Example 1 · Locating the farm above the shop
Model answer: C
Why: The first paragraph connects growing near customers to a shorter journey to sale.
How to use this sample
Study the two worked examples, then complete the independent practice. Submit to review answers and explanations. Scores exclude the examples; Writing and Speaking use self-review rather than automatic band marking.
Original SUFAS teaching material. This is a focused sample exercise, not a full IELTS examination.
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Growing salad above a shop
A grocer converted a storeroom above her shop into a small indoor salad farm. Growing close to customers shortened the journey from harvest to sale. The room had no windows, so the plants depended on electric lights. A timer switched them off for part of each night; leaving them on continuously had increased the electricity bill without improving the harvest.
Water drained into a tank and was pumped back to the roots, reducing the amount that had to be added each day. However, the owner still had to clean the pipes to stop them blocking. She grew lettuce and herbs, but rejected a proposal to grow wheat: the sale price would not cover the space and lighting it required.
Complete each sentence with the correct ending from the list. Choose one ending for each question. There are extra endings.
A. reduced the need for fresh supplies each day.
B. removed every maintenance task from the farm.
C. reduced the distance between production and sale.
D. would have cost more than its sales could recover.
E. made natural sunlight available to the plants.
F. avoided an expense that brought no extra harvest.
G. was necessary to keep water moving through the system.
Two worked examples
Example 2 · Switching the lights off for part of the night
Model answer: F
Why: Continuous lighting raised the bill without improving the harvest, so the timer avoided that cost.
Independent practice
The two worked examples are excluded from the score. Answer the remaining questions, then submit.