Serendipity: The Accidental Scientists - IELTS Reading Answer

The ‘Serendipity: The Accidental Scientists’ Academic Reading passage is a good resource for anyone who is preparing for the IELTS Reading test. This passage will help you understand what kind of reading passages you will encounter and the questions that you will be asked to solve.

By taking the ‘Serendipity: The Accidental Scientists’ IELTS Reading Answer, you can acquaint yourself with the types of questions that you will be asked and the level of difficulty that you can expect.

The question types in this Reading Passage include:

• IELTS Matching Information (Q. 1-5)
• IELTS Summary Completion (Q. 6-9)
• IELTS Matching Features (Q. 10-13)

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Reading Passage

Serendipity: The Accidental Scientists

A A paradox lies close to the heart of scientific discovery. If you know just what you are looking for, finding it can hardly count as a discovery, since it was fully anticipated. But if, on the other hand, you have no notion of what you are looking for, you cannot know when you have found it, and discovery, as such, is out of the question. In the philosophy of science, these extremes map onto the purest forms of deductivism and inductivism: In the former, the outcome is supposed to be logically contained in the premises you start with; in the latter, you are recommended to start with no expectations whatsoever and see what turns up.

B As in so many things, the ideal position is widely supposed to reside somewhere in between these two impossible-to-realize extremes. You want to have a good enough idea of what you are looking for to be surprised when you find something else of value, and you want to be ignorant enough of your end point that you can entertain alternative outcomes. Scientific discovery should, therefore, have an accidental aspect, but not too much of one. Serendipity is a word that expresses a position something like that. It’s a fascinating word, and the late Robert King Merton—the father of the sociology of science’—liked it well enough to compose its biography, assisted by the French cultural historian Elinor Barber.

C Serendipity means a “happy accident’ or ‘pleasant surprise’; specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful without looking for it. The first noted use of serendipity in the English language was by Horace Walpole (1717-1792). In a letter to Horace Mann (dated 28 January 1754) he said he formed it from the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip, whose heroes ‘were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of’. The name stems from Serendip, an old name for Sri Lanka.

D Besides antiquarians, the other community that came to dwell on serendipity to say something important about their practice was that of scientists. Many scientists, including the Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon and, later, the British immunologist Peter Medawar, liked to emphasize how much of scientific discovery was unplanned and even accidental. One of Cannon’s favorite examples of such serendipity is Luigi Galvani’s observation of the twitching of dissected frogs’ legs, hanging from a copper wire, when they accidentally touched an iron railing, leading to the discovery of ‘galvanismo; another is Hans Christian Orsted’s discovery of electromagnetism when he unintentionally brought a current-carrying wire parallel to a magnetic needle. The context in which scientific serendipity was most contested and had its greatest resonance was that connected with the idea of planned science. The serendipitists were not all inhabitants of academic ivory towers. Two of the great early-20th-century American pioneers of industrial research-Willis Whitney and Irving Langmuir, both of General Electric—made much play of serendipity, in the course of arguing against overly rigid research planning.

E Yet what Cannon and Medawar took as a benign method, other scientists found incendiary To say that science had a significant serendipitous aspect was taken by some as dangerous denigration. If scientific discovery were really accidental, then what was the special basis of expert authority?

F In this connection, the aphorism of choice came from no less an authority on scientific discovery than Louis Pasteur: “Chance favors the prepared mind.” Accidents may happen, and things may turn up unplanned and unforeseen, as one is looking for something else, but the ability to notice such events, to see their potential bearing and meaning, to exploit their occurrence and make constructive use of them—these are the results of systematic mental preparation. What seems like an accident is just another form of expertise. On closer inspection, it is insisted, accident dissolves into sagacity

G In 1936, as a very young man, Merton wrote a seminal essay on “The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action.” It is, he argued, the nature of social action that what one intends is rarely what one gets: Intending to provide resources for buttressing Christian religion, the natural philosophers of the Scientific Revolution laid the groundwork for secularism people wanting to be alone with nature in Yosemite Valley wind up crowding one another. We just don’t know enough—and we can never know enough—to ensure that the past is an adequate guide to the future: Uncertainty about outcomes, even of our best-laid plans, is endemic. All social action, including that undertaken with the best evidence and formulated according to the most rational criteria, is uncertain in its consequences.

Questions 28-33

List of headings

(i) The origin of serendipity

(ii) Horace Walpole’s fairy tale

(iii) Arguments against serendipity

(iv) Two basic knowledge in the paradox of scientific discovery

(v) The accidental evidences in and beyond science

(vi) organization’s movement Opposing against the authority

(vii) Accident and mental preparation

(viii) Planned research and anticipated outcome

(ix) The optimum balance between the two extremes

28 Paragraph A

29 Paragraph B

30 Paragraph C

31 Paragraph D

32 Paragraph E

33 Paragraph F

Questions 34-36

The word “serendipity’ was coined in the writing of 34………….to Horace Mann. He derived it from a 35………., the characters of which were always making fortunate discoveries by accident. The stem Serendip was a former name for 36………..

Questions 37-40

A observation without anticipation at the beginning

B Looking for what you want in the premise

C The expected discovery

D The map we pursued

Question 38 Scientific discovery should

A be much of an accidental aspect

B be full of value

C be between the two extremes

D be skeptical

Question 39 The writer mentions Luigi Galvani’s observation to illustrate

A the cruelty of frog’s dissection

B the happy accident in scientific discovery

C the practice of scientists

D the rigid research planning

Question 40 Why does the writer mention the example in Yosemite Valley in paragraph G?

A To illustrate the importance of a systematic plan

B To illustrate there is an unpredictable reality towards the expectation

C To illustrate the original anticipation

D To illustrate that intention of social action is totally meaningless

Serendipity: The Accidental Scientists Reading Answers With Explanations

Don’t miss the answer key for the Serendipity: The Accidental Scientists IELTS Reading passage, complete with detailed explanations, and prepare to score a high IELTS Reading band score.

28 Answer: iv
Question type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 1 – line 4

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph A say that “A paradox lies close to the heart of scientific discovery. If you know just what you are looking for, finding it can hardly count as a discovery, since it was fully anticipated. But if, on the other hand, you have no notion of what you are looking for, you cannot know when you have found it, and discovery, as such, is out of the question.” This indicates the two concepts or pieces of information that are basic to the paradox of scientific discovery. Hence the answer is iv.

29 Answer: ix
Question type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 1 – line 4

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph B say that “As in so many things, the ideal position is widely supposed to reside somewhere in between these two impossible-to-realize extremes. You want to have a good enough idea of what you are looking for to be surprised when you find something else of value, and you want to be ignorant enough of your end point that you can entertain alternative outcomes.” This suggests that there is an optimal point between the extremes of knowing what you want to find and not knowing what to find during scientific discovery. Hence the answer is ix.

30 Answer: i
Question type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 1 – line 3

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph C say that “Serendipity means a “happy accident’ or ‘pleasant surprise’; specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful without looking for it. The first noted use of serendipity in the English language was by Horace Walpole (1717-1792).” This clearly shows that serendipity was first used by Horace Walpole. Hence the answer is i.

31 Answer: v
Question type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 1 – line 3

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph D say that “Many scientists, including the Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon and, later, the British immunologist Peter Medawar, liked to emphasize how much of scientific discovery was unplanned and even accidental. One of Cannon’s favorite examples of such serendipity is Luigi Galvani’s observation of the twitching of dissected frogs’ legs, hanging from a copper wire, when they accidentally touched an iron railing, leading to the discovery of ‘galvanismo; another is Hans Christian Orsted’s discovery of electromagnetism when he unintentionally brought a current-carrying wire parallel to a magnetic needle.” This indicates that there is evidence of accidental discovery in science. Hence the answer is v.

32 Answer: iii
Question type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph E

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph E say that “Yet what Cannon and Medawar took as a benign method, other scientists found incendiary To say that science had a significant serendipitous aspect was taken by some as dangerous denigration. If scientific discovery were really accidental, then what was the special basis of expert authority?” This indicates that people also have negative views on serendipity. Hence the answer is iii.

33 Answer: vii
Question type: Matching Headings

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 2 – line 6

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph F say that “Accidents may happen, and things may turn up unplanned and unforeseen, as one is looking for something else, but the ability to notice such events, to see their potential bearing and meaning, to exploit their occurrence and make constructive use of them—these are the results of systematic mental preparation.” This suggests that accidents can always occur, but to make use of these accidents and unplanned events take systematic mental preparation. Hence the answer is vii.

34 Answer: Horace Walpole
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 2 – line 3

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph C say that “The first noted use of serendipity in the English language was by Horace Walpole (1717-1792).” This clearly shows that Horace Walpole was the first to use the word serendipity. Hence the answer is Horace Walpole.

35 Answer: Fairy Tale
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 3 – line 4

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph C say that “ In a letter to Horace Mann (dated 28 January 1754) he said he formed it from the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip, whose heroes ‘were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of’.” This indicates that the word serendipity was coined from a fairy tale.

36 Answer: Sri Lanka
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 4

Answer explanation: The following line from Paragraph C says that “ The name stems from Serendip, an old name for Sri Lanka.” This clearly suggests that the word Serendip is an old name for Sri Lanka.

37 Answer: A
Question type: Multiple Choice Questions

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 4 – line 7

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph A say that “In the philosophy of science, these extremes map onto the purest forms of deductivism and inductivism: In the former, the outcome is supposed to be logically contained in the premises you start with; in the latter, you are recommended to start with no expectations whatsoever and see what turns up.” This indicates that inductivism refers to observation without anticipation at the beginning. Hence the answer is A.

38 Answer: C
Question type: Multiple Choice Questions

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 1 – line 5

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph B say that “As in so many things, the ideal position is widely supposed to reside somewhere in between these two impossible-to-realize extremes. You want to have a good enough idea of what you are looking for to be surprised when you find something else of value, and you want to be ignorant enough of your end point that you can entertain alternative outcomes. Scientific discovery should, therefore, have an accidental aspect, but not too much of one.” This suggests that scientific discovery should be between the two extremes. Hence the answer is C.

39 Answer: B
Question type: Multiple Choice Questions

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 1 – line 5

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph B say that “One of Cannon’s favourite examples of such serendipity is Luigi Galvani’s observation of the twitching of dissected frogs’ legs, hanging from a copper wire, when they accidentally touched an iron railing, leading to the discovery of ‘galvanismo…” This indicates that Luigi Galvani accidentally discovered something vital. Thus the writer wants to show the happy accident in scientific discovery. Hence the answer is B.

40 Answer: B
Question type: Multiple Choice Questions

Answer location: Paragraph G, line 3 – line 8

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph G say that “Intending to provide resources for buttressing Christian religion, the natural philosophers of the Scientific Revolution laid the groundwork for secularism people wanting to be alone with nature in Yosemite Valley wind up crowding one another. We just don’t know enough—and we can never know enough—to ensure that the past is an adequate guide to the future: Uncertainty about outcomes, even of our best-laid plans, is endemic.” This indicates that unpredictable nature of expectations and that’s why the writer mentions the example of Yosemite Valley. Hence the answer is B.

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