Cambridge 14 Reading Test 1 - Answers With Explanation

1. Opening lines: Alice's fantasy world of "fairy-tale turrets and fire-breathing dragons" is described as "helping her take her first steps towards her capacity for creativity."

2. The board game teaches Alice "about the need to follow rules and take turns with a partner."

3. Whitebread notes "over half the people in the world now live in cities," a change from his own childhood.

4. "Outdoor play is curtailed by perceptions of risk to do with traffic."

5. Also "parents' increased wish to protect their children from being the victims of crime."

6. And "the emphasis on 'earlier is better' which is leading to greater competition in academic learning and schools."

7. International bodies developing play policies find that "what they often lack is the evidence to base policies on."

8. Baker says researchers "want to know what the long-term impact of play is" on "the child's later life."

9. "The ability to self-regulate has been shown to be a key predictor of academic performance" — self-control links directly to later school success — TRUE.

10. Gibson says observing play "can even be useful in the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism" — a clue to medical issues — TRUE.

11. The passage says playing with dolls helped children write "longer and better-structured stories," but never breaks this down by gender — NOT GIVEN.

12. "Not a single child said this through the whole year of the project" — the opposite of having problems thinking of ideas — FALSE.

13. Whitebread says "the importance of play has been lost in recent decades" and "it's regarded as something trivial" — TRUE.

14. Section E: "After every weekend there would always be a couple of bikes missing," Molenaar says, unsure "what people did with them" — misuse of the scheme.

15. Section C: the council "unanimously rejected the plan," saying "the bicycle belongs to the past. They saw a glorious future for the car."

16. Section F: "financially I didn't really benefit from it, because I never filed for a patent."

17. Section C: "a white bicycle — per person, per kilometre — would cost the municipality only 10% of what it contributed to public transport per person per kilometre."

18. Section A: the scheme "was an answer to the perceived threats of air pollution and consumerism."

19–20. Section E: the scheme failed after Postbank "decided to abolish the chip card" and "the business partner had lost interest" (option B). Section D: it succeeded because "times had changed... people had become more environmentally conscious" (option D).

21–22. Schimmelpennink says a scheme would help those who "travel on the underground" but "need additional transport to reach their final destination" (option D). Section G calls Amsterdam "one of the two most cycle-friendly capitals in the world" (option E).

23. Provo "was a group of Dutch activists who wanted to change society."

24. "They believed the scheme... was an answer to the perceived threats of air pollution and consumerism."

25. "They also distributed leaflets describing the dangers of cars."

26. "Almost as soon as the white bikes were distributed around the city, they removed them" — the police.

27. Enz and Siguaw's work "requires an understanding of what motivates employees at different levels of management and different stages of their careers."

28. Ng and Sorensen (2008) showed that supportive managers make "employees feel more obligated to stay with the company."

29. Lucas says HRM practices don't "foster constructive relations with employees" or "draw out the full potential of people."

30. Ng and Sorensen found that when managers "motivate employees to work together," staff feel more obligated to stay.

31. Maroudas et al. cite "low compensation, inadequate benefits, poor working conditions and compromised employee morale" as reasons for turnover — pay is only one factor among several.

32. "Compromised employee morale and attitudes (Maroudas et al., 2008)" is listed among the cited reasons for high turnover — YES.

33. "No evidence exists to support this hypothesis" that employees are predisposed to view their workplace negatively — NO.

34. "Just fulfilling these needs does not result in satisfaction, but only in the reduction of dissatisfaction" — the opposite of making staff satisfied — NO.

35. Deery recommends "allowing adequate breaks during the working day," but never says staff should choose when to take them — NOT GIVEN.

36. Tews, Michel and Stafford studied "staff from a chain of themed restaurants in the United States."

37. "Fun activities had a favourable impact on performance."

38. "Manager support for fun had a favourable impact in reducing turnover."

39. The fun "must be carefully aligned with both organisational goals" and employee characteristics.

40. Fun must fit "employee characteristics" as well as company goals.