Cambridge 15 Reading Test 2 - Answers With Explanation

1. Section B: "That is not to suggest everyone should dance their way to work, however healthy and happy it might make us" — the appealing use of dance the writer isn't actually proposing.

2. Section C contrasts "medieval builders [who] improvised and adapted construction through their intimate knowledge of materials" with modern designs "conceived and stored in media technologies that detach the designer from the physical and social realities."

3. Section F: choreography "shares with engineering the aim of designing patterns of movement within limitations of space" — a shared objective.

4. Section D: Peachtree's cafés "could not operate in the hot sun without the protective awnings... and would need energy-consuming air conditioning instead" — an unforeseen problem from ignoring the climate.

5. Section E: guard rails are "now being removed, causing disruption, cost, and waste" — the measure intended to help is being reversed.

6. Section A: "The ways we travel affect our physical and mental health, our social lives, our access to work and culture, and the air we breathe."

7. "The guard rails... were an engineering solution to pedestrian safety."

8. Guard rails were based "on models that prioritise the smooth flow of traffic."

9. They use "staggered access points to divide the crossing into two — one for each carriageway."

10. This creates "psychological barriers greatly impacting those that are the least mobile."

11. It also encourages "others to make dangerous crossings to get around the guard rails."

12. "These barriers... divide communities and decrease opportunities for healthy transport."

13. Same sentence: they "decrease opportunities for healthy transport."

14. Section F: Shapiro wants to focus on "how we could use it to make genetic modifications which could prevent mass extinctions in the future" — avoiding further loss of species.

15. Section A: passenger pigeon revival uses "cloning technology to turn the DNA of extinct animals into a fertilised embryo," carried by a surrogate relative species.

16. Section D: "ecosystems in the eastern US have suffered, as the lack of disturbance... has left forests stagnant and therefore unwelcoming" to the species that need it.

17. Section A: "the passenger pigeon's existence came to an end on 1 September 1914, when the last living specimen died at Cincinnati Zoo."

18. "By pinpointing which genetic traits made it possible for mammoths to survive the icy climate of the tundra."

19. Adaptations are "all for the purpose of reducing heat loss in the tundra."

20. "Necessary adaptations would include smaller ears, thicker hair, and extra insulating fat."

21. Same sentence: "extra insulating fat."

22. Grass growth "would reduce temperatures, and mitigate emissions from melting permafrost."

23. Michael Archer: "Thylacines would have prevented this spread because they would have killed significant numbers of Tasmanian devils" — improving the health of the devil population.

24. Beth Shapiro prefers to "focus the debate on how this emerging technology could be used to fully understand why various species went extinct in the first place."

25. Ben Novak explains a hybridised pigeon "could, in theory, re-establish that forest disturbance, thereby creating a habitat necessary for a great many other native species to thrive."

26. Shapiro: "there's an incredible moral hazard to not do anything at all... what we are doing today is not enough."

27. "Laughter and humour provide psychological scientists with rich resources for studying human psychology" — its research value is what's emphasised.

28. Douglass's laugh tracks "were intended to help people at home feel like they were in a social situation, such as a crowded theatre" — he understood humour's social, group nature.

29. Listeners from "24 diverse societies" gave "remarkably consistent" results worldwide — consistency across many cultures is what stands out.

30. "Each student took a turn at being teased by the others" and "the newcomers produced more dominant laughs when they were in the 'powerful' role of teasers" — participants swapped between teaser and teased.

31. "High-status individuals were rated as high-status whether they produced their natural dominant laugh or tried to do a submissive one."

32. The three videos were "designed to generate a different kind of" feeling — humour, contentment or neutrality — different emotions.

33. Participants "watched the Mr Bean video" — the humorous, amusing clip.

34. The second study used "long multiplication questions by hand" — a tedious, boring task.

35. "Humour has been found to help relieve stress" — reduces anxiety.

36. Cheng and Wang conclude humour is "not only enjoyable but more importantly, energising" — a stimulating effect.

37. Participants' guesses were correct "approximately 60% of the time" overall, but the passage never compares accuracy for friends versus strangers specifically — NOT GIVEN.

38. "As expected, high-status individuals produced more dominant laughs and fewer submissive laughs" — the prediction was confirmed — YES.

39. "Participants were allowed to quit the task at any point" — there was no fixed time limit — NO.

40. "The traditional view of task performance implies that individuals should avoid things such as humour," but the researchers found the opposite — contradicting established notions — NO.