Cambridge IELTS 3 · General Training · Test 1 · Section 3
The Coal Industry And The Environment — IELTS Reading Answers
All 14 answers for The Coal Industry And The Environment, Cambridge IELTS 3 General Training Reading Test 1 Section 3, with the passage evidence and an explanation for each.
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The Coal Industry And The Environment answer key at a glance
Questions 29–42. Tap an answer to see the evidence.
What this section tests
This section is tested with One Choice (Q29–29), Matching Headings (Q30–33), One Choice (Q34–38), Yes / No / Not Given (Q39–42). Each section below gives the strategy for that question type, the answers, and the sentence that proves them.
Questions 29–29: 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 is the most suitable title for the whole of the Reading Passage?
- APollution control in coal mining
- BThe greenhouse effect
- CThe coal industry and the environmentcorrect
- DSustainable population growth
“However, with growing international awareness of pressures on the environment and the need to achieve sustainable development of energy resources, the way in which the resource is extracted,”
The passage covers coal's share of world energy alongside greenhouse gases, pollution control and clean coal, so C is the only title spanning all of it.
Questions 30–33: Matching Headings
Strategy: Read the paragraph first and summarise its main idea in five words. Choose the heading that matches the whole paragraph, not a repeated keyword.
Section A
“Coal is expected to continue to account for almost 27 per cent of the world's energy needs”
Heading v fits Section A, which expects coal to keep supplying 'almost 27 per cent of the world's energy needs'.
Section B
“The coal industry has been targeted by its critics as a significant contributor to the greenhouse effect This additional build-up and its forecast outcome has been called the enhanced greenhouse effect”
Heading vi fits Section B, where the industry is 'targeted by its critics' over the 'enhanced greenhouse effect'.
Section C
“The world-wide coal industry allocates extensive resources to researching and developing new technologies and ways of capturing greenhouse gases”
Heading vii fits Section C, which reports resources spent 'researching and developing new technologies' to capture greenhouse gases.
Section D
“By carefully pre-planning projects, implementing pollution control measures, monitoring the effects of mining and rehabilitating mined areas, the coal industry minimises the impact on the neighbouring community, the immediate environment and long-term land capability”
Heading iv fits Section D, which lists pre-planning, pollution control, monitoring and rehabilitation to limit mining's impact.
Questions 34–38: 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 global increase in greenhouse gases has been attributed to
- Aindustrial pollution in developing countries.
- Bcoal mining and electricity generation.
- Creduced rainfall in many parts of the world.
- Dtrends in population and lifestyle.correct
“Greenhouse gases arise from a wide range of sources and their increasing concentration is largely related to the compound effects of increased population, improved living standards and changes in lifestyle”
Gas concentration is 'largely related to... increased population, improved living standards and changes in lifestyle', which is option D.
The proportion of all greenhouse gases created by coal is approximately
- A14 per cent.
- B18 per cent.correct
- C27 per cent.
- D90 per cent.
“Coal’s total contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is thought to be about 18 per cent, with about half of this coming from electricity generation”
Coal's total contribution 'is thought to be about 18 per cent', so option B is the correct figure.
Current research aims to increase the energy-producing efficiency of coal by
- Aburning it at a lower temperature.
- Bdeveloping new gasification techniques.correct
- Cextracting CO2 from it.
- Drecycling greenhouse gases.
“Efficiencies are likely to be improved dramatically, and hence CO2 emissions reduced, through combustion and gasification techniques which are now at pilot and demonstration stages”
Efficiency should improve 'through combustion and gasification techniques', so new gasification methods are the aim — option B.
Compared with ordinary coal, new, ‘clean’ coals may generate power
- Amore cleanly and more efficiently.correct
- Bmore cleanly but less efficiently.
- Cmore cleanly but at higher cost.
- Dmore cleanly but much more slowly.
“Clean coal is another avenue for improving fuel conversion efficiency. Investigations are under way into superclean coal (3-5 per cent ash) and ultraclean coal (less than 1 per cent ash). Superclean coal has the potential to enhance the combustion efficiency of conventional pulverised fuel power plants.”
Superclean and ultraclean coals promise cleaner burning and 'much greater efficiencies', so option A fits best.
To control dust at mine sites, mining companies often use
- Achemicals which may be toxic.
- Btopsoil taken from the site before mining.
- Cfresh water from nearby dams.
- Drunoff water containing sediments.correct
“Dust levels are controlled by spraying roads and stockpiles, and water pollution is controlled by carefully separating clean water runoff from runoff which contains sediments or salt from mine workings. The latter is treated and re-used for dust suppression”
Runoff containing sediments or salt 'is treated and re-used for dust suppression', so option D is correct.
Questions 39–42: 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 coal industry should be abandoned in favour of alternative energy sources because of the environmental damage it causes.
“Such measures are helping coal to maintain its status as a major supplier of the world’s energy needs”
Such measures help coal 'maintain its status as a major supplier', so the passage argues for cleaner coal, not abandonment.
The greatest threats to the environment are the gases produced by industries which support the high standard of living of a growing world population.
“Greenhouse gases arise from a wide range of sources and their increasing concentration is largely related to the compound effects of increased population, improved living standards and changes in lifestyle”
Emissions are tied to 'increased population, improved living standards and changes in lifestyle', exactly the combination the statement names.
World population in the twenty-first century will probably exceed 8 billion.
“From a current base of 5 billion, the United Nations predicts that the global population may stabilise in the twenty-first century between 8 and 14 billion, with more than 90 per cent of the projected increase taking place in the world’s developing nations”
The UN expects population to stabilise 'between 8 and 14 billion', so passing 8 billion is likely.
CFC emissions have been substantially reduced in recent years.
“Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are the only major contributor to the greenhouse effect that does not occur naturally, coming from such sources as refrigeration, plastics and manufacture”
CFCs are described only as the one major greenhouse contributor that 'does not occur naturally'; no figures on recent reductions are given.
Learn the question types in this section
Frequently asked questions
Where does the The Coal Industry And The Environment passage come from?
It is Section 3 of Cambridge IELTS 3 General Training Reading Test 1, and it covers Questions 29–42.
What question types appear in The Coal Industry And The Environment?
The section is tested with One Choice, Matching Headings, Yes / No / Not Given. 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.