Reading Wars- IELTS Reading Answer

Reading Passage

Reading Wars

Questions 27-33

NB You may use any letter more than once.

27 A reason why constructivism might increase inequalities in society

28 Ways in which people debated the merits of different ways of teaching reading

29 A comparison between forms of communication that build meaning from isolated parts

30 Reasons why a method that is theoretically superior might not always work effectively in practice

31 An explanation of why measuring the success of different reading methods is difficult

32 An example of an activity that teachers might use to develop writing skills

33 Evidence of a national decline in reading standards

Choose THREE letters, A-G.

Which THREE of the following are features of constructivism?

A Students learn best by working on their own.

B  People are naturally inclined to develop language abilities.

C It is vital that a disciplined and regulated approach is used.

D It is important that students understand every word they encounter.

E Language is best learned as a single, organic process.

F Everyone learns to read and write in a similar manner.

G  Context can provide helpful cues to understanding words.

Question 37-39

Which THREE of the following are features of behaviorism?

A The whole of a word is less important than its parts.

B There is not a common set of conventions.

C Students learn best by worl0ng on their own.

D Meaning is created by connecting word fragments.

E Linguistic capacities are built into people.

F Students learn by receiving information from teachers.

G It is difficult to judge how well students are doing collectively.

Question 40

Which of the following statements best summarises the writer’s general conclusion?

A Constructivism is better, while behaviorism leads to negative social effects.

B Each method complements the other, and their application should be integrated.

C Ideally constructivism would be used, but behaviorism is more pragmatic.

D Neither is particularly useful, and there needs to be a new alternative.

Reading Answer

27 Answer: E

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph E

Answer explanation: Paragraph E states the fact, “Constructivists, however, can make the valid claim that the behaviorist approach has a heavy methodological bias towards testing and examination, and that test results do not represent the ability of individuals to use and interpret language freely and creatively. Furthermore, different socio-economic groups respond in different ways to each method. Those from wealthier families tend to do well regardless of the method but thrive on the constructivist approach implemented in the 1990s. Children from poorer families, however, are better served by behaviorism. These outcomes have ramped up levels of socio-economic-based educational disparities in educational systems that have pushed the constructivist method.” These lines illustrate a reason why constructivism might increase inequalities in society. Thus, the answer is paragraph E.

28 Answer: B

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph B

Answer explanation: Paragraph B states, “This reversal of fortunes has led to widespread contention over the pedagogy of teaching literacy. What was once a dry and technical affair — the esoteric business of linguists and policy analysts — rapidly escalated into a series of skirmishes that were played out in high-visibility forums”  We can deduce from these lines that the reversal of fortunes resulted in the widespread contention over the pedagogy of teaching literacy. It was a dry and technical affair. The esoteric business of linguists and analysts got into an episode of fights that were played out in high visibility forums. Thus, these lines indicate ways in which people debated the merits of different ways of teaching reading. Hence, the answer is B.

29 Answer: D

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph D

Answer explanation: Paragraph D states, “Behaviourism sees the pedagogical process in a less dialectical fashion — words are initially taught not lexically, as vehicles to convey meaning, but rather sub-lexically, as a combination of features that can be separated and learned in a schematic process. The behaviorist approach does not focus on words at all in the early stages of learning. Rather, it is centered on a universally applicable method of teaching students to isolate graphemes and phonemes with the intention that students will eventually learn to synthesize these individual parts and make sense of spoken words textually.” These lines suggest a comparison between the forms of communication that build meaning from isolated parts. Hence, the answer is D.

30 Answer: F

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph F

Answer explanation: Paragraph F illustrates that It is unlikely that either constructivism or behaviorism will be permanently sidelined from curricula in the near future. Most teachers find it easier to incorporate aspects of each approach. Constructivism may ultimately hold the trump card because of its proven success with pupils who come from families where they are introduced to reading and writing in various forms from a young age—this process of living and learning and immersing oneself in the language is a sound principle. In a world rife with social inequities, households with illiterate parents, and a scarcity of funding for education, however, the behaviorist approach may have the upper hand in teaching children to access the basic skills of literacy quickly and efficiently, even if some linguistic creativity is crushed in the process. These lines indicate reasons why a method that is theoretically superior might not always work effectively in practice. Hence, the answer is F.

31 Answer: E

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph E

Answer explanation: The introductory line of paragraph E states, “So who comes out on top? It is not easy to say. Champions of behaviorism have claimed victory because constructivist learning took over in the late 1980s, just before test scores on literacy began sinking across the West. Constructivists, however, can make the valid claim that the behaviorist approach has a heavy methodological bias towards testing and examination, and that test results do not represent the ability of individuals to use and interpret language freely and creatively.” These lines reveal an explanation of why measuring the success of different reading methods is difficult. Hence, the answer is E.

32 Answer: C

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 7

Answer explanation: The 7th line of paragraph C states that students are encouraged to learn individual words and skip over and guess words they do not understand or learn to interpret those words by situating them within the lexical infrastructure of the sentence and the story’s wider narrative. These practices materialize as learning processes centered on guided group reading and independent reading of high-quality, culturally diverse literature of textual composition that emphasizes pupils conveying their own thoughts and feelings for real purposes such as letters to pen pals or journal entries. These lines suggest an example of an activity that the teachers might use to develop the writing skills of the students. Hence, the answer is C.

33 Answer: A

Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph A

Answer explanation: Paragraph A states that in many developed countries literacy skills are under siege. This is true even in societies where access to primary education is universal and governments invest heavily in education. New Zealand, for example, was leading the world in literacy rates in 1970, but tumbled to thirteenth place in 2001 and then again to twenty-fourth just a few years later. Test scores in the USA also slumped ten percent during the 1990s despite the country riding an economic boom for much of the decade. These lines suggest evidence of a national decline in reading standards. Hence, the answer is A.

34 Answer: B

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph D, 2nd last line

Answer explanation: The 2nd last line of paragraph D states that the ability to master language is considered to rest in the acquisition of a set of skills that exist independently of individuals. These lines indicate that mastering language skills is considered to rest in the acquisition of certain skills that exist independently of individuals. Thus, one of the features of constructivism is that people are naturally inclined toward developing their language skills. Hence, the answer is B.

35 Answer: E

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 3

Answer explanation: The 3rd line of paragraph F states that Constructivism may ultimately hold the trump card because of its proven success with pupils who come from families where they are introduced to reading and writing in various forms from a young age—this process of living and learning and immersing oneself in the language is a sound principle. These lines illustrate that language is best learned as a single, organic process. process. So, the answer is E.

36 Answer: G

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 5

Answer explanation: The 5th line of paragraph C states that constructivists associate words with meanings; each word might be thought of like a Chinese ideogram. Students are encouraged to learn individual words and skip over and guess words they do not understand, or learn to interpret those words by situating them within the lexical infrastructure of the sentence and the story’s wider narrative. We can deduce from these lines that context can provide helpful cues to understanding words. Hence, the answer is G.

37 Answer: A

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 3

Answer explanation: The 3rd line of paragraph D states that the behaviorist approach does not focus on words at all in the early stages of learning. These lines indicate that the whole of a word is less important than its parts. Thus, the answer is A.

38 Answer: D

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph D

Answer explanation: The introductory lines of paragraph D state that Behaviourism sees the pedagogical process in a less dialectical fashion — words are initially taught not lexically, as vehicles to convey meaning, but rather sub-lexically, as a combination of features that can be separated and learned in a schematic process. These lines illustrate that meaning is created by connecting word fragments. Hence, the answer is D.

39 Answer: F

Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph D, last line

Answer explanation: The last line of paragraph D illustrates that Classroom learning is therefore based upon the transmission of knowledge from tutor to student, rather than seen as an internalized process that erupts within the students themselves. We can understand from these lines that students learn by receiving information from teachers in the classroom. Hence, the answer is F.

40 Answer: C

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer location: Paragraphs A – F

Answer explanation: When we go through paragraphs A – to, we understand that the writer’s general conclusion to the reading passage is that ideally constructivism would be used, but behaviorism is more pragmatic. Thus, the suitable conclusion to the passage and the answer is C.

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