# An Introduction to British Agriculture: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 2, Test 2, Listening Part 4

Source: Recording, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 2, Test 2, Listening Part 4. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 31 | A | and then to 3% by the middle of the 20th century. |
| 32 | training | are the high level of training amongst the agricultural workforce. |
| 33 | technology | the recognition by farmers of the value of investing in technology. |
| 34 | fertile soil | the east is flatter and more low lying with fertile soils and a mixed climate. |
| 35 | cool and wet | is generally cool and wet. |
| 36 | warm and wet | The climate is warmer than in the north, and much wetter than in the east. |
| 37 | 800 | typically around 800 hectares. |
| 38 | wool and timber | producing mainly wool and timber for the market. |
| 39 | vegetables | increasingly significant areas are now also given over to high quality vegetables for supply direct to the supermarkets. |
| 40 | B | the national structure of the Farmers' Union, of which virtually all farmers are members. |

## Why these answers are right

**31. A.** The question asks for the farming share of the workforce in the mid 1900s, which the lecturer calls the middle of the 20th century. He says it had fallen to 10 percent by 1850 and then to 3% by the mid 1900s, the figure behind option A. Ten percent belongs to 1850.

**32. training.** The note asks what quality among farm workers helps efficiency. After state support, the lecturer names two more factors, and the first is the high level of training amongst the agricultural workforce. "Those employed" in the note refers to that workforce, so the answer is training.

**33. technology.** This gap asks what farmers invest in. The lecturer gives as his second extra factor the recognition by farmers of the value of investing in technology. The note uses the word investment, matching investing, so the missing word is technology, and nothing else fits the three-word limit.

The why and the trap for questions 34 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/an-introduction-to-british-agriculture/answers).

## Transcript

**Announcer:** Section 4, you will hear a lecturer talking to a group of students at the beginning of a course in rural development.

**Announcer:** First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.

**Announcer:** Now listen carefully to the talk, and answer questions 31 to 40.

**Lecturer:** I hope that this first session which I've called an introduction to British Agriculture will provide a helpful background to the farm visits you'll be doing next week.

**Lecturer:** I think I should start by emphasizing that agriculture still accounts for a very important part of this country's economy.

**Lecturer:** We are used to hearing the UK's society and economy described as being industrial or even post industrial, but we mustn't let this blind us to the fact that agriculture and its supporting industries still account for around 20% of our gross national product.

**Lecturer:** This figure is especially impressive, I think, when you bear in mind how very small a percentage of the UK workforce is employed in agriculture.

**Lecturer:** This is not a recent development.

**Lecturer:** You'd have to go back to 1750 or so to find a majority of the workforce in this country working in agriculture.

**Lecturer:** By the middle of the next century, in 1850 that is.

**Lecturer:** It had fallen sharply to 10 percent, and then to 3% by the middle of the 20th century.

**Lecturer:** And now just 2% of the workforce contribute 20% of gnp.

**Lecturer:** How is this efficiency achieved?

**Lecturer:** Well, my own view is that it owes a great deal to a history over the last 50 or 60 years of intelligent support by the state.

**Lecturer:** Mainly taking the form of helping farmers to plan ahead.

**Lecturer:** Then the two other factors I should mention, both very important, are the high level of training amongst the agricultural workforce.

**Lecturer:** And secondly, the recognition by farmers of the value of investing in technology.

**Lecturer:** Now, although the UK is a fairly small country, the geology and climate vary a good deal from region to region.

**Lecturer:** For our purposes today, we can divide the country broadly into three.

**Lecturer:** I've marked them on the map here.

**Lecturer:** The region you'll get to know best of course is the north, where we are at present.

**Lecturer:** The land here is generally hilly, and the soils thin.

**Lecturer:** The climate up here, and you've already had evidence of this, is generally cool and wet.

**Lecturer:** As you'll see next week, the typical farm here in the north is a small family run concern, producing mainly wool and timber for the market.

**Lecturer:** If we contrast that with the eastern region over here, the east is flatter and more low lying with fertile soils and a mixed climate.

**Lecturer:** Average farm size is much bigger in the east.

**Lecturer:** And farms are likely to be managed strictly on commercial lines.

**Lecturer:** As for crops, well, the east is the UK's great cereal producing region.

**Lecturer:** However, increasingly significant areas are now also given over to high quality vegetables for supply direct to the supermarkets.

**Lecturer:** The third broad region is the west, where it's a different story again.

**Lecturer:** The climate is warmer than in the north, and much wetter than in the east.

**Lecturer:** The resulting rich soils in the west provide excellent pasture.

**Lecturer:** And the farms there are quite large, typically around 800 hectares.

**Lecturer:** The main products are milk, cheese and meat.

**Lecturer:** So clearly there are marked differences between regions.

**Lecturer:** But this does not prevent quite a strong sense of solidarity amongst the farming community as a whole, right across the country.

**Lecturer:** This solidarity comes in part from the need to present a united front in dealing with other powerful interest groups.

**Lecturer:** Such as government or the media, it also owes something to the close cooperation between all the agricultural training colleges, through which the great majority of farmers pass at the beginning of their careers.

**Lecturer:** And a third factor making for solidarity is the national structure of the Farmers' Union, of which virtually all farmers are members.

**Lecturer:** Finally, in this short talk, I'd like to say a little about the challenges facing farmers in the next...

**Announcer:** That is the end of Section 4.

**Announcer:** You will now have half a minute to check your answers.

[Practice An Introduction to British Agriculture](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/an-introduction-to-british-agriculture)