Second Nature Reading Answers
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The Academic passage ‘Second Nature’ 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.
The question types found in this passage are:
Summary Completion
The Summary Completion types of questions in the IELTS reading test is one of the easiest question types wherein the test-taker should have to complete the summary by adding appropriate words from the passage. The summary completion type of questions assesses the test-taker’s ability to understand details within the text and to identify the main idea of the passage.
Matching Features
The matching feature types of questions are a very common type of questions in the IELTS reading test. In this type of question, the test-taker is required to match a list of options to a set of statements. The options will be presented in a box, which are the features, that will have been mentioned in the passage. The statements will not be ordered in the same way as the given text.
Matching Information
The matching information in the IELTS reading test is one of the easiest types of questions, which requires the test-taker to match the statements to the paragraphs in the passage. The test-taker should read and scan the passage thoroughly before attempting to answer the questions. The statements could be reasons, definitions, descriptions, summaries, definitions, facts, or explanaions.
You should spend 20 minutes to answer questions 14 to 26 based on the reading passage.
Second Nature
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The answers to questions 14 to 26 are given below along with their explanations.
14 Answer: transformation
Question type: Summary Completion
Answer location: Paragraph A, Line 1
Answer explanation: In the very beginning of Paragraph A, the author writes that ‘psychologists’ have ‘long held’ (traditionally) that a ‘person’s character’ (personality) ‘cannot undergo’ (impossible to have) a ‘transformation’ in any meaningful way. Hence, the answer is ‘transformation’.
15 Answer: Young age
Question type: Summary Completion
Answer location: Paragraph A, line 3
Answer explanation: Paragraph A reveals that psychologists have long held that the ‘key traits of personality’ (person’s character) are ‘determined’ (tends to be fixed) ‘at a very young age’. Hence, the answer is ‘young age’.
16 Answer: optimism
Question type: Summary Completion
Answer location: Paragraph A, Line 11
Answer explanation: In paragraph A, it is conveyed that some ‘qualities are less challenging’ (they are the easiest qualities to acquire) to develop than others, ‘optimism being one of them’. Hence, the answer is ‘optimism’.
17 Answer: skills
Question type: Summary Completion
Answer location: Paragraph A, line 12
Answer explanation: Paragraph A mentions that ‘developing qualities’ (in order for a new quality to develop) requires ‘mastering’ (learn) ‘a range of skills’ (a wide variety of skills) which are ‘diverse’ (different ) and sometimes surprising. Hence, the answer is ‘skills’.
18 Answer: negative emotions/ feelings
Question type: Summary Completion
Answer location: Paragraph A, line 15
Answer explanation: Paragraph A concludes that for developing qualities, it requires mastering a range of skills which are diverse and sometimes surprising. For example, to bring ‘more joy and passion’ (happiness) into one’s life, one must be open to ‘experiencing’ (understand and feel) ‘negative emotions’. Hence, the answer is ‘negative emotions’.
19 Answer: E
Question type: Matching Features
Answer location: Paragraph F, line 5
Answer explanation: Paragraph F points out psychologist ‘Todd Kashdan’’s advice for those people ‘taking up a new passion’ (first trying something new) as he says that as a newcomer, one ‘have to tolerate and laugh at one’s own ignorance’ (accept that they do not know much). He/she must be willing to accept the negative feelings that come their way. Hence, the answer is E (Todd Kashdan).
20 Answer: C
Question type: Matching Features
Answer location: Paragraph D, line 1
Answer explanation: In paragraph D, the writer talks about ‘Suzanne Segerstrom’, professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, who recommends everyone to train themselves to ‘pay attention’ (actively notice) to ‘good fortune’ (when good things happen) by writing down three positive things that come about each day. Hence, the answer is C (Suzanne Segerstrom).
21 Answer: G
Question type: Matching Features
Answer location: Paragraph H, line 8
Answer explanation: Paragraph H notes that according to ‘Cynthia Pury’, a psychologist at Clemson University, courage is not motivated by fearlessness, but by ‘moral obligation’ (a sense of responsibility). Pury also believes that ‘people can acquire courage’ (courage can be learned). Many of her students said that faced with a risky situation, they first tried to calm themselves down, then looked for a way to mitigate the danger. This means that they tried to understand the source/origins of courage and acknowledged the responsibility to fight the fear or difficulty. Hence, the answer is G (Cynthia Pury).
22 Answer: A
Question type: Matching Features
Answer location: Paragraph B
Answer explanation: Paragraph B cites the example of Christopher Peterson, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan who says that personality traits can be altered. He was inherently ‘an introvert’ and he realised that ‘as an academic, his reticence’ (shyness) ‘would prove disastrous in the lecture hall’. So ‘he learned to be more outgoing and to entertain his classes’. This example proves that a person can overcome his/her shyness or introverted personality when they are faced with the need to speak in public space. Hence, the answer is A (Christopher Peterson).
23 Answer: E
Question type: Matching Information
Answer location: Paragraph E, line 6
Answer explanation: Paragraph E brings out the fact that Tanya Streeter’s passion is freediving. The ‘physical stamina’ required for this sport ‘is intense’ but the ‘psychological demands’ are even more ‘overwhelming’. Streeter learned that when she ‘untangled her fears from her judgment’ by enabling rational thinking, she became sure of ‘what her body and mind could do’ (achieve physical goals). Hence, the answer is E.
24 Answer: C
Question type: Matching Information
Answer location: Paragraph C, line 3
Answer explanation: Paragraph C relates that experience of David Fajgenbaum who had ‘an accident when he was preparing for university that put an end to his sports career’ (sad experience). On campus, he quickly found that beyond ordinary counselling, the university had no services for students who were undergoing physical rehabilitation and suffering from depression like him. As a result, he ‘launched a support group to help others in similar situations’. He ‘took action despite his own pain’ – a typical response of an optimist. This helped him not only to overcome his own pain but also helped others in similar situations. Hence, the answer is C.
25 Answer: G
Question type: Matching Information
Answer location: Paragraph G, line 1
Answer explanation: Paragraph G describes how physician-scientist Mauro Zappaterra, who ‘began his PhD research at Harvard Medical School’ in 2004, was miserable as his research wasn’t compatible with his curiosity about healing. He ‘took a break’ and during eight months in Santa Fe, Zappaterra ‘learned about alternative healing techniques not taught at Harvard’. When he got back, he ‘switched labs to study how cerebrospinal fluid nourishes the developing nervous system’ (rethink academic career path). Hence, the answer is G.
26 Answer: H
Question type: Matching Information
Answer location: Paragraph H
Answer explanation: Paragraph H gives an account of marketing executive, Kenneth Pedeleose, for whom courage meant speaking out against something he thought was ‘ethically wrong’ (against sense of duty). The new manager was intimidating staff so Pedeleose carefully recorded each instance of bullying and eventually took the evidence to a senior director, ‘knowing his own job security would be threatened’ (risked his career). Hence, the answer is H.
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