The Rise, Fall and Revival of the Allotment: Reading Answers & Explanations
IELTS Reading practice test · 13 questionsGeneral Trainingmedium
Haven't taken this test yet?
Looking at the answers first spoils the practice — you only get one honest first attempt at a passage. Take the test with the 20-minute timer, get an instant score and estimated band, then come back here to study every answer.
About this passage
The passage opens: “An allotment is a small plot of land, usually rented from a local council for a modest annual fee, on which ordinary people grow fruit, vegetables and flowers for their own use. The idea took shape in Britain during the nineteenth century, when industrialisation drew enormous numbers of rural labourers into crowded,…”
- Passage length: about 717 words
- Questions: 13
- Question types: Matching Headings, Summary Completion, True / False / Not Given
“The Rise, Fall and Revival of the Allotment” is an original IELTS-style practice passage written by IELTS-Bank. It is not taken from an official IELTS or Cambridge test, so these answers only apply to our version.
Answer key at a glance
The Rise, Fall and Revival of the Allotment answers with explanations
Questions 1–6: Matching Headings
The passage has six paragraphs, A–F. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i–viii.
List of Headings i A wartime explosion in vegetable growing ii Why plot numbers fell iii The health and social value of a plot iv How allotments began v The rules and costs of renting a plot vi A new generation discovers the allotment vii Pressures on land and some inventive answers viii The best crops for a beginner to grow
- i. A wartime explosion in vegetable growing
- ii. Why plot numbers fell
- iii. The health and social value of a plot
- iv. How allotments began
- v. The rules and costs of renting a plot
- vi. A new generation discovers the allotment
- vii. Pressures on land and some inventive answers
- viii. The best crops for a beginner to grow
- 1
Paragraph A
Show answerHide answer
Answer: iv — How allotments began
Why: Paragraph A explains the nineteenth-century origins of allotments and the 1908 Act, so 'How allotments began' fits best.
Where to find it · Paragraph A “Landowners, churches and charities began to set aside strips of land at the edges of towns, and the movement gained legal force in 1908, when a new Act of Parliament obliged local councils to provide allotments wherever enough residents demanded them.”
- 2
Paragraph B
Show answerHide answer
Answer: i — A wartime explosion in vegetable growing
Why: Paragraph B describes the wartime 'Dig for Victory' campaign and the peak of 1.4 million plots — a wartime explosion in growing.
Where to find it · Paragraph B “By 1943 there were roughly 1.4 million allotment plots in cultivation, and it has been estimated that home and allotment growers were producing around a tenth of the nation's food.”
- 3
Paragraph C
Show answerHide answer
Answer: ii — Why plot numbers fell
Why: Paragraph C explains the post-war decline: cheap supermarket food, changing leisure habits and sites sold off — the reasons plot numbers fell.
Where to find it · Paragraph C “As rationing ended and incomes rose, supermarkets began to offer cheap food all year round, and the effort of digging a plot in all weathers came to seem pointless to many families.”
- 4
Paragraph D
Show answerHide answer
Answer: vi — A new generation discovers the allotment
Why: Paragraph D describes the modern revival of interest and years-long waiting lists — a new generation discovering the allotment.
Where to find it · Paragraph D “Demand soon outstripped supply: in many cities, would-be gardeners now spend years on a waiting list before a plot becomes available, a situation that would have astonished the councils who once struggled to find tenants.”
- 5
Paragraph E
Show answerHide answer
Answer: iii — The health and social value of a plot
Why: Paragraph E covers the physical exercise, mental wellbeing and community-building benefits of a plot — its health and social value.
Where to find it · Paragraph E “The physical benefits are obvious enough — digging, weeding and carrying water are steady, moderate exercise — but studies repeatedly point to effects on mental wellbeing that are harder to measure and possibly more important.”
- 6
Paragraph F
Show answerHide answer
Answer: vii — Pressures on land and some inventive answers
Why: Paragraph F discusses the threat of land being sold for building and inventive responses such as rooftop and 'meanwhile' plots.
Where to find it · Paragraph F “At the same time, growers are finding inventive answers of their own: vegetables are now raised in containers on supermarket roofs, in shared community gardens, and on 'meanwhile' plots — patches of cleared ground lent to growers until developers are ready to build.”
Questions 7–10: Summary Completion
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. During the Second World War the government urged civilians to grow food, and spaces such as parks, lawns and railway (7) ______ were dug up and planted. After the war, cheap year-round food from (8) ______ made the hard work of a plot seem pointless, and councils sold off many sites for (9) ______ . Interest revived around the year 2000, and in many cities gardeners must now spend years on a (10) ______ before they receive a plot.
- 7
Gap 7(max 2 words)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: embankments (also accepted: railway embankments)
Why: Paragraph B says public parks, sports grounds, front lawns and even railway embankments were dug up and planted.
Where to find it · Paragraph B “Public parks, sports grounds, front lawns and even railway embankments were dug up and planted with potatoes, carrots and cabbages.”
- 8
Gap 8(max 2 words)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: supermarkets
Why: Paragraph C says supermarkets began to offer cheap food all year round, which made cultivating a plot seem pointless to many.
Where to find it · Paragraph C “As rationing ended and incomes rose, supermarkets began to offer cheap food all year round, and the effort of digging a plot in all weathers came to seem pointless to many families.”
- 9
Gap 9(max 2 words)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: housing
Why: Paragraph C states that councils quietly sold off allotment sites for housing.
Where to find it · Paragraph C “Councils, short of money and under pressure to find land, quietly sold off allotment sites for housing, and each site lost was, in practice, lost for ever.”
- 10
Gap 10(max 2 words)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: waiting list
Why: Paragraph D says would-be gardeners in many cities now spend years on a waiting list before a plot becomes available.
Where to find it · Paragraph D “Demand soon outstripped supply: in many cities, would-be gardeners now spend years on a waiting list before a plot becomes available, a situation that would have astonished the councils who once struggled to find tenants.”
Questions 11–13: True / False / Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
Write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information, FALSE if the statement contradicts the information, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.
- 11
A law passed in 1908 required councils to provide allotments where enough people wanted them.
Show answerHide answer
Answer: TRUE
Why: Paragraph A says the 1908 Act obliged local councils to provide allotments wherever enough residents demanded them.
Where to find it · Paragraph A “Landowners, churches and charities began to set aside strips of land at the edges of towns, and the movement gained legal force in 1908, when a new Act of Parliament obliged local councils to provide allotments wherever enough residents demanded them.”
- 12
The number of allotment plots reached its highest point during the 1960s.
Show answerHide answer
Answer: FALSE
Why: Paragraph B places the peak — roughly 1.4 million plots — in 1943, during the Second World War, and paragraph C describes decline after 1945.
Where to find it · Paragraph B “By 1943 there were roughly 1.4 million allotment plots in cultivation, and it has been estimated that home and allotment growers were producing around a tenth of the nation's food.”
- 13
Rooftop growing spaces produce as much food as traditional allotments.
Show answerHide answer
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Why: Paragraph F mentions vegetables being raised on supermarket roofs but makes no comparison between their output and that of traditional plots.
Closest related text · Paragraph D “Concern about pesticides, packaging and the distance food travels gave the allotment a distinctly modern appeal, and television cookery and gardening programmes made growing vegetables fashionable again for the first time in half a century.”
Estimated band score for this test
Your raw score out of 13 scaled to the 40-question IELTS Reading (General Training) conversion table. This is the same estimate the practice page shows after you submit. A single passage is a small sample, so treat it as a guide.
| Correct answers | Estimated band |
|---|---|
| 13 / 13 | 9.0 |
| 12 / 13 | 8.0 |
| 11 / 13 | 7.0 |
| 10 / 13 | 6.0 |
| 9 / 13 | 5.5 |
| 8 / 13 | 5.0 |
| 7 / 13 | 4.5 |
| 5–6 / 13 | 4.0 |
| 4 / 13 | 3.5 |
| 3 / 13 | 3.0 |
| 2 / 13 | 2.5 |
| 1 / 13 | 1.5 |
| 0 / 13 | 0.0 |
Full-test score? Use the IELTS band calculator.
Tips for the question types in this test
Matching Headings
- Read the list of headings first so you know the options, and notice how they differ from one another — often two headings are deliberately similar.
- Read the first paragraph and ask yourself: "In one sentence, what is this paragraph mainly saying?" before you look back at the headings.
Common trap: Picking a heading because it repeats a word from the paragraph, when that word only appears in a minor detail.
Full Matching Headings strategySummary Completion
- Read the full summary first and identify which passage section it covers.
- Predict the grammar and meaning required in every blank.
Common trap: Choosing an option only because it repeats a passage word.
Full Summary Completion strategyTrue / False / Not Given
- Read the statement first and underline the key idea, especially any qualifiers like "all", "only", "never", "always", "more than" or dates and numbers.
- Because the questions follow the order of the passage, scan for the paragraph that deals with the same topic rather than re-reading everything.
Common trap: Confusing "False" with "Not Given": choose False only when the passage actively contradicts the statement; if the passage is silent, it is Not Given.
Full True / False / Not Given strategyPractise “The Rise, Fall and Revival of the Allotment” under exam conditions
Free, auto-marked, with the 20-minute timer and an instant band estimate.
Take this test first (timed)More IELTS Reading tests with answers
The Hanseatic League and Medieval Trade
medium
The Hidden World of Fungi
medium
The History of Cartography
medium
The Importance of Soil to Life on Earth
medium
The Invention of the Supermarket
medium
The Language of Bees
medium