Cambridge 2 Reading Test 4 - Answers With Explanation

1. The findings come from "Mintel, the market research organisation" and track consumer spending habits — a commercial study; the remark about politicians misjudging "the public mood" is only the writer's own aside, not part of the findings — YES.

2. Green buying rose "despite recession and financial pressures", not because shoppers had become better off — NO.

3. "The proportion who look for green products and are prepared to pay more for them has climbed from 53 per cent in 1990 to around 60 per cent in 1994" — a clear majority — YES.

4. The passage reports what Mintel found out about consumers, but never says consumers' habits change because of the findings themselves — NOT GIVEN.

5. Although paying more is "higher among... managerial and professional groups", the survey also shows "the number of green spenders among older people and manual workers has risen substantially" — far wider than one group — NO.

6. The passage compares 1990 and 1994 figures but never states how frequently Mintel carries out this research — NOT GIVEN.

7. The 'green wave' has spread to "people previously untouched by environmental concerns", showing far more public interest than politicians who see "environmentalism is yesterday's issue" assumed.

8. Mintel is introduced as "the market research organisation" — a business survey organisation.

9. "'Armchair greens'... said they care about environmental issues but their concern does not affect their spending habits" — concern without action, an 'armchair green'.

10. "Companies will have to be more honest and open in response to this mood" — honesty and openness.

11. The prediction follows from the rising numbers of 'ethical spenders' and 'armchair ethicals', reflecting greater awareness amongst consumers of ethical issues.

12. "The number of 'armchair ethicals' has risen from 28 to 35 per cent" — the growth supporting the report's prediction.

13. Companies will be judged on "issues such as fair trade with the Third World and the social record of businesses" — their social record.

14. "Even if a child is able to read aloud fluently, he or she may not be able to understand much of it: this is called 'barking at text'" — reading without grasping meaning.

15. Dale Willows found "pictures affected speed and accuracy and the closer the pictures were to the words, the slower and more inaccurate the child's reading became" — pictures slow reading progress.

16. "The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge recently held joint conferences to discuss the noticeably rapid decline in literacy among their undergraduates" — a real change in student literacy.

17. Children "who seemed to ignore the pictures and pointed at the words learnt more words than the children who pointed at the pictures" — ignoring pictures helps early reading.

18. Picture-heavy books are actually the established tradition: using them "is simply continuing a long-established tradition that is accepted without question", and illustrations "have become increasingly detailed and obtrusive" — the opposite of few pictures — NO.

19. "A teacher's main concern is to help young beginner readers to develop not only the ability to recognise words, but the skills necessary to understand what these words mean" — YES.

20. "As they grow older, many children turn aside from books without pictures... it is hard to wean children off picture books" — YES.

21. The passage says the conferences discussed "the noticeably rapid decline in literacy", but never reports any improvement resulting from them — NOT GIVEN.

22. Paragraph F notes "the least intelligent are most vulnerable, but tests show that even intelligent children are being affected", and extends the problem "even at senior levels" — differing ages and abilities.

23. Paragraph C states "there is virtually no empirical evidence to support the use of illustrations in teaching reading... a great deal of empirical evidence shows that pictures interfere", yet "the first books that many school children receive are totally without text" — current practice contradicts the research.

24. Paragraph J: children who ignored pictures "learnt more words than the children who pointed at the pictures" — ignoring pictures brings greater progress.

25. Paragraph I: if a child "look[s] to the picture for a clue to its meaning, they may well be misled by aspects of the pictures which are not closely related to the meaning of the word."

26. The passage argues throughout that "pictures interfere in a damaging way with all aspects of learning to read" — the harm caused by picture books, option C.

27. The Project is "the most ambitious scientific project since the Apollo programme that landed a man on the moon."

28. "It will not be complete until early next century."

29. "On the printed page it would fill about 7,000 volumes."

30. "None of the single-gene disorders is a disease in the conventional sense, for which it would be possible to administer a curative drug."

31. "In 1986, American researchers identified the genetic defect underlying one type of muscular dystrophy."

32. "In 1989, a team of American and Canadian biologists announced that they had found the site of the gene which, when defective, gives rise to cystic fibrosis."

33. The writer reports that "this project should open up new understanding of, and new treatments for, many of the ailments that afflict humanity" — a long-term hope, not a settled fact.

34. The objective is stated as fact: "to map and analyse every single gene within the double helix of humanity's DNA."

35. "Others see the future through a darker glass, and fear that the project may open the door to a world peopled by Frankenstein's monsters" — a fear attributed to other people.

36. As a fact about the project's aim: "the position of every letter and its relation to its neighbours will have been tracked down, analysed and recorded."

37. A hoped-for benefit: "if found free of the genetic defect, the parents will be relieved of worry and stress, knowing that they will be delivered of a baby free from the disorder."

38. "Many people are concerned that such an emphasis on humanity's genetic constitution may distort our sense of values" and reduce a person to "just the expression of a genetic program" — a fear the writer attributes to others.

39. The writer's own warning: "if the new knowledge is not used wisely, it also holds the threat of creating new forms of discrimination and new methods of oppression."

40. Recalling the atomic age, the writer states plainly: "we need only look at the past to understand the danger" — his own fear drawn from history.