Reading Exercise 3
Read the passage, How the brain reorganizes itself, and answer questions 11-15 which follow.
Questions 11-13
Match one of the headings from the box to each of the paragraphs in the reading passage. Write the corresponding letter (A-F) in spaces 11-13 on your answer sheet. Note that there are more headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them.
| List of Headings | |
|---|---|
| A | Macaque monkeys |
| B | Method of research |
| C | Electrical stimulation |
| D | The effects of heat |
| E | Cortex reorganization |
| F | The area of research |
11) Paragraph 1
12) Paragraph 2
13) Paragraph 3
Questions 14 and 15
14) According to the passage, which four of the senses listed below are ‘somatic’ sensations?
| A taste | |
| B touch | |
| C temperature | |
| D pain | |
| E position | |
| F emotion | |
| G smell | |
| H sound | |
| I vision |
15) Which part of the brain receives signals
from different parts of the body?
Write no more than three words from the passage.
Discussion
Did you do the following?
- survey the text
- analyse the questions to see exactly what they are asking for
- read the instructions carefully
- notice which questions were about general themes and which were-asking for specific information
- know where to look for specific information and what sort of information was required
- go back to the text looking quickly for the information you need
- remember not to try and read every word Ho to prepare for IELTS
- move on to the next question if you could not answer one
- leave enough time to check your answers and to check t hat you followed the instructions exactly
Use this checklist for the next exercise you do.
Questions 11-13 are typical of the matching exercises you find in IELTS. In this case you must identify the main theme of each paragraph or section. So these questions were about the general themes of the passage. It is not enough if a subject is mentioned; it has to be the dominant theme or idea, Paragraph 1 mentions heat, for example, but it is not about heat. Paragraph 2 talks about an experiment on Macaque monkeys but it is not about Macaque monkeys in general. The main point of paragraph 3 comes in the last rather than the first sentence.
Question 14 is a type of multiple-choice question: you have to choose the correct answers from a list. It is also a question where you must find specific information in the relevant paragraph. Notice that the actual text will not necessarily use exactly the same words as the question (‘temperature’ is not a word in that paragraph). It is the information you have to look for, not the words.
Question 15 seems very simple. But the important thing is to read the question very carefully: you must not use more than three words, and they must be from the passage.
Once again, do not worry about specialized vocabulary or knowledge: you may find a glossary of definitions of specialized vocabulary (‘*trunk, **neuronal’); you can answer question 15 correctly without any previous knowledge of areas of the brain or their function.