Vocabulary: Obese, Fat or Overweight

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Students often confuse the words: obese, fat and overweight. This lesson will explain the difference between these words so that you learn to use them correctly.

IELTS often has questions in both writing and speaking about the problems of eating fast food or problems with the modern diet. Making mistakes with these words is common and will damage your band score.

  • Obesity (n) / Obese (adj) = a medical condition when excess body fat has accumulated and can have a negative impact on a persons health by contributing to health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes or kidney problems. This term is often used incorrectly and is only used in extreme cases when a person’s weight is a serious health concern and is labelled as a medical condition.
  • Overweight (n) / Overweight (adj) = weighing more than is considered normal or more than is optimally healthy and can cause some health concerns depending on how overweight a person is. This is neither negative or positive in meaning and is just a statement of a person’s size.
  • Fat = being larger than normal. This is used informally to describe people who are considered larger than average. It is not a polite term to use and can be offensive to people.

Practice Vocabulary Questions

Fill in the sentences below with the correct word listed above. Make sure you use the correct form of the word. A word may be used more than once.

  1. Many people who have a sedentary lifestyle are …………………. because they do not participate in regular exercise.
  2. My next door neighbour got quite ………… when she went to live in America for a year. I think she ate fast food most the time.
  3. 14 million children worldwide under the age of 5 were either overweight or ………….. in 2016.
  4. Worldwide ………… has nearly tripled since 1975.
  5. It is easy for people to become ……………….. if they do not eat a healthy diet.

Answers

The answers are available on the link below.

CLICK HERE: ANSWERS TO OBESE VOCAB LESSON

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IELTS Reading: Choosing a Title: Practice & Tips

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Choosing a title for IELTS reading. This is another question type that appears in the IELTS Reading test which many people overlook because it isn’t a common one. However, it does appear and each answer you get write is a valuable point so it is worth preparing and training for this type of question.

Choosing a Title Tips

  • This is about choosing a title, not matching information
  • This reading exercise has only one question – to choose a title. However, normally this question would be given as the final question of the reading passage. This means you would already have answers over 10 questions on the passage before you come to this one.
  • The best title is the one that matching the whole aim of the passage.

IELTS Reading Choosing a Title Practice Lesson

Reading Passage:

Coffee is one of the most popular hot drinks in the world. Almost a third of the world’s population drinks coffee. People often meet at cafes or coffee shops for a coffee break during the middle of the morning or stop work in the afternoon to drink coffee.
About 7 million tons of coffee is produced every year. Brazil is, by far, the world’s largest coffee producer. About a third of the world’s production comes from this South American country. Other coffee producing countries include Vietnam, Indonesia and Colombia.
The United States is the biggest coffee consumer in the world. About 1.2 billion kilograms of coffee are consumed there every year. Drinking coffee is extremely popular in European countries, like Italy, France and Germany, as well as in Brazil.

Question: Which is the best title for the passage above?

Choose the correct letter A – C

A.  Coffee – a popular hot drink
B.  Coffee – the main consumers
C.  Coffee – the main producers

ANSWER

To see the answer, click below:

ANSWER

The correct answer is A

Explanation:

The opening paragraph and closing line both stress the same point which is about the popularity of coffee. While the first line alone or the last line alone might not themselves indicate aim, to have them both stressing the same point with so much detail in the first paragraph is something you can’t ignore.

There are no fixed rules about choosing a title. But you must remember that information for all options will be given in the passage. So, your aim is not to match information, but to decide what the whole aim of the passage is. You need to ask yourself – Why did this author write the passage? What was the aim of writing the passage? What was the key message that the author wanted to deliver?

So in this lesson, information about the producers and consumers was just extra information given in the passage for interest. But the main aim was to explain the popularity.

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English Expressions: Eat your Greens!

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This lesson focuses on a great expression for the topic of food when talking about vegetables “eat your greens”. The video tutorial below explains the meaning and how to use it correctly.

Eat Your Greens: Video Tutorial

Comments: This is a flexible use of English for IELTS speaking but not to be used in writing. This expression is always used in the plural “greens” and never used as a singular “green”.

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IELTS Speaking Part 1: Vegetables

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It is possible to get a topic about vegetables in IELTS speaking part 1. Below are some of the possible questions with a model answer and also a link to learn vocabulary for this topic.

  1. Do you like vegetables?
  2. Are there any vegetables you dislike?
  3. Did you like vegetables when you were a child?
  4. Are vegetables popular in your country?
  5. Do most people eat vegetables with their meal in your country?
  6. Are there many vegetarians in your country?
  7. Do you think it is important to eat vegetables?
  8. How can parents encourage their children to eat more vegetables?

Model Answers

  • Question: Do most people eat vegetables in your country?
  • Answer: Yes, they do. Almost every meal has either rice or potatoes and also another vegetable as well, such as cabbage, carrots, green beans or something like that. Quite a lot of people have a small proportion of vegetables to meat but at least they always have some kind of vegetable with their meal.

 

  • Question: Are there many vegetarians in your country?
  • Yes, quite a lot. Many people choose to avoid eating meat and their diet consists of both vegetables and grains. There are quite a few restaurants in my city which cater to vegetarians and offer the most wonderful dishes such as fried aubergine, spinach and potato, onion cakes and things like that. They’re actually very delicious.

Click the link to learn vocabulary for vegetables

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Vocabulary for Food: Vegetables

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Learn vocabulary for vegetables for the topic of food. In IELTS it is possible to get the topic of either food or just vegetables in speaking part 1. Make sure you include lots of interesting vocabulary in your answers.

Can you name all the vegetables in the picture below? Under the picture is a list of possible words, not all of them are in the picture (there are 26 words but only 24 answers needed).

vegetables-english-vocabulary

broccoli          aubergine          corn           tomatoes         bean sprouts           artichoke         cucumber           lettuce            onions           radish             garlic pumpkin          sweet potato             cauliflower               sprouts             potatoes              asparagus                peas              courgette              red pepper             chili pepper           carrots               parsnip               celery              beans                mushrooms           spinach         beetroot

Answers

  1. peas
  2. mushrooms
  3. pumpkin
  4. cauliflower
  5. radish
  6. onions
  7. celery
  8. artichoke
  9. carrots
  10. potatoes
  11. lettuce
  12. tomatoes
  13. aubergine or eggplant
  14. sprouts
  15. courgette or zucchini
  16. cabbage
  17. corn (corn on the cob)
  18. asparagus
  19. beetroot
  20. broccoli
  21. red pepper
  22. sweet potato
  23. cucumber
  24. beans

 

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IELTS Reading: GM Foods Multiple Choice

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Below is a reading passage on GM foods which require you to answer multiple choice questions. This is a useful exercise to practise reading and build awareness of vocabulary for this topic.

Reading Passage: GM Food

Genetically modified food (GM food) is produced from plants which have had their genes tweaked in the lab. Scientists “cut and paste” a gene from another organism into a plant’s DNA to give it a new characteristic. This can be to increase yield or to allow the plant to exist in a more hostile environment than normal. Pro-GM scientists say this means cheaper more plentiful food but opponents argue we do not know the consequences of meddling with nature.

Farmers have modified their crops for thousands of years by crossing similar species. However, modern GM is controversial. Critics say the modified crops could “escape” and cross with wild plants, with unknown consequences. They also argue that more chemicals are used on some GM fields which may have a negative impact on wildlife. And while no study has found GM food to be harmful to humans, opponents say it is too soon to be sure.

A group of biotechnology experts say it is time to loosen Europe’s draconian regulations on genetically modified crops. In a report released today they argue that genetically modified crops have been used safely for decades, so no longer need to be automatically treated as unsafe. They also say that genetically modified crops should be reclaimed from multinational companies and treated as a public good.

Questions 1-5

Choose the best answer A-C to complete the sentence.

1. The genetic makeup of GM foods has been………

a) twisted.

b) altered.

c) cut.

2. By genetically engineering plants, they are……………

a) likely to increase in size.

b) able to produce more.

c) not able to exist in difficult conditions.

3. One issue with GM plants is the potential to………

a) breakout causing undetermined consequences.

b) infect wild plants with unknown results.

c) cross pollinate.

4. It is thought, by specialists in biotechnology that policies governing GM crops should be…….

a) tightened.

b) relaxed.

c) reviewed.

5. GM foods ought to be ……….

a) reclaimed for the use of multinational companies.

b) used safely.

c) no longer privatised.

ANSWERS

Click below:

Answers
  1. b
  2. b
  3. c
  4. b
  5. c

All reading exercises on ieltsliz.com have been written by myself to help you prepare for your IELTS test.   

Liz 

Vocabulary
  • tweak = adjust, modify, regular (the synonyms relate to the context)
  • cross with = reproduce with, cross pollinate
  • meddling with = interfering with
  • loosened = relaxed
  • regulations = rules / policies
  • experts = specialists
  • released = made public / issued / announced
  • draconian = strict / tough / harsh

Passage from: BBC News and New Scientist 14/03/14 

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GM Foods Topic – It is also possible to get this topic for writing task 2 or speaking part 3 in your IELTS test. Use this article to learn ideas and useful vocabulary.

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IELTS Conclusion Paragraph for Opinion Essay

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This lesson looks at how to write an IELTS conclusion paragraph for an opinion essay given below. Before you practice the conclusion, make sure you have completed the other lessons for this topic:

Every one of us should become a vegetarian because eating meat can cause serious health problems.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

An IELTS conclusion paragraph should summarise the main opinion that you gave in your opinion essay – both in the introduction and the body paragraphs. The conclusion repeats the main points in brief and maintains your position.

This is the introduction for this essay: Eating meat is considered by some to damage our health and for that reason they believe all people should adopt a vegetarian diet. In my opinion, although a vegetarian diet is certainly a healthy option, having a balanced diet, which contains vegetables and some healthy meat, is the key.

The above introduction explains the main points and the position of this essay. Now you must restate the main points again for your conclusion paragraph. Use the tips below to help you.

Tips for an IELTS Conclusion Paragraph
  1. Paraphrase the main points introduced in your introduction
  2. Don’t put new main points in your conclusion
  3. Don’t change your opinion in the conclusion
  4. Don’t write over 40 words
  5. You can write either one or two sentences
  6. Can you have a concluding statement which is a predicting if you wish

Write your conclusion before you check the model. Model Conclusion

In conclusion, by balancing both vegetables and healthy meats, for instance fish and chicken, people will be able to adapt their diet more easily in order to benefit their health.

OR

To conclude, by balancing mainly vegetables with fish or chicken, people will be able to adapt to a healthier diet more easily rather than become vegetarian. If people are educated about eating healthily, there will be less health problems in the future.

Recommended Lessons

IELTS Video Lesson: IELTS Conclusion Linkers
IELTS Video Lesson: Using the official answer sheet

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IELTS Essay Introduction for an Opinion Essay

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This lesson looks at how to write an IELTS essay introduction for an opinion essay. The introduction is the easiest part of any IELTS essay as it follows a similar content for all IELTS task 2 types.

This lesson is a follow-on lesson from last week. Learn how to find main points before continuing with this introduction lesson: Finding Main Points for an Opinion Essay:

Every one of us should become a vegetarian because eating meat can cause serious health problems.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

How to write an IELTS essay introduction
  1. Write one statement paraphrasing the information given. This will be your background statement. Make sure you paraphrase the information exactly and don’t include any irrelevant or extra information in it.
  2. When you paraphrase, make sure you are using words that you are confident with. It is good to paraphrase but you will reduce your band score if you have too many errors.
  3. Introduce your answer in the thesis statement. The thesis statement follows the background statement. It should contain your answer, your main points.
  4. Don’t write more than 50 words for your introduction.
Model Introduction

Eating meat is considered by some to damage our health and for that reason they believe all people should adopt a vegetarian diet. In my opinion, although a vegetarian diet is certainly a healthy option, having a balanced diet, which contains vegetables and some healthy meat, is the key.

Vocab Builder
  • cause serious health problems = damage our health
  • become a vegetarian = adopt a vegetarian diet

 

Next lesson, we will look at how to write the body paragraphs for this essay.

Recommended Lessons

Finding Main Points for an Opinion Essay (Previous Lesson for this topic)
IELTS Video Lesson for Writing Task 2: How to write an introduction
IELTS Video Lesson for Writing Task 2: Connecting Sentences
IELTS Liz YouTube Channel

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