B2IELTS-style · Band 5.5–6.5Reading18 min

IELTS Reading: Plastic Pollution and the Oceans

Plastic pollution and the oceans

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IELTS Academic Reading • B2 ⏱️ Recommended Time: 18 minutes

🌊 Plastic Pollution and the Oceans

Read the academic text below and answer the 10 questions that follow. Ensure your answers adhere strictly to the passage facts.

📋 For the teacher

You have 18 minutes to complete this reading exercise.

Use the answer key to review your students' responses after they finish.

🎯 For the learner

First, read the text carefully to understand the main points.

Next, answer the questions based only on the information provided in the passage.

Reading Passage: Plastic pollution and the oceans

Academic Text

[A] The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) reported in 2022 that the world's plastic waste more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, to 353 million tonnes. Recycling dealt with only 9% of it. Burning took about 19%, landfill took 50% and uncontrolled dumps took 22%.

[B] The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) published a report in October 2021 called From Pollution to Solution. It said that plastic makes up 85% of all marine litter, which means rubbish in the sea. It expects the flow of plastic into the ocean to nearly triple by 2040, adding 23 to 37 million tonnes a year.

[C] NOAA, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, calls small plastic pieces less than five millimetres long microplastics. It says that most plastic in the ocean breaks into very small particles, and larger litter slowly breaks into tinier fragments.

[D] The writer's own cautious view, hedged: these facts seem to show that most plastic is not recycled and that plastic in the sea breaks into very small pieces, and I think the UNEP figures suggest that the problem could grow. The facts here do not show how much plastic enters the sea each year today or how much harm the small pieces do.

Questions 1–3

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the reading passage?

In boxes 1–3 on your answer sheet, choose:
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer.
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer.
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.

1 A lower percentage of global plastic waste was handled by recycling than by incineration.

____ YES ____ NO ____ NOT GIVEN

2 The UNEP report outlines practical methods to remove all plastic rubbish from the ocean by 2040.

____ YES ____ NO ____ NOT GIVEN

3 NOAA defines plastic fragments that measure over five millimetres as microplastics.

____ YES ____ NO ____ NOT GIVEN

Questions 4–5

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

Write the correct letter in boxes 4–5 on your answer sheet.

4 According to paragraph C, what is stated regarding plastic waste in the marine environment?

____ A. It retains its original manufactured dimensions indefinitely without degrading. ____ B. It gradually disintegrates into smaller pieces over time. ____ C. It immediately transforms into particles exceeding five millimetres. ____ D. It is mostly eliminated through natural chemical absorption.

5 In paragraph D, what is the writer's primary reason for expressing a cautious attitude?

____ A. The OECD report was completely disproved by subsequent research. ____ B. Marine litter has stopped accumulating according to the latest 2040 estimates. ____ C. Key information regarding current annual intake and the extent of damage remains unstated. ____ D. More than half of discarded plastics are already safely incinerated or recycled.

Questions 6–8

The reading passage has four paragraphs, A–D.

Which paragraph contains the following information? Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

6 a projection regarding how significantly the annual flow of plastic into marine waters might escalate by 2040

____ Paragraph A ____ Paragraph B ____ Paragraph C ____ Paragraph D

7 a statistical breakdown showing the proportion of plastic rubbish dealt with by different disposal routes

____ Paragraph A ____ Paragraph B ____ Paragraph C ____ Paragraph D

8 the precise physical measurement boundary used to categorise minute plastic particles

____ Paragraph A ____ Paragraph B ____ Paragraph C ____ Paragraph D

Questions 9–10

Complete the summary below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 9 and 10 on your answer sheet.