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The Burden of Thirst Reading Answers
Author
17-09-2025
Here we have given the burden of thirst reading answers as an illustration for the IELTS reading practice test. This article consists of 13 questions in 3 different types namely- 6 questions as matching heading, 5 questions sentence completion and 2 questions as multiple choice.
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Table of content:
- Solution for the burden of thirst
- The burden of thirst IELTS reading practice test
- Passage
- Questions
- Answers with explanation
Solution for The Burden of Thirst
Here the answers for the burden of thirst reading answers, below in the table form.
Answer Table
| 1. vi | 4. i | 7. Drought | 10. Wells | 13. A OR C IN EITHER ORDER |
| 2. v | 5. iv | 8. 3.3 million | 11. Sand | |
| 3. viii | 6. iii | 9. Crops | 12. A OR C IN EITHER ORDER |
The Burden of Thirst IELTS Reading Practice Test - Exam Review
We have given the burden of thirst IELTS reading answers. This article will help you to be excellent in the IELTS reading practice test. Scrutinize the given passage carefully to answer the question.
Passage
We have given the burden of thirst reading answers with location. Go through the given passage and answer the questions.
The Burden of Thirst Reading Answers
Millions of women carry water long distances. If they had a tap by their door, whole societies would be transformed.
A
Aylito Binayo’s feet know the mountain. Even at four in the morning, she can run down the rocks to the river by starlight alone and climb the steep mountain back up to her village with a container of water on her back. She has made this journey three times a day since she was a small child. So has every other woman in her village of Foro, in the Konso district of south-western Ethiopia in Africa. Binayo left school when she was eight years old, in part because she had to help her mother fetch water from the Toiro River. The water is unsafe to drink; every year that the drought continues, the river carries less water, and its flow is reduced. But it is the only water Foro has ever had.
B
In developed parts of the world, people turn on a tap and out pours abundant, clean water. Yet nearly 900 million people in the world have no access to clean water. Furthermore, 2.5 billion people have no safe way to get rid of human waste. Polluted water and lack of proper hygiene cause disease and kill 3.3 million people around the world annually, most of them children. In southern Ethiopia and in northern Kenya, a lack of rain over the past few years has made even dirty water hard to find. But soon, for the first time, things are going to change.
C
Bringing clean water close to villagers’ homes is the key to the problem. Communities where clean water becomes accessible and plentiful are transformed. All the hours previously spent hauling water can be used to cultivate more crops, raise more animals or even start a business. Families spend less time sick or caring for family members who are unwell. Most important, not having to collect water means girls can go to school and get jobs. The need to fetch water for the family, or to take care of younger siblings while their mother goes, usually prevents them ever having this experience.
D
But the challenges of bringing water to remote villages like those in Konso are overwhelming. Locating water underground and then reaching it by means of deep wells requires geological expertise and expensive, heavy machines. Abandoned wells and water projects litter the villages of Konso. In similar villages around the developing world, the biggest problem with water schemes is that about half of them break down soon after the groups that built them move on. Sometimes technology is used that can’t be repaired locally, or spare parts are available only in the capital.
E
Today, a UK-based international non-profit organisation called WaterAid is tackling the job of bringing water to the most remote villages of Konso. Their approach combines technologies proven to last - such as building a sand dam to capture and filter rainwater that would otherwise drain away. But the real innovation is that WaterAid believes technology is only part of the solution. Just as important is involving the local community in designing, building and maintaining new water projects. Before beginning any project, WaterAid asks the community to create a WASH (water, sanitation, hygiene) committee of seven people. The committee works with WaterAid to plan projects and involve the village in construction. Then it maintains and runs the project.
F
The people of Konso, who grow their crops on terraces they have dug into the sides of mountains, are famous for hard work. In the village of Orbesho, residents even constructed a road themselves so that drilling machinery could come in. Last summer, their pump, installed by the river, was being motorised to push its water to a newly built reservoir on top of a nearby mountain. From there, gravity will carry it down in pipes to villages on the other side of the mountain. Residents of those villages have each given some money to help fund the project. They have made concrete and collected stones for the structures. Now they are digging trenches to lay pipes. If all goes well, Aylito Binayo will have a tap with safe water just a three-minute walk from her front door.
Questions
Questions 1-6
- The reading passage has six paragraphs, A-F.
- Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
1. Paragraph A
2. Paragraph B
3. Paragraph C
4. Paragraph D
5. Paragraph E
6. Paragraph F
| List of Headings | |
| i | Why some plans have failed |
| ii | A rural and urban problem |
| iii | A possible success |
| iv | Explaining a new management style |
| v | Some relevant statistics |
| vi | A regular trip for some people |
| vii | Treating people for disease |
| viii | How water can change people’s live |
Questions 7-11
- Complete the sentences below.
- Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
7. The water levels in the Toiro River are falling because of
8. Globally, the number of people who die each year as a result of using dirty water is
9. When families have clean water, they can spend more time growing
10. Specialist knowledge and equipment are needed to dig
11. WaterAid uses a dam made of to capture rainwater.
Questions 12-13
- Choose TWO letters, A-E.
- Which TWO of these activities were performed by the villagers of Orbesho?
A Building a transport route
B Digging a reservoir
C Gathering building materials
D Making pipes
E Fitting taps
Answers for The Burden of Thirst with explanation
In this section we have given the burden of thirst reading answers with explanations, this portion will help you to recorrect your mistakes.
1. Answer: vi
Explanation: “She has made this journey three times a day since she was a small child. So has every other woman in her village of Foro, in the Konso district of south-western Ethiopia in Africa”. With this line it is clear that paragraph A states about a regular trip for some people. Hence the given answer is located in the 3-5 lines of paragraph A.
2. Answer: v
Explanation: “Yet nearly 900 million people in the world have no access to clean water. Furthermore, 2.5 billion people have no safe way to get rid of human waste. Polluted water and lack of proper hygiene cause disease and kill 3.3 million people around the world annually, most of them children”. With this line it is clear that paragraph B states about some relevant statistics. Hence the given answer is located in the 2-5 lines of paragraph B.
3. Answer: viii
Explanation: “Bringing clean water close to villagers’ homes is the key to the problem. Communities where clean water becomes accessible and plentiful are transformed”. With this line it is clear how water can change people’s lives. Hence the given answer is located in the first 2 lines of paragraph C.
4. Answer: i
Explanation: “the biggest problem with water schemes is that about half of them break down soon after the groups that built them move on. Sometimes technology is used that can’t be repaired locally, or spare parts are available only in the capital”. With this line it is clear that paragraph D states why some plans have failed. Hence the given answer is located in the 1-3 lines of paragraph D.
5. Answer: iv
Explanation: “Today, a UK-based international non-profit organisation called WaterAid is tackling the job of bringing water to the most remote villages of Konso”. With this line it is clear that paragraph E explaining a new management style. Hence the given answer is located in the 1- 2 lines of paragraph E.
6. Answer: iii
Explanation: “If all goes well, Aylito Binayo will have a tap with safe water just a three-minute walk from her front door”. With this line it is clear that paragraph F states about a possible success. Hence the given answer is located in the last 2 lines of paragraph F.
7. Answer: Drought
Explanation: “The water is unsafe to drink; every year that the drought continues, the river carries less water, and its flow is reduced. But it is the only water Foro has ever had”. With this line it is clear that the water levels in the Toiro River are falling because of drought. Hence the given answer is located in the last 3 lines of paragraph A.
8. Answer: 3.3 million
Explanation: “Polluted water and lack of proper hygiene cause disease and kill 3.3 million people around the world annually, most of them children”. With this line it is clear that globally, the number of people who die each year as a result of using dirty water is 3.3 million. Hence the given answer is located in the 3-5 lines of paragraph B.
9. Answer: crops
Explanation: “All the hours previously spent hauling water can be used to cultivate more crops, raise more animals or even start a business”. With this line it is clear that when families have clean water, they can spend more time growing crops. Hence the given answer is located in the 2-4 lines of paragraph C.
10. Answer: wells
Explanation: “Locating water underground and then reaching it by means of deep wells requires geological expertise and expensive, heavy machines. Abandoned wells and water projects litter the villages of Konso”. With this line it is clear that specialist knowledge and equipment are needed to dig well. Hence the given answer is located in the 2-5 lines of paragraph D.
11. Answer: Sand
Explanation: “Today, a UK-based international non-profit organisation called WaterAid is tackling the job of bringing water to the most remote villages of Konso. Their approach combines technologies proven to last - such as building a sand dam to capture and filter rainwater that would otherwise drain away”. With this line it is clear that WaterAid uses a sand dam made of to capture rainwater. Hence the given answer is located in the first 4 lines of paragraph E.
12. Answer: A or C either order
Explanation: “The people of Konso, who grow their crops on terraces they have dug into the sides of mountains, are famous for hard work. In the village of Orbesho, residents even constructed a road themselves so that drilling machinery could come in”. With this line it is clear that Building a transport route and gathering building materials were performed by the villagers of Orbesho. Hence the given answer is located in the first 3 lines of paragraph F.
13. Answer: A or C either order
Explanation: “They have made concrete and collected stones for the structures. Now they are digging trenches to lay pipes. If all goes well, Aylito Binayo will have a tap with safe water just a three-minute walk from her front door”. With this line it is clear that Building a transport route and gathering building materials were performed by the villagers of Orbesho. Hence the given answer is located in the last 3 lines of paragraph F.
Other reading answers
About Author Arivarasi
Arivarasi is an experienced author with expertise in the study abroad industry and preparing test materials for exams like IELTS, TOEFL, GRE, SAT, PTE, etc. She stays up-to-date with university and college requirements for international students which allows her to provide guidance on course selection, documents like SOP, LOR, and scholarship opportunities. She has written numerous articles on study abroad exams, destinations, universities & colleges requirements, admission procedures, and the entire process of studying abroad. Collaborating with industry experts and counselors, she crafts informative articles that make students take the right decisions.
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