Cambridge IELTS 15 · Academic · Test 4 · Passage 3
Environmental Practices Of Big Businesses — IELTS Reading Answers
All 14 answers for Environmental Practices Of Big Businesses, Cambridge IELTS 15 Academic Reading Test 4 Passage 3, with the passage evidence and an explanation for each.
← All Cambridge 15 Test 4 answers
Environmental Practices Of Big Businesses answer key at a glance
Questions 27–40. Tap an answer to see the evidence.
What this passage tests
This passage is tested with Summary Completion (Q27–31), One Choice (Q32–34), Yes / No / Not Given (Q35–39), One Choice (Q40–40). Each section below gives the strategy for that question type, the answers, and the sentence that proves them.
Questions 27–31: Summary Completion
Strategy: Read the summary as a paragraph first to establish the logic, then locate the missing idea in the passage. With a lettered list, confirm the grammar fits.
“Depending on the circumstances, a business may maximize the amount of money it makes, at least in the short term, by damaging the environment and hurting people”
D: a business 'may maximize the amount of money it makes ... by damaging the environment and hurting people', when circumstances allow it.
“but the reverse is likely to be true if government regulation is ineffective”
E: the reverse is 'likely to be true if government regulation is ineffective', so weak regulation allows harmful profit-seeking.
“and if the public doesn’t care”
F: the same is true 'if the public doesn't care', meaning public indifference permits destructive practices.
“That is still the case today for fishermen in an unmanaged fishery without quotas”
H: 'that is still the case today for fishermen in an unmanaged fishery without quotas', an example of short-term self-interest.
“and for international logging companies with short-term leases on tropical rainforest land in places”
B: the pattern applies to ‘international logging companies with short-term leases on tropical rainforest land’, another case where short-term profit prevails.
Questions 32–34: One Choice
Strategy: Read the question stem and predict the answer before looking at the options. Wrong options often repeat passage words while the correct one paraphrases them.
The main idea of the third paragraph is that environmental damage
- Arequires political action if it is to be stopped.
- Bis the result of ignorance on the part of the public.
- Ccould be prevented by the action of ordinary people.correct
- Dcan only be stopped by educating business leaders.
“In the long run, it is the public, either directly or through its politicians, that has the power to make such destructive policies unprofitable and illegal, and to make sustainable environmental policies profitable”
C: 'it is the public, either directly or through its politicians, that has the power' to stop destructive policies, so ordinary people can act.
In the fourth paragraph, the writer describes ways in which the public can
- Areduce their own individual impact on the environment.
- Blearn more about the impact of business on the environment.
- Craise awareness of the effects of specific environmental disasters.
- Dinfluence the environmental policies of businesses and governments.correct
“by preferring their governments to award valuable contracts to businesses with a good environmental track record”
D: the public can influence policy 'by preferring their governments to award valuable contracts to businesses with a good environmental track record'.
What pressure was exerted by big business in the case of the disease BSE?
- AMeat packers stopped supplying hamburgers to fast-food chains.
- BA fast-food company forced their meat suppliers to follow the law.correct
- CMeat packers persuaded the government to reduce their expenses.
- DA fast-food company encouraged the government to introduce legislation.
“But for five years the meat packers refused to follow these, claiming that they would be too expensive to obey. However, when a major fast-food company then made the same demands after customer purchases of its hamburgers plummeted, the meat industry complied within weeks.”
B: when a fast-food company 'made the same demands after customer purchases ... plummeted, the meat industry complied within weeks', forcing suppliers to obey.
Questions 35–39: Yes / No / Not Given
Strategy: These test the writer's opinions, not facts. Look for evaluative language, and treat 'may' or 'could' as weaker than the question's claim.
The public should be prepared to fund good environmental practices.
“I also believe that the public must accept the necessity for higher prices for products to cover the added costs, if any, of sound environmental practices”
YES: the public 'must accept the necessity for higher prices for products to cover the added costs ... of sound environmental practices'.
There is a contrast between the moral principles of different businesses.
“My views may seem to ignore the belief that businesses should act in accordance with moral principles even if this leads to a reduction in their profits.”
NOT GIVEN: the author mentions the belief that businesses should act morally, but never contrasts the moral principles of different businesses.
It is important to make a clear distinction between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.
“My conclusion is not a moralistic one about who is right or wrong, admirable or selfish, a good guy or a bad guy”
NO: the conclusion 'is not a moralistic one about who is right or wrong', so drawing that distinction is not presented as important.
The public have successfully influenced businesses in the past.
“In the past, businesses have changed when the public came to expect and require different behavior”
YES: 'in the past, businesses have changed when the public came to expect and require different behavior'.
In the future, businesses will show more concern for the environment.
“I predict that in the future, just as in the past, changes in public attitudes will be essential for changes in businesses’ environmental practices.”
NOT GIVEN: the author predicts public attitudes will be essential, but never says businesses will become more environmentally concerned.
Questions 40–40: One Choice
Strategy: Read the question stem and predict the answer before looking at the options. Wrong options often repeat passage words while the correct one paraphrases them.
What would be the best subheading for this passage?
- AWill the world survive the threat caused by big businesses?
- BHow can big businesses be encouraged to be less driven by profit?
- CWhat environmental dangers are caused by the greed of businesses?
- DAre big businesses to blame for the damage they cause the environment?correct
“Our blaming of businesses also ignores the ultimate responsibility of the public for creating the conditions that let a business profit through destructive environmental policies.”
D: the passage argues the public shares responsibility, so 'Are big businesses to blame for the damage they cause the environment?' fits best.
Learn the question types in this passage
Frequently asked questions
Where does the Environmental Practices Of Big Businesses passage come from?
It is Passage 3 of Cambridge IELTS 15 Academic Reading Test 4, and it covers Questions 27–40.
What question types appear in Environmental Practices Of Big Businesses?
The passage is tested with Summary Completion, One Choice, Yes / No / Not Given, One Choice. Each type is explained on this page, alongside the answers.
Are these reading answers reliable?
Every answer is paired with the sentence that proves it, so you can check each one against the passage yourself. Use the page after a timed attempt, not instead of one.
Cambridge IELTS is published by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Band9Prep is not affiliated with Cambridge. This page is an independent study aid: it gives the answer key, the passage evidence and an explanation so you can review an attempt you have already made.