Directions (Q81-Q86): Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
Recently, The Committee on Climate Change has conducted a study that examines the land use and
greenhouse gas implications of UK food consumption change away from meat and dairy consumption
and associated production. It shows that the UK agricultural land base can support increased
consumption of plant-based products arising from the reduced consumption of livestock products.
This would not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but would also reduce land requirements. This
in turn would bring potential environmental benefits and significant opportunities to deliver other
products ranging from biofuels production to rewilding, carbon sequestration and other ecosystem
services, from UK agricultural land. A number of questions on the topic were addressed and to
answer those questions, a range of consumption and production scenarios were designed to examine
options on both the demand and supply sides – three consumption and three production scenarios.
The study found that all consumption change scenarios reduce the total amount of land estimated as
required to support the UK food system. In all cases the amount of extra land required for the direct
consumption of plant products is less than the amount of arable land released from livestock feed
production. This said, a switch from red to white meat increases the need for overseas arable land,
although a larger area of UK land that can be tilled is released. Focusing a reduced cattle and sheep
industry on non-arable land would result in the release of substantially more tillable land (currently
grassland). A 50% reduction in livestock product consumption opens up the opportunity to release
about half of UK land currently used for UK food supplies if remaining production is concentrated on
the more capable land. If land is released uniformly, almost two-thirds of this release takes place on
grassland not suited to arable production and the remaining third is grassland with some arable
potential. There would be with higher levels of land release in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
than in England. The study found that all consumption scenarios reduced greenhouse gas emissions
from primary production. The largest reduction was from a livestock reduction scenario: from 81 to 66
Mt CO2e (19% reduction). The net effect on emissions depended greatly on the alternative use of the
grassland released from food production. This study has clearly shown that UK land can support
consumption change that reduces greenhouse gas emissions from the food system. The reduction in
land needed to supply the UK that comes with a reduction in livestock product consumption brings
potential environmental benefits and significant opportunities to deliver other products, including other
ecosystem services, from UK agricultural land. The study has shown that some risks currently
___________ (4) as arising from consumption change are small. In particular the study shows that
arable land needs will not increase if the consumption of livestock products is decreased. The risk
that emissions will be exported is also shown to be small.
(5) The combined (A) of the significant
potential benefits of consumption change identification (B) with the low risks of unintended
consequences has far-reaching development (C) for guidance to consumers and the implication (D)
of agricultural policy. The results are broadly applicable to other European countries which means
they are relevant to international policy development, for example the reform of the Common
Agricultural Policy.
Q81. Which of the following is the tone of the passage?
- AOption (a)
Biased
- BOption (b)
Laudatory
- COption (c)
Belligerent
- DOption (d)
Apologetic
- EOption (e)
Analytical
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Correct answer
Analytical