problem is the damage that has been caused, and continues to be caused, by Western
organisations prepared to kill off grasshoppers and locusts – complete food proteins –
in favour of preserving the incomplete protein crops of millet, wheat, barley and
maize. Entomologist Florence Dunkel has described the consequences of such
interventions. While examining children’s diets as a part of her field work in Mali,
Dunkel discovered that a protein deficiency syndrome called kwashiorkor was
increasing in incidence. Children in the area were once protected against kwashiorkor
by a diet high in grasshoppers, but these had become unsafe to eat after pesticide use
in the area increased.

H A further issue is the persistent fear many Westerners still have about eating
insects. “The problem is the ick factor—the eyes, the wings, the legs,” Krisiloff has
said. “It’s not as simple as hiding it in a bug nugget. People won’t accept it beyond
the novelty. When you think of a chicken, you think of a chicken breast, not the eyes,
wings, and beak.” For Marcel Dicke, the key lies in camouflaging the fact that people
are eating insects at all. Insect flour is one of his propositions, as is changing the
language of insect cuisine. “If you say it’s mealworms, it makes people think of
ringworm”, he notes. “So stop saying ‘worm’. If we use Latin names, say it’s a
Tenebrio quiche, it sounds much more fancy”. For Krisiloff, Dicke and others,
keeping quiet about the gritty reality of our food is often the best approach.

I It is yet to be seen if history will truly redeem Vincent Holt and his suggestion
that British families should gather around their dining tables for a breakfast of “moths
on toast”. It is clear, however, that entomophagy, far from being a kooky sideshow to
the real business of food production, has much to offer in meeting the challenges that
global societies in the 21st century will face.

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 9

Questions 22–26

Complete the notes below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 22–26 on your answer sheet.

Van Huis

• Insects are cleaner & do not release as many harmful gases

• Insects use food intake economically in the production of protein as they waste

less 22 …………………

Durst
• Traditional knowledge could be combined with modern methods for mass
production instead of just covering 23 …………………
• This could help 24 ………………… people gain access to world markets.

Dunkel
• Due to increased 25 …………………, more children in Mali are suffering from
26 …………………

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 10

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 15