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Could Better Design Cure Our Throwaway Culture Reading Answers

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Sayantani Barman

Experta en el extranjero | Updated On - Jan 18, 2023

Could Better Design Cure Our Throwaway Culture Reading Answers contains a write up about the designs and throwaway culture. Could Better Design Cure Our Throwaway Culture Reading Answers contains a total of 10 paragraphs. Related to the paragraphs are 13 questions. Candidates in this IELTS Section will be shown various question types with clear instructions. The paragraphs contain information about the throwaway vulture and the perspective while buying new things. There are various suggestions on improvement of designs to stop the throwaway.

Could Better Design Cure Our Throwaway Culture Reading Answers is an IELTS Reading passage which comprises three types of questions: Answer the questions, yes/no and not given and complete the summary.Each paragraph must be carefully and attentively read by candidates. No more than two words may be used in the response. Answers must be drawn from the paragraph and be based on the statements in the questions. To complete the summary the details of the paragraph must be remembered. Some information has not been mentioned in the paragraph which must be answered as not given. To gain proficiency, candidates can practice from IELTS reading practice test.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Could Better Design Cure Our Throwaway Culture Reading Answers

{A} Jonathan Chapman, a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton, UK, is one of a new breed of ‘sustainable designers’. Like many of us, they are concerned about the huge waste associated with Western consumer culture and the damage this does to the environment. Some, like Chapman, aim to create objects we will want to keep rather than discard. Others are working to create more efficient or durable consumer goods or goods designed with recycling in mind. The waste entailed in our fleeting relationships with consumer durables is colossal

{B} Domestic power tools, such as electric drills, are a typical example of such waste. However much DIY the purchaser plans to do, the truth is that these things are thrown away having been used, on average, for just ten minutes. Most will serve ‘conscience time gathering dust on a shelf in the garage; people are reluctant to admit that they have wasted their money. However, the end is inevitable for thousands of years in landfill waste sites. In its design, manufacture, packaging, transportation and disposal, a power tool consumes many times its own weight in resources, all for a shorter active lifespan than that of the average small insect.

{C} To understand why we have become so wasteful, we should look at the underlying motivation of consumers. ‘People own things to give expression to who they are, and to show what group of people they feel they belong to,’ Chapman says. In a world of mass production, however, that symbolism has lost much of its potency. For most of human history, people had an intimate relationship with objects they used or treasured. Often they made the objects themselves, or family members passed them on. For more specialist objects, people relied on expert manufacturers living close by, whom they probably knew personally. Chapman points out that all these factors gave objects a history – a narrative – and an emotional connection that today’s mass production can not match. Without these personal connections, consumerist culture instead idolizes novelty. We know we can’t buy happiness, but the chance to remake ourselves with glossy, box-fresh products seems irresistible. When the novelty fades we simply renew the excitement by buying more new stuff: what John Thackara of Doors of Perception, a network for sharing ideas about the future of design, calls the “schlock of the new”.

{D} As a sustainable designer, Chapman’s solution is what he calls “emotionally durable design”. Think about your favorite old jeans. They just don’t have the right feel until they have been worn and washed a hundred times, do they? It is like they are sharing your life story. You can fake that look, but it isn’t the same. Chapman says the gradual unfolding of a relationship like this transforms our interactions with objects into something richer than simple utility. Swiss industrial analyst Walter Stahel, visiting professor at the University of Surrey, calls it the “teddy bear factor”. No matter how ragged and worn a favorite teddy becomes, we don’t rush out and buy another one. As adults, our teddy bear connects us to our childhoods, and this protects it from obsolescence ). Stahel says this is what sustainable design needs to do.

{E} It is not simply about making durable items that people want to keep. Sustainable design is a matter of properly costing the whole process of production, energy use and disposal. “It is about the design of systems, the design of culture.” says Tim Cooper from the Centre for Sustainable Consumption at Sheffield Hallam University in Britain. He thinks sustainable design has been “surprisingly slow to take off” but says looming environmental crises and resource depletion are pushing it to the top of the agenda.

{F} Thackara agrees. For him, the roots of impending environmental collapse can be summarized in two words: weight and speed. We are making more stuff than the planet can sustain and using vast amounts of energy moving more and more of it around ever faster. The Information Age was supposed to lighten our economies and reduce our impact on the environment, but the reverse seems to be happening. We have simply added information technology to the industrial era and hastened the developed world’s metabolism, Thackara argues.

{G} Once you grasp that, the cure is hardly rocket science: minimize waste and energy use, stop moving stuff around so much and use people more. EZIO MANZINI, PROFESSOR of industrial design at Politecnico di Milano University, Italy, describes the process of moving to a post-throwaway society as like “changing the engine of an aircraft in mid-flight”. Even so, he believes it can be done, and he is not alone.

{H} Manzini says a crucial step would be to redesign our globalized world into what he calls the “multi-local society”. His vision is that every resource, from food to electricity generation, should as far as possible be sourced and distributed locally. These local hubs would then be connected to national and global networks to allow the most efficient use and flow of materials.

{I} So what will post-throwaway consumerism look like? For a start, we will increasingly buy sustainably designed products. This might be as simple as installing energy-saving light bulbs, more efficient washing machines, or choosing locally produced groceries with less packaging.

{J} We will spend less on material goods and more on services. Instead of buying a second car, for example, we might buy into a car-sharing network. We will also buy less and rent a whole lot more: why own things that you hardly use, especially things that are likely to be updated all the time? Consumer durables will be sold with plans already in place for their disposal. Electronic goods will be designed to be recyclable, with the extra cost added to the retail price as prepayment. As consumers become increasingly concerned about the environment, many big businesses are eagerly adopting sustainable design and brushing up their green credentials to please their customers and stay one step ahead of the competition.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 1-5

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

Write the correct letter in boxes 28-32 on your answer sheet.

Question 1 What does ‘conscience time’ imply in paragraph 2?

(A) People feel guilty when they throw things away easily.
(B) The shelf in the garage needs cleaning.
(C) The consumers are unaware of the waste problem.
(D) The power tool should be placed in the right place after being used.

Answer: A
Supporting Statement: Most will serve ‘conscience time gathering dust on a shelf in the garage; people are reluctant to admit that they have wasted their money. However, the end is inevitable for thousands of years in landfill waste sites.
Keywords: Conscience time, landfill
Keyword Location: Paragraph A
Explanation: As per paragraph A, it has been mentioned that People are unwilling to accept that they have wasted their money, thus the majority will spend their "conscience time" gathering dust on a shelf in the garage. However, with landfill trash sites, the end has been coming for thousands of years. So, the correct answer is A.

Question 2 Prior to the mass production, people own things to show

(A) their quality
(B) their status
(C) their character
(D) their history

Answer: B
Supporting Statement: . ‘People own things to give expression to who they are, and to show what group of people they feel they belong to,’ Chapman says. In a world of mass production, however, that symbolism has lost much of its potency.
Keywords: Giove expression, own things
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: As per paragraph C, it has been stated that according to Chapman, "People possess things to give representation to who they are and to show what group they believe that they belong to." But in a world of mass manufacturing, such symbolism has largely lost its meaning. So, the correct answer is B.

Question 3 The word ‘narrative’ in paragraph 3 refers to

(A) the novelty culture pursued by the customers
(B) the motivation of buying new products
(C) object stories that relate personally and meaningfully to the owners
(D) the image created by the manufacturers

Answer: C
Supporting Statement: For more specialist objects, people relied on expert manufacturers living close by, whom they probably knew personally. Chapman points out that all these factors gave objects a history – a narrative – and an emotional connection that today’s mass production can not match.
Keywords: A narrative, emotional; connection
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: As per paragraph C, it has been stated that People relied on knowledgeable local producers who they probably knew personally for more specialized items. All of these elements, according to Chapman, gave products a history, a story, and an emotional connection that modern mass manufacture cannot equal. So, the correct answer is C.

Question 4 Without personal connection, people buy new stuff for

(A) sharing
(B) freshness
(C) collection
(D) family members

Answer: B
Supporting Statement: We know we can’t buy happiness, but the chance to remake ourselves with glossy, box-fresh products seems irresistible.
Keywords: Box fresh, products
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: As per paragraph C, It has been clearly mentioned that Even if we are aware that money cannot purchase happiness, the opportunity to reinvent ourselves through the use of glitzy, fresh things is too alluring to pass up.

Question 5 The writer quotes the old jeans and teddy bear to illustrate that

(A) the products are used for simple utility.
(B) producers should create more special stuff to attract the consumers.
(C) Chapman led a poor childhood life.
(D) the emotional connections make us keep the objects for longer.

Answer: D
Supporting Statement: For more specialist objects, people relied on expert manufacturers living close by, whom they probably knew personally. Chapman points out that all these factors gave objects a history – a narrative –
and an emotional connection that today’s mass production can not match.
Keywords: A narrative, emotional; connection
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: As per paragraph C, it has been stated that People relied on knowledgeable local producers who they probably knew personally for more specialized items. All of these elements, according to Chapman, gave products a history, a story, and an emotional connection that modern mass manufacture cannot equal. So, the correct answer is D.

Questions 6-9

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

Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet.

Tim Cooper claims that although sustainable design proceeds 6…………, the coming problems are pushing the move. In accordance with Tim Cooper, Thackara believes that the origins of the looming environmental crises are weight and 7……… The technology which was assumed to have a positive effect on our society actually accelerates the world’s 8………. To cure this, Manzini proposes a ‘multi-local society’ which means every resource should be located and redeployed 9……….

A properly	B energy	C Locally
D economy	E slowly	F speed
G quickly	H metabolism

Question 6)

Answer: E Slowly
Supporting Statement: says Tim Cooper from the Centre for Sustainable Consumption at Sheffield Hallam University in Britain. He thinks sustainable design has been “surprisingly slow to take off” but says looming environmental crises and resource depletion are pushing it to the top of the agenda.
Keywords: Tim Cooper, slow
Keyword Location: Paragraph E
Explanation: As per paragraph E, it has been mentioned that says Tim Cooper of the Sheffield Hallam University Center for Sustainable Consumption in the United Kingdom. He asserts that although sustainable design has been "surprisingly slow to take off," it is now at the top of the agenda due to impending environmental disasters and resource depletion. So, the correct answer is slowly.

Question 7)

Answer: F Speed
Supporting Statement: Thackara agrees. For him, the roots of impending environmental collapse can be summarized in two words: weight and speed.
Keywords: Thackara, sped and weight
Keyword Location: Paragraph F
Explanation: As per paragraph F, it has been stated that Thackara concurs. For him, weight and speed are the fundamental causes of the imminent environmental collapse. Thus, the correct answer is Speed.

Question 8)

Answer: H Metabolism
Supporting Statement: The Information Age was supposed to lighten our economies and reduce our impact on the environment, but the reverse seems to be happening. We have simply added information technology to the industrial era and hastened the developed world’s metabolism, Thackara argues.
Keywords: Information age, metabolism
Keyword Location: Paragraph F
Explanation: As per paragraph F, it has been mentioned that The Information Age was intended to lighten our economies and lessen our environmental impact, yet it appears that the opposite is taking place. Thackara contends that we have only accelerated the metabolic rate of the industrialized world by incorporating information technology into the industrial period. So, the correct answer is metabolism.

Question 9)

Answer: C Locally
Supporting Statement: Manzini says a crucial step would be to redesign our globalized world into what he calls the “multi-local society”. His vision is that every resource, from food to electricity generation, should as far as
possible be sourced and distributed locally.
Keywords: Multi-local society, locally
Keyword Location: Paragraph H
Explanation: As per paragraph H, it has been mentioned that Redesigning our globalized world into what Manzini refers to as the "multi-local society" would, in his opinion, be a necessary first step. His goal is to source and distribute as many resources locally as possible, from food to the creation of electricity. So, the correct answer is Locally.

Questions 11-13

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage? In boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet, write

YES	if the statement agrees with the writer
NO	if the statement does not agree with the writer
NOT GIVEN	if there is no information about this in the passage

Question 10:- People often buy things that are seldom used and throw them away.

Answer: Yes
Supporting Statement: However much DIY the purchaser plans to do, the truth is that these things are thrown away having been used, on average, for just ten minutes.
Keywords: DIY, Purchases plan
Keyword Location: Paragraph B
Explanation: As per paragraph B, it has been mentioned that Regardless of how much DIY the buyer intends to do, the truth is that these items are typically thrown away after being utilized for about ten minutes. So, the correct answer is Yes.

Question 11:- In a post-throwaway society, we will pay extra money after disposing of electronic goods.

Answer: No
Supporting Statement: Once you grasp that, the cure is hardly rocket science: minimize waste and energy use, stop moving stuff around so much and use people more. EZIO MANZINI, PROFESSOR of industrial design at Politecnico di Milano University, Italy, describes the process of moving to a post-throwaway society as like “changing the engine of an aircraft in mid-flight”. Even so, he believes it can be done, and he is not alone.
Keywords: Post- throwaway
Keyword Location: Paragraph G
Explanation: As per paragraph G, it has been mentioned that the transition to a post-throwaway society, according to EZIO MANZINI, Teacher of manufacturing at Politecnico di Milano University in Italy, is comparable to "changing the engine of an airplane in mid-flight." He still has faith that it will be done, and he knows he's not alone in this. So, the correct answer is No because the statement is contradictory.

Question 12:- Some businesses have jumped on the sustainability bandwagon.

Answer: Yes
Supporting Statement: . As consumers become increasingly concerned about the environment, many big businesses are eagerly adopting sustainable design and brushing up their green credentials to please their customers and stay one step ahead of the competition.
Keywords: Businesses, sustainable design
Keyword Location: Paragraph J
Explanation: as per paragraph J, it has been mentioned that . Many large companies are actively adopting sustainable design and honing their green credentials in order to please their customers and keep one step ahead of the competition as consumers' environmental concerns grow. So, the correct answer is Yes.

Question 13:- Companies will spend less on repairing in the future.

Answer: Not Given
Explanation: There has been no relevant information provided in the paragraphs associated with the question statement. So, the correct answer is Not Given.

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Could Better Design Cure Our Throwaway Culture Reading Answers

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