# Environmental practices of big businesses: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 15, Test 4, Reading Passage 3

Source: Passage, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 15, Test 4, Reading Passage 3. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 27 | D | a fundamental fact that for many of us offends our sense of justice ... a business may maximize the amount of money it makes, at least in the short term, by damaging the environment and hurting people |
| 28 | E | if government regulation is ineffective |
| 29 | F | if the public doesn't care |
| 30 | H | fishermen in an unmanaged fishery without quotas |
| 31 | B | international logging companies with short-term leases on tropical rainforest land |
| 32 | C | it is the public, either directly or through its politicians, that has the power to make such destructive policies unprofitable and illegal |
| 33 | D | The public may also make their opinion felt by preferring to buy sustainably harvested products ... by pressing their governments to pass and enforce laws and regulations requiring good environmental practices |
| 34 | B | when a major fast-food company then made the same demands after customer purchases of its hamburgers plummeted, the meat industry complied within weeks |
| 35 | YES | the public must accept the necessity for higher prices for products to cover the added costs |
| 36 | NOT GIVEN | My views may seem to ignore the belief that businesses should act in accordance with moral principles |
| 37 | NO | My conclusion is not a moralistic one about who is right or wrong, admirable or selfish, a good guy or a bad guy. |
| 38 | YES | In the past, businesses have changed when the public came to expect and require different behavior |
| 39 | NOT GIVEN | I predict that in the future, just as in the past, changes in public attitudes will be essential for changes in businesses' environmental practices. |
| 40 | D | It is easy for the rest of us to blame a business for helping itself by hurting other people. ... Our blaming of businesses also ignores the ultimate responsibility of the public |

## Why these answers are right

**27. D.** Paragraph A says businesses may maximize their money by damaging the environment and hurting people, a fact that offends our sense of justice. Companies that knowingly harm people for profit appear to lack moral standards, so D completes the gap.

**28. E.** The final sentence of paragraph A links environmental damage to government regulation that is ineffective. Ineffective regulation is a lack of control by governments, so option E, control, is the phrase that fits this gap.

**29. F.** Alongside weak regulation, paragraph A names the public not caring as a condition that lets dirty businesses win. A public that does not care is not involved, so lack of public involvement, option F, matches the text.

The why and the trap for questions 30 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/environmental-practices-of-big-businesses/answers).

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