Câu hỏi và đáp án bài Reading Test 4 passage 3 - IELTS Cambridge 15 - Environmental practices of big businesses.

Bài đọc trong Cambridge IELTS 15 Test 4 Reading Passage 3 có tiêu đề Environmental Practices of Big Businesses tập trung vào cách các doanh nghiệp lớn có thể tác động đến môi trường và những yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến các quyết định của họ. Cụ thể, tác giả phân tích rằng nhiều doanh nghiệp sẵn sàng hy sinh môi trường và sức khỏe cộng đồng để tối đa hóa lợi nhuận trong ngắn hạn. Trong bài viết sau đây, cùng Prep phân tích chi tiết đáp án và take note một số từ vựng quan trọng để hiểu rõ hơn nội dung của bài đọc này nhé!

I. Đề bài IELTS Cambridge 15 Test 4 Reading passage 3 Environmental practices of big businesses

Environmental practices of big businesses

The environmental practices of big businesses are shaped by a fundamental fact that for  many of us offends our sense of justice. Depending on the circumstances, a business may maximize the amount of money it makes, at least in the short term, by damaging the environment and hurting people. That is still the case today for fishermen in an unmanaged fishery without quotas, and for international logging companies with short-term leases on tropical rainforest land in places with corrupt officials and unsophisticated landowners. When government regulation is effective, and when the public is environmentally aware, environmentally clean big businesses may out-compete dirty ones, but the reverse is likely to be true if government regulation is ineffective and if the public doesn't care.

It is easy for the rest of us to blame a business for helping itself by hurting other people. But blaming alone is unlikely to produce change. It ignores the fact that businesses are not charities but profit-making companies, and that publicly owned companies with shareholders are under obligation to those shareholders to maximize profits, provided that they do so by legal means. US laws make a company's directors legally liable for something termed "breach of fiduciary responsibility" if they knowingly manage a company in a way that reduces profits. The car manufacturer Henry Ford was in fact successfully sued by shareholders in 1919 for raising the minimum wage of his workers to $5 per day: the courts declared that, while Ford's humanitarian sentiments about his employees were nice, his business existed to make profits for its stockholders.

Our blaming of businesses also ignores the ultimate responsibility of the public for creating the conditions that let a business profit through destructive environmental policies. In the long run, it is the public, either directly or through its politicians, that has the power to make such destructive policies unprofitable and illegal, and to make sustainable environmental policies profitable.

The public can do that by suing businesses for harming them, as happened after the Exxon Valdez disaster, in which over 40,000m³ of oil were spilled off the coast of Alaska. The public may also make their opinion felt by preferring to buy sustainably harvested products; by making employees of companies with poor track records feel ashamed of the company and complain to their own management; by preferring their governments to award valuable contracts to businesses with a good environmental track record; and by pressing their governments to pass and enforce laws and regulations requiring good environmental practices.

In turn, big businesses can exert powerful pressure on any suppliers that might ignore public or government pressure. For instance, after the US public became concerned about the spread of a disease known as BSE, which was transmitted to humans through infected meat, the US government's Food and Drug Administration introduced rules demanding that the meat industry abandon practices associated with the risk of the disease spreading. But for five years the meat packers refused to follow these, claiming that they would be too expensive to obey. However, when a major fast-food company then made the same demands after customer purchases of its hamburgers plummeted, the meat industry complied within weeks. The public's task is therefore to identify which links in the supply chain are sensitive to public pressure: for instance, fast-food chains or jewelry stores, but not meat packers or gold miners.

Some readers may be disappointed or outraged that I place the ultimate responsibility for business practices harming the public on the public itself. I also believe that the public must accept the necessity for higher prices for products to cover the added costs, if any, of sound environmental practices. My views may seem to ignore the belief that businesses should act in accordance with moral principles even if this leads to a reduction in their profits. But I think we have to recognize that, throughout human history, in all politically complex human societies, government regulation has arisen precisely because it was found that not only did moral principles need to be made explicit, they also needed to be enforced.

To me, the conclusion that the public has the ultimate responsibility for the behavior of even the biggest businesses is empowering and hopeful, rather than disappointing. My conclusion is not a moralistic one about who is right or wrong, admirable or selfish, a good guy or a bad guy. In the past, businesses have changed when the public came to expect and require different behavior, to reward businesses for behavior that the public wanted, and to make things difficult for businesses practicing behaviors that the public didn't want. I predict that in the future, just as in the past, changes in public attitudes will be essential for changes in businesses' environmental practices.

Questions 27-31

Complete the summary using the list of words, A-J, below.

Write the correct letter, A-J, in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.

Big businesses

Many big businesses today are prepared to harm people and the environment in order to make money, and they appear to have no 27 .............................. . Lack of 28 .............................. by governments and lack of public 29 .............................. can lead to environmental problems such as 30 .............................. or the destruction of 31 ..............................

Questions 32-34

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write the correct letter in boxes 32-34 on your answer sheet.

32   The main idea of the third paragraph is that environmental damage
  A   requires political action if it is to be stopped.
  B   is the result of ignorance on the part of the public.
  C   could be prevented by the action of ordinary people.
  D   can only be stopped by educating business leaders.

33   In the fourth paragraph, the writer describes ways in which the public can
  A   reduce their own individual impact on the environment.
  B   learn more about the impact of business on the environment.
  C   raise awareness of the effects of specific environmental disasters.
  D   influence the environmental policies of businesses and governments.

34   What pressure was exerted by big business in the case of the disease BSE?
  A   Meat packers stopped supplying hamburgers to fast-food chains.
  B   A fast-food company forced their meat suppliers to follow the law.
  C   Meat packers persuaded the government to reduce their expenses.
  D   A fast-food company encouraged the government to introduce legislation.

Questions 35-39

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?

In boxes 35-39 on your answer sheet, write

  YES   if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
  NO   if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
  NOT GIVEN   if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

35   The public should be prepared to fund good environmental practices.
36   There is a contrast between the moral principles of different businesses.
37   It is important to make a clear distinction between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.
38   The public have successfully influenced businesses in the past.
39   In the future, businesses will show more concern for the environment.

Question 40

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write the correct letter in box 40 on your answer sheet.

40   What would be the best subheading for this passage?
  A   Will the world survive the threat caused by big businesses?
  B   How can big businesses be encouraged to be less driven by profit?
  C   What environmental dangers are caused by the greed of businesses?
  D   Are big businesses to blame for the damage they cause the environment?

Reading Passage 3, Questions 27-40

27. D

28. E

29. F

30. H

31. B

32. C

33. D

34. B

35. YES

36. NOT GIVEN

37. NO

38. YES

39. NOT GIVEN

40. D

II. Đáp án bài đọc

Reading Passage 3, Questions 27-40

27. D

28. E

29. F

30. H

31. B

32. C

33. D

34. B

35. YES

36. NOT GIVEN

37. NO

38. YES

39. NOT GIVEN

40. D

III. Giải thích đáp án chi tiết

27. D (moral standards)

• Đoạn 1: nhiều doanh nghiệp sẵn sàng hủy hoại môi trường vì lợi nhuận, dường như không có chuẩn mực đạo đức.
  Đáp án: moral standards.

28. E (control)

• Nếu thiếu sự kiểm soát (control) của chính phủ → doanh nghiệp "dirty" sẽ thắng thế.
  Đáp án: control.

29. F (involvement)

• Nếu công chúng không quan tâm/tham gia (lack of public involvement) thì các chính sách môi trường không được thực thi.
  Đáp án: involvement.

30. H (overfishing)

• Đoạn 1: ví dụ fishermen in an unmanaged fishery without quotas → dẫn đến overfishing.
  Đáp án: overfishing.

31. B (trees)

• Đoạn 1: logging companies with short-term leases on tropical rainforest land → phá hủy trees.
  Đáp án: trees.

32. C (could be prevented by the action of ordinary people)

• Đoạn 3: công chúng mới là người có ultimate responsibility, có thể ngăn chặn bằng hành động (mua hàng bền vững, kiện doanh nghiệp...).
  Đáp án: C.

33. D (influence the environmental policies of businesses and governments)

• Đoạn 4: công chúng có thể mua hàng bền vững, gây sức ép lên chính phủ/doanh nghiệp → ảnh hưởng đến chính sách môi trường.
  Đáp án: D.

34. B (A fast-food company forced their meat suppliers to follow the law)

• Đoạn 5: meat packers không tuân theo luật trong 5 năm, nhưng khi fast-food company gây áp lực thì họ tuân thủ trong vài tuần.
  Đáp án: B.

35. YES

• Đoạn 6: the public must accept the necessity for higher prices for products to cover added costs of environmental practices.
  Công chúng cần sẵn sàng trả thêm tiền → YES.

36. NOT GIVEN

• Bài không so sánh nguyên tắc đạo đức giữa các doanh nghiệp, chỉ nói họ bị ràng buộc bởi lợi nhuận.
  NOT GIVEN.

37. NO

• Đoạn 6: tác giả nói không dựa trên "moralistic" (ai đúng ai sai), mà tập trung vào sức mạnh của công chúng, không phải rạch ròi phân biệt hành vi tốt/xấu.
  NO.

38. YES

• Đoạn 7: In the past, businesses have changed when the public came to expect and require different behavior.
  YES.

39. NOT GIVEN

• Tác giả dự đoán tương lai: thay đổi của doanh nghiệp phụ thuộc vào công chúng, nhưng không khẳng định chắc chắn doanh nghiệp sẽ quan tâm hơn đến môi trường.
  NOT GIVEN.

40. D (Are big businesses to blame for the damage they cause the environment?)

• Toàn bài xoay quanh: trách nhiệm chính thuộc về công chúng, chứ không chỉ đổ lỗi cho doanh nghiệp. 

• Đáp án đúng: D.

Xem thêm: Đề bài và đáp án chi tiết Cambridge IELTS 15 Passage 1: The Return of the Huarango

IV. Từ vựng quan trọng trong bài

Trên đây là đề bài và đáp án bài đọc IELTS Cambridge IELTS 15 Test 4 Reading passage 3 Environmental practices of big businesses kèm một số từ vựng hay cần ghi nhớ trong bài. Hy vọng tài liệu trên sẽ hữu ích cho quá trình luyện thi IELTS của bạn. 

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