Questions 11-15

Match each definition below with the term it defines.

Write the letter of the term, A-H, on your Answer Sheet. There are more terms than definitions,
so you will not use them all.

Terms

A fjord
B alpine glacier
C horn
D polar glacier
E temperate glacier
F hanging valley
G cirque
H surging glacier

11 a glacier formed on a mountain

12 a glacier with temperatures well below freezing

13 a glacier that moves very quickly

14 a glacial valley formed near the ocean

15 a glacial valley that looks like a bowl

Reading Passage 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on questions 1 �28, which are based on Reading Passage
2 below.

Irish Potato Famine

A
In the ten years following the Irish potato famine of 1845, over 750,000 Irish
people died, including many of those who attempted to immigrate to coun­
tries such as the United States and Canada. Prior to the potato blight, one
of the main concerns in Ireland was overpopulation. In the early 1500s, the
country's population was estimated at less than three million, but by 1840
this number had nearly tripled. The bountiful potato crop, which contains
almost all of the nutrients that a person needs for survival, was largely to
blame for the population growth. However, within five years of the failed
crop of 1845, the population of Ireland was reduced by a quarter. A number
of factors contributed to the plummet of the Irish population, namely the
Irish dependency on the potato crop, the British tenure system, and the
inadequate relief efforts of the English.

IELTS MODEL TESTS 343

 B
It is not known exactly how or when the potato was first introduced to
Europe; however, the general assumption is that it arrived on a Spanish
ship sometime in the 1600s. For more than one hundred years, Europeans
believed that potatoes belonged to a botanical family of a poisonous breed.
It was not until Marie Antoinette wore potato blossoms in her hair in the
mid-eighteenth century that potatoes became a novelty. By the late 1700s,
the dietary value of the potato had been discovered, and the monarchs of
Europe ordered the vegetable to be widely planted.

C
By 1800, the vast majority of the Irish population had become dependent
on the potato as its primary staple. It wasn't uncommon for an Irish potato
farmer to consume more than six pounds of potatoes a day. Families stored
potatoes for the winter and even fed potatoes to their livestock. Because of
this dependency, the unexpected potato blight of 1845 devastated the Irish.
Investigators at first suggested that the blight was caused by static energy,
smoke from railroad trains, or vapors from underground volcanoes; how­
ever, the root cause was later discovered as an airborne fungus that trav­
eled from Mexico. Not only did the disease destroy the potato crops, it also
infected all of the potatoes in storage at the time. Their families were dying
from famine, but weakened farmers had retained little of their agricultural
skills to harvest other crops. Those who did manage to grow things such as
oats, wheat, and barley relied on earnings from these exported crops to keep
their rented homes.

D
While the potato blight generated mass starvation among the Irish, the
people were held captive to their poverty by the British tenure system.
Following the Napoleonic Wars of 1815, the English had turned their focus
to their colonial land holdings. British landowners realized that the best
way to profit from these holdings was to extract the resources and exports
and charge expensive rents and taxes for people to live on the land. Under
the tenure system, Protestant landlords owned 95 percent of the Irish land,
which was divided up into five-acre plots for the people to live and farm
on. As the population of Ireland grew, however, the plots were continuously
subdivided into smaller parcels. Living conditions declined dramatically,
and families were forced to move to less fertile land where almost nothing
but the potato would grow.

E
During this same period of colonization, the Penal Laws were also instituted
as a means of weakening the Irish spirit. Under the Penal Laws, Irish peas­
ants were denied basic human rights, such as the right to speak their own
native language, seek certain kinds of employment, practice their faith,
receive education, and own land. Despite the famine that was devastating
Ireland, the landlords had little compassion or sympathy for tenants unable

344 IELTS
 to pay their rent. Approximately 500,000 Irish tenants were evicted by their
landlords between 1845 and 1847. Many of these people also had their
homes burned down and were put in jail for overdue rent.

F
The majority of the British officials in the 1840s adopted the laissez-faire
philosophy, which supported a policy of nonintervention in the Irish plight.
Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel was an exception. He showed compassion
toward the Irish by making a move to repeal the Corn Laws, which had been
put in place to protect British grain producers from the competition offoreign
markets. For this hasty decision, Peel quickly lost the support of the British
people and was forced to resign. The new Prime Minister, Lord John Russell,
allowed assistant Charles Trevelyan to take complete control over all of the
relief efforts in Ireland. Trevelyan believed that the Irish situation should be
left to Providence. Claiming that it would be dangerous to let the Irish become
dependent on other countries, he even took steps to close food depots that
were selling corn and to redirect shipments of corn that were already on their
way to Ireland. A few relief programs were eventually implemented, such as
soup kitchens and workhouses; however, these were poorly run institutions
that facilitated the spread of disease, tore apart families, and offered inad­
equate food supplies considering the extent of Ireland's shortages.

G
Many of the effects of the Irish potato famine are still evident today.
Descendants of those who fled Ireland during the 1840s are dispersed all
over the world. Some of the homes that were evacuated by absentee land­
lords still sit abandoned in the Irish hills. A number of Irish descendents still
carry animosity toward the British for not putting people before politics.
The potato blight itself still plagues the Irish people during certain growing
seasons when weather conditions are favorable for the fungus to thrive.

Questions 16-20
The passage has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter in boxes 16-20 on your Answer Sheet.

16 the position of the British government toward the potato famine

17 a description ofthe system of land ownership in Ireland

18 early European attitudes toward the potato

19 explanation of the lack of legal protection for Irish peasants

20 the importance of the potato in Irish society

IELTS MODEL TESTS 345

 Questions 21-28
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-L, from the box below.
Write the correct letter in boxes 21-28 on your Answer Sheet. There are more endings than sen­
tences, so you won't use them all.

Sentence Endings

A because they couldn't pay the rent on their farms.

B because railroad trains caused air pollution.
C because potatoes were their main source of food.
D because Charles Trevelyan took over relief efforts.
E because they needed the profits to pay the rent.
F because they weren't well-managed.
G because there wasn't enough land for the increasing population.
H · because his efforts to help the Irish were unpopular among the British.
I because they believed that potatoes were poisonous.
J because the British instituted penal laws.
K because it was discovered that potatoes are full of nutrients.
L because Marie Antoinette used potato blossoms as decoration.

21 At first Europeans didn't eat potatoes

22 European monarchs encouraged potato growing

23 The potato blight was devastating to the Irish

24 Farmers who grew oats, wheat, and barley didn't eat these crops

25 Many Irish farmers lived on infertile plots

26 Many Irish farmers were arrested

27 Sir Robert Peel lost his position as prime minister

28 Soup kitchens and workhouses didn't relieve the suffering

346 IEl.TS