READING PASSAGE I

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 on pages 2 and 3.

A Brief History of Humans and Food

During the journey from our hunter-gatherer ancestors to the present day, there have been three seismic changes that have impacted the food we eat: the discovery of cooking, the emergence of agriculture, and the invention of methods of preserving food.

The 19th-century scientist Charles Darwin thought that cooking, after language, was the greatest discovery made by man. All of us eat some raw food, such as fruit and vegetables, but the great majority of food we consume is cooked. Cooking can turn plants that are inedible into edible food by destroying toxic chemicals that plants often manufacture to protect themselves against attack by insects or other herbivorous animals. These toxic chemicals are referred to as "plant secondary compounds" because they are not directly involved in the plant's normal growth, development, and reproduction, and are produced purely as chemical defenses. They give many of the plants we consume, such as coffee or Brussels sprouts, their bitter taste.

Cooked food is often more digestible because heat breaks down tough cellulose cell walls in plants or tough connective tissue in animals. Chewing raw turnip, a plate of uncooked rice, or a raw leg of lamb is much harder work than eating the cooked equivalent. The energy expended in chewing to break down the tough material is replaced by energy from the fuel used in cooking the food, so the ratio of energy gained to energy expended by the body is greater when food is cooked.

Until the development of agriculture, hunter-gatherers spent up to seven hours a day gathering food. This all began to change around 10,500 years ago with the advent of farming, which led to dramatic changes in human societies. People began to create a variety of new tools to aid survival, and in turn, populations increased in size. These changes led to the possibility of specialization of different tasks within society. Around this time, writing became more sophisticated and allowed people to maintain records of the harvest and taxes. Eventually, formalized structures of government were established as people settled in one area.>> Form đăng kí giải đề thi thật IELTS 4 kĩ năng kèm bài giải bộ đề 100 đề PART 2 IELTS SPEAKING quý đang thi (update hàng tuần) từ IELTS TUTOR

The arrival of agriculture meant that, for the first time, our ancestors had more food than they could eat immediately. This, combined with the seasonality of production, led them to discover methods of preserving food: smoking, drying, adding acid by fermentation, or adding salt. These four methods all share one feature in common—they make the food a more hostile environment for bacteria that can cause it to spoil. They also tend to slow down natural chemical reactions in the food that would cause decay.

Although foods today are still preserved in these ancient ways, two more recent methods of preserving food have become more common: canning and freezing. Canning was invented by a Frenchman, Nicholas Appert, in the early 19th century. He sealed food in bottles fabricated from glass and then heated them in boiling water to cook the contents. Appert's method had great advantages over older methods of food preservation: it could be applied to a wide range of foods, and the flavor and texture were similar to freshly cooked products. His idea was soon copied by an Englishman, Peter Durand. Until this point, containers had been too heavy to be widely used, but Durand produced the first ones which were lightweight and resistant to damage. Two years later, in 1812, two Englishmen, Bryan Donkin and John Hall, started the commercial canning of food, although the real rise in popularity of canning had to wait until the invention of the can opener in 1855. Until then, cans were opened with a chisel and hammer. Canning is an extremely effective way of preserving food: one can containing meat, dating back to 1824, was opened in 1939, and the contents were still in good condition.

In the 21st century, the dominance of canning as a method of food preservation has been overtaken by freezing. Chilling food to keep it fresh is an old idea. The earliest mentions of icehouses, thick-walled buildings, half underground, date back to 1700 BC in northwest Iran. In early 16th-century Italy, water was mixed with chemicals to lower its freezing point to -18 degrees Celsius. Several centuries later, frozen fish and other goods were transported by ship from Australia to England. However, the modern frozen food industry was started in the 1920s by an American, Clarence Birdseye. While on a fishing trip with the Inuit in the Canadian Arctic, Birdseye observed that rapid freezing creates smaller ice crystals and therefore causes less damage to food—a discovery he had not expected. Nevertheless, the major growth in demand for frozen food came with the arrival of freezers in ordinary people’s homes. The advantages of frozen over canned food include the fact that the flavor and consistency are often identical to the fresh product, and freezing can be used to preserve a wide variety of foods.

Questions 1-5

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-5 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. According to Darwin, cooking was the most significant development in human history.
2. The process of cooking gets rid of some plant poisons.
3. Eating cooked food is more energy efficient than eating raw food.
4. Clarence Birdseye had previously worked in the Australian food industry.
5. Birdseye’s trip with the Inuit confirmed what he already believed about rapid freezing.

Questions 6-13

Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 6-13 on your answer sheet.

The development of agriculture and food preservation

• The changes agriculture brought about were:
  • The development of equipment and larger 6. _______
  • The ability to keep 7. _______ as writing developed
  • The setting up of organized government

Food Preservation

• Early methods of food preservation included:

  • Smoking
  • Acid or 8. _______
  • Adding salt

• Canning

  • Nicholas Appert put food into containers
  • Appert's method resulted in preserved food with the same taste and 9. _______ as fresh food
  • Peter Durand introduced cans that were lightweight and 10. _______
  • In 1855, the metal can opener replaced the 11. _______ and hammer used to open cans
  • Some food was still edible after more than 100 years, e.g., an old can of 12. _______

• Freezing

  • Rapid freezing prevents the formation of large ice crystals and causes less 13. _______

1. Seismic

• Meaning: Mang tính bước ngoặt, có ảnh hưởng lớn.
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc:
  "There have been three seismic changes that have had an impact on the food we eat."
  Translation: Có ba thay đổi mang tính bước ngoặt ảnh hưởng đến thực phẩm chúng ta ăn.

2. Toxic

• Meaning: Độc hại.
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc:
  "Cooking can turn plants that are inedible into edible food by destroying toxic chemicals."
  Translation: Nấu ăn có thể biến thực vật không ăn được thành thực phẩm ăn được bằng cách tiêu diệt các hóa chất độc hại.

3. Herbivorous

• Meaning: Ăn cỏ.
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc:
  "Plants often manufacture [toxic chemicals] to protect themselves against attack by insects or other herbivorous animals."
  Translation: Thực vật thường sản sinh hóa chất độc để tự bảo vệ trước côn trùng hoặc động vật ăn cỏ khác.

4. Digestible

• Meaning: Dễ tiêu hóa.
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc:
  "Cooked food is often more digestible, because heat breaks down tough cellulose cell walls."
  Translation: Thức ăn nấu chín thường dễ tiêu hóa hơn vì nhiệt phá vỡ các thành tế bào cellulose cứng.

5. Connective tissue

• Meaning: Mô liên kết (trong cơ thể động vật).
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc:
  "Heat breaks down tough cellulose cell walls in plants or tough connective tissue in animals."
  Translation: Nhiệt phá vỡ các thành tế bào cellulose cứng ở thực vật hoặc mô liên kết cứng ở động vật.

6. Advent

• Meaning: Sự xuất hiện, sự ra đời.
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc:
  "This all began to change around 10,500 years ago with the advent of farming."
  Translation: Tất cả bắt đầu thay đổi khoảng 10.500 năm trước với sự ra đời của nông nghiệp.

7. Seasonality

• Meaning: Tính thời vụ.
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc:
  "This, combined with the seasonality of production, led them to discover methods of preserving food."
  Translation: Điều này, cùng với tính mùa vụ của sản xuất, đã khiến họ phát hiện ra các phương pháp bảo quản thực phẩm.

8. Fermentation

• Meaning: Quá trình lên men.
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc:
  "They discovered methods of preserving food: smoking, drying, adding acid by fermentation or adding salt."
  Translation: Họ đã phát hiện ra các phương pháp bảo quản thực phẩm như hun khói, sấy khô, thêm axit bằng cách lên men hoặc thêm muối.

9. Texture

• Meaning: Kết cấu (bề mặt hoặc cảm giác của thực phẩm).
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc:
  "The flavour of the food as well as the texture were similar to the freshly cooked product."
  Translation: Hương vị cũng như kết cấu của thực phẩm giống với sản phẩm vừa mới nấu.

10. Chisel

• Meaning: Cái đục (công cụ).
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc:
  "Cans were opened with a chisel which was used to break open the top when hit with a hammer."
  Translation: Lon được mở bằng cái đục, công cụ được dùng để phá nắp khi bị đập bằng búa.

11. Crystal

• Meaning: Tinh thể.
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc:
  "He observed that very rapid freezing creates smaller ice crystals and therefore causes less damage to food."
  Translation: Ông quan sát thấy rằng việc làm đông nhanh tạo ra các tinh thể băng nhỏ hơn và do đó gây ít tổn hại hơn cho thực phẩm.

12. Inuit

• Meaning: Người Inuit (dân bản địa vùng Bắc Cực).
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc:
  "While Birdseye was on a fishing trip with the Inuit in the Canadian Arctic, he observed..."
  Translation: Khi Birdseye đang trong một chuyến câu cá cùng người Inuit ở Bắc Cực Canada, ông nhận thấy...

13. Consistency

• Meaning: Độ đặc/độ nhất quán (của thực phẩm hoặc chất lỏng).
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc:
  "The advantages of frozen over canned food include the fact that the flavour and consistency are often identical."
  Translation: Ưu điểm của thực phẩm đông lạnh so với thực phẩm đóng hộp là hương vị và độ nhất quán thường giống hệt.

• False
• True
• True
• Not given
• False
• populations
• records
• salt
• glass
• texture
• light
• chisel
• meat