Greying Population Stays In The Pink Answers - IELTS Reading Sample

In the IELTS, you must focus on the reading section to achieve the desired band score. The IELTS Reading test assesses various reading abilities, including interpreting logical reasoning and identifying authors' perspectives, attitudes, and purposes. So, it is essential to practice competently, and to help you in that, here is a practice sample titled ‘’greying population stays in the pink,’ reading passage with answers.

Greying Population Stays In The Pink

Elderly people are growing healthier, happier and more independent, say American scientists. The results of a 14-year study to be announced later this month reveal that the  diseases associated with old age are afflicting fewer and fewer people and when they do strike, it is much later in life.

In the last 14 years, the National Long-term Health Care Survey has gathered data on the health and lifestyles of more than 20,000 men and women over 65. Researchers, now analysing the results of data gathered in 1994, say arthritis, high blood pressure and circulation problems - the major medical complaints in this age group - are troubling a smaller proportion every year. And the data confirms that the rate at which these diseases are declining continues to accelerate. Other diseases of old age - dementia, stroke, arteriosclerosis and emphysema - are also troubling fewer and fewer people.

'It really raises the question of what should be considered normal ageing,' says Kenneth Manton, a demographer from Duke University in North Carolina. He says the problems doctors accepted as normal in a 65-year-old in 1982 are often not appearing until people are 70 or 75.

Clearly, certain diseases are beating a retreat in the face of medical advances. But there may be other contributing factors. Improvements in childhood nutrition in the first quarter of the twentieth century, for example, gave today's elderly people a better start in life than their predecessors.

On the downside, the data also reveals failures in public health that have caused surges in some illnesses. An increase in some cancers and bronchitis may reflect changing smoking habits and poorer air quality, say the researchers. 'These may be subtle influences,' says Manton, 'but our subjects have been exposed to worse and worse pollution for over 60 years. It's not surprising we see some effect.'

One interesting correlation Manton uncovered is that better-educated people are likely to live longer. For example, 65-year-old women with fewer than eight years of schooling are expected, on average, to live to 82. Those who continued their education live an extra seven years. Although some of this can be attributed to a higher income, Manton believes it is mainly because educated people seek more medical attention.

The survey also assessed how independent people over 65 were, and again found a striking trend. Almost 80% of those in the 1994 survey could complete everyday activities ranging from eating and dressing unaided to complex tasks such as cooking and managing their finances. That represents a significant drop in the number of disabled old people in the population. If the trends apparent in the United States 14 years ago had continued, researchers calculate there would be an additional one million disabled elderly people in today's population. According to Manton, slowing the trend has saved the United States government's Medicare system more than $200 billion, suggesting that the greying of America's population may prove less of a financial burden than expected.

The increasing self-reliance of many elderly people is probably linked to a massive increase in the use of simple home medical aids. For instance, the use of raised toilet seats has more than doubled since the start of the study, and the use of bath seats has grown by more than 50%. These developments also bring some health benefits, according to a report from the MacArthur Foundation's research group on successful ageing. The group found that those elderly people who were able to retain a sense of independence were more likely to stay healthy in old age.

Maintaining a level of daily physical activity may help mental functioning, says Carl Cotman, a neuroscientist at the University of California at Irvine. He found that rats that exercise on a treadmill have raised levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor coursing through their brains. Cotman believes this hormone, which keeps neurons functioning, may prevent the brains of active humans from deteriorating.

As part of the same study, Teresa Seeman, a social epidemiologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, found a connection between self-esteem and stress in people over 70. In laboratory simulations of challenging activities such as driving, those who felt in control of their lives pumped out lower levels of stress hormones such as cortisol. Chronically high levels of these hormones have been linked to heart disease.

But independence can have drawbacks. Seeman found that elderly people who felt emotionally isolated maintained higher levels of stress hormones even when asleep. The research suggests that older people fare best when they feel independent but know they can get help when they need it.

'Like much research into ageing, these results support common sense,' says Seeman. They also show that we may be underestimating the impact of these simple factors. 'The sort of thing that your grandmother always told you turns out to be right on target,' she says.

Questions 1-9

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

Write the correct letter, A-Q, in boxes 1-9 on your answer sheet.

Research carried out by scientists in the United States has shown that the proportion of people over 65 suffering from the most common age-related medical problems is 

Research carried out by scientists in the United States has shown that the proportion of people over 65 suffering from the most common age-related medical problems is ____1_____ and that the speed of this change is _____2_____. It also seems that these diseases are affecting people ______3_____ in life than they did in the past. This is largely due to developments in ______4______ but other factors such as improved _______5_____ may also be playing a part. Increases in some other illnesses may be due to changes in personal habits and to ______6_____. The research establishes a link between levels of _______7_____ and life expectancy. It also shows that there has been a considerable reduction in the number of elderly people who are ______8_____ which means that the _______9_____ involved in supporting this section of the population may be less than previously predicted.

1.Answer: B

Explanation: As we can see in the second paragraph of the IELTS reading sample ‘Greying population stays in the pink’, researchers believe the 1994 data collection showed some excellent findings. It is clear from the line, "And the data confirms that the rate at which these diseases are declining continues to accelerate"  The word "are declining" in the statement denotes that it is falling; hence the correct answer is B, falling. 

2.Answer: I

Explanation: Towards the end of paragraph 2 of the IELTS reading sample ‘Greying population stays in the pink’, it is mentioned that "And the data confirms that the rate at which these diseases are declining continues to accelerate." Here accelerate is the synonym for increase. So, we can infer that the speed is increasing among old people.

3.Answer: F

Explanation: In the third paragraph of the IELTS reading sample ‘Greying population stays in the pink’, Kenneth Manton, a demographer from Duke University in North Carolina, says that the ‘problems doctors accepted as normal in a 65-year-old in 1982’ are often ‘not appearing until people are 70 or 75’. Here the problems in 65 year old refer to the issues such as high blood pressure, arthritis, and circulation problems. Also, he indicates that all these diseases affect people later in life. So, the answer is later. 

4.Answer: M

Explanation: In the first line of the fourth paragraph of the IELTS reading sample ‘Greying population stays in the pink’, it is mentioned that "Clearly, certain diseases are beating a retreat in the face of medical advances. "But there may be other contributing factors". Here, certain diseases are beating a retreat means that diseases are declining, as we have seen in question 1.

5.Answer: J

Explanation: The fourth paragraph of the IELTS reading sample ‘Greying population stays in the pink’ notes that improving medical advancements contributes to declining some diseases. One of the contributing factors is childhood nutrition. So, having better nutrition at an early age gave today’s elderly people a better start in life than their predecessors. So, the correct answer is J.

6.Answer: N

Explanation: We can see the keyword pollution, in the fifth paragraph of the IELTS reading sample ‘Greying population stays in the pink’, in the last few lines. It is mentioned in the paragraph that An increase in some cancers and bronchitis may reflect changing smoking habits and poorer air quality. Here changing smoking habits relate to personal habits and poor air quality= pollution. Also, from the last line, we can infer that there will be some effects since the subjects have been exposed to pollution over the years. 

7.Answer: K

Explanation: In the first line of the sixth paragraph, it is mentioned that "One interesting correlation Manton uncovered is that better-educated people are likely to live longer." The correlation here means a link, and "likely to live longer" refers to having a better life expectancy. There is an example given that 65-years older women who continued their education live an extra seven years. So, it shows education increases life expectancy.

8.Answer: G

Explanation: The seventh paragraph reads that almost 80% of those in the 1994 survey could complete everyday activities ranging from eating and dressing unaided to complex tasks such as cooking and managing their finances. This represents a significant drop in the number of disabled old people. Here significant drop= considerable reduction and old people= elderly people. So, the correct answer is G. 

9.Answer: A

Explanation: As we can see in the seventh paragraph, According to Manton, slowing the trend ‘has saved the United States government’s Medicare system more than $200 billion, suggesting that the ‘greying of America’s population may prove less of a financial burden. Here, the less financial burden is attributed to less cost, and the cost of supporting the elder population is less. 

Questions 10-13

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-H, below.

Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.

10. Home medical aids 

Answer: G

Explanation: In the eighth paragraph, it is mentioned that " The increasing self-reliance of many elderly people is probably linked to a massive increase in the use of simple home medical aids."

Here, increasing self-reliance= more independence; elderly people=old people. So, in simpler words, with the help of medical aids, old people have more independence. So, the correct answer is G.

11. Regular amounts of exercise 

Answer: E

Explanation: In the ninth paragraph, we can see Carl Cotman, a neuroscientist at the University of California at Irvine, says that ‘maintaining a level of daily physical activity may ‘help mental functioning. Here maintaining a level of daily physical activity equates to regular amounts of exercise. So, we can conclude that regular exercise may help prevent mental decline. Hence, the correct answer is 9. 

12. Feelings of control over life

Answer: H

Explanation: 

In the tenth paragraph, we see that Teresa Seeman, a social epidemiologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, found that there is a  connection between self-esteem and stress in people over 70. In laboratory simulations of challenging activities such as driving, those who felt in control of their lives pumped lower stress hormones such as cortisol. Here we can say that "felt in control of their lives" means a feeling of control over life. And it is mentioned that there are lower levels of stress hormones, which reduces stress.

13. Feelings of loneliness

Answer: C

Explanation: In the eleventh paragraph, Seeman found that elderly people who felt emotionally isolated maintained higher levels of stress hormones even when asleep. The research suggests that older people fare best when they feel independent but know they can get help when needed. Here, emotionally isolated= feelings of loneliness and higher levels of stress hormones, which is the same as the rise in the levels of stress hormones. So, the correct answer is C.