Right And Left Handedness In Humans IELTS Reading Answers
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The Academic passage ‘Right And Left Handedness In Humans’ is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test. Try to find the answers to get an idea of the difficulty level of the passages in the actual reading test. If you want more passages to solve, try taking one of our IELTS reading practice tests
Right And Left Handedness In Humans
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| Question number | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Paragraph D points out that ‘Dr Brinkman’, a brain researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra, has suggested that ‘evolution of speech’ (first developed language) ‘went with right-handed preference’ (started to show a preference for right-handedness ). According to Brinkman, as the brain evolved, one side became specialised for fine control of movement (necessary for producing speech) and along with this evolution came right- hand preference.
Hence, the answer is B (Dr Brinkman). |
| 2 | D | Paragraph G mentions that according to Mr. Charles Moore, a writer and journalist, the way the word “right” reinforces its own virtue. Subliminally he says, language tells people to think that anything on the right can be trusted while ‘anything on the left is dangerous or even sinister’ according to societal prejudices. Due to these social preconceptions/prejudices about the evil of being left handed, ‘left handed children’ who are ‘forced to use their right hand’, often develop a stammer as they are robbed of their freedom of speech. Hence, the answer is D (Charles Moore). |
| 3 | C | Paragraph F informs that two American researchers, ‘Geschwind and Galaburda’, studied the brains of human embryos and discovered that the left-right asymmetry exists before birth. They found out that among mathematicians and architects, left-handers tend to be more common and there are ‘more left-handed males than females’ which proves that boys, or men are more likely to be left-handed than girls, or women. Hence, the answer is C (Geschwind and Galaburda). |
| 4 | B | Paragraph D brings out the fact that Dr Brinkman, a brain researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra, has observed that if a ‘left-handed person is brain-damaged’ (or suffered a stroke) in the left hemisphere, the ‘recovery of speech is quite often better’ and this is explained by the fact that ‘left-handers have a more bilateral speech function’. So, due to less bilateral speech function, right-handed people take more time to recover from a stroke.
Hence, the answer is B (Dr Brinkman). |
| 5 | A | Paragraph C states that in the 1860s the French surgeon and anthropologist, ‘Dr Paul Broca’, made the remarkable finding that ‘patients who had lost their powers of speech’ as a ‘result of a stroke’ (a blood clot in the brain) had ‘paralysis of the right half of their body’ (people suffer strokes on the left side of the brain usually lose their power of speech). He noted that since the left hemisphere of the brain controls the right half of the body, and vice versa, the brain damage must have been in the brain’s left hemisphere. Hence, the answer is A (Dr Broca). |
| 6 | C | Paragraph F noted that two American researchers, ‘Geschwind and Galaburda’, studied the brains of human embryos and discovered that the ‘left-right asymmetry’ (two sides of the brain with different functions) ‘exists before birth’. But as the brain develops, a number of things can affect it. Hence, the answer is C (Geschwind and Galaburda). |
| 7 | E | Paragraph A indicates that ‘Professor Bryan Turner’ at Deakin University has studied the research literature on left-handedness and found that handedness goes with sidedness. He noted that ‘distinctive asymmetry’ in the human population, or in the human body, is itself ‘systematic’ (common feature). Hence, the answer is E (Professor Turner). |
| 8 | 15 – 20% | Paragraph B relates that with ‘one right and one left-handed parent,’ there is a chance of ‘15 to 20 per cent’ that the offspring will be left-handed. Hence, the answer is 15-20%. |
| 9 | 40% | Paragraph B let out the fact that research has shown that ‘among two left-handed parents’, there is a probability that ‘40 percent of the children will also be left-handed’. Hence, the answer is 40%. |
| 10 | 6% | Paragraph B explains that research has shown that there is a genetic or inherited element to handedness. In fact, the author writes down that ‘about 6 percent of children will be left-handed’ if they have ‘two right-handed parents’.
Hence, the answer is 6%. |
| 11 | D | In paragraph E, it is considered that in her ‘studies of macaque monkeys’, Brinkman has noticed that primates (monkeys) seem to learn a hand preference from their mother in the first year of life. Since monkeys have not acquired the art of speech, one would not expect to see such a variation but Brinkman claims to have discovered a ‘trend in monkeys towards the asymmetry’ that is evident in the human brain. Hence, the answer is D (monkey brains are asymmetric). |
| 12 | B | Paragraph F communicates that two American researchers, Geschwind and Galaburda, studied the brains of human embryos and discovered that the left-right asymmetry exists before birth. In the last paragraph (G), the author adds that the results of the research by Geschwind and Galaburda may be ‘some consolation to left-handers’ who have for centuries ‘lived in a world designed to suit right-handed people’. From this statement, we can say that the author believes the world is biased towards right-handed people and so left-handed people have to face hardships for years. Later, in paragraph G, the views of Mr. Charles Moore, a writer and journalist, is also provided as he says that it is no coincidence that ‘left handed children’, forced to use their right hand, often ‘develop a stammer’ as ‘they are robbed of their freedom of speech’. Hence, the answer is B (have undergone hardship for years). |
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