CAE Reading and Use of English Part 8
You are going to read an article about phobias. For questions 47-56, choose from the sections (A-D). The sections may be chosen more than once. When more than one answer is required, these may be given in any order.
In which section does the writer
47 refer to a general coping strategy employed by many phobic people?
48 mention different types of phobias when pointing out their possible impacts?
49 describe how the results of giving in to a fear has been minimised?
50 use a personal example to preface a theory?
51 detail some common physical symptoms of phobias?
52 express an admiration for a particular solution to overcoming phobias?
53 wonder whether some phobias might subconsciously be copied from others?
54 suggest that our mental development has not kept up with the changes in the world around us?
55 explain that having a phobia is not as inexplicable as we tend to think?
56 exemplify an extreme effect of a particular phobia?
Evolutionary hangover
Many of our hobbies are believed to be evolutionary hangover from ancient survival instincts.
A It sounds like a dream: you’re in a theatre and you’re the star of the show. Except that it’s an operating theatre, you’re the patient, and you’re still awake, but you can’t speak. Now it’s a nightmare! A surprising number of people have a phobia about being conscious under anaesthetic. But where does this fear come from? Surely not from experience! Phobias can be crippling in the effect they have on people, whether it’s a fear of something that others view as innocent – like ants or clouds – or perceived dangers that can be potentially serious such as heights or, as above – anaesthetics. And scientists have long been intrigued by where these often deep-seated and long-held fears come from. Do we take on our parents’ fears or are we perhaps influenced by films or stories we encounter as children? Maybe some fears are reactions to personal experiences.
B In fact, the more we learn about our supposedly irrational fears, the more rational they seem to become. Phobias are a persistent feature of the human psyche – and many of the most common ones are thought to serve a survival purpose. For the past week, I have been making detours in my garden to get to my rubbish bins, so as not to disturb the enormous spider’s web stretching between the bins and the hedge. This is cowardice rather than respect for the spider’s skill at engineering; the idea of seeing the occupant as I dispose of the rubbish inspires an uncontrollable shiver. Arachnophobia, which is one of the 10 most common phobias listed on anxiety websites, is among those suspected of having an evolutionary origin.
C The argument goes like this: as we evolved, the humans who enjoyed the best chance of survival were those who were most aware of threats. Poisonous spiders and snakes represented real dangers – only those who dodged them survived to pass on their genes. Our fearful ancestors thus won the battle for survival – and we inherited their brain patterns. Our environments, meanwhile, have changed far faster than the pace of evolution can keep up with: even though these natural threats have largely disappeared, our neurological circuits remain pretty much prehistoric. And so, to this day, certain objects or situations – spiders, snakes, the dark, strangers – continue to stir a terror in the soul. That terror triggers physiological changes, such as sweating and an increased heart rate. We continue this tradition of fearfulness when we become parents. I have yet to meet a parent who didn’t peer anxiously into the cot at night to establish that the baby was still alive. A doctor friend even used to use a feather to help detect breathing, to keep her nocturnal investigations brief.
D So, what, if anything, can be done to help those sufferers of phobias whose symptoms prove life-changing? A simple avoidance method used by many works when there is an alternative, such as using stairs instead of the lift, or keeping a fair distance from the windows of high buildings – maybe forgoing the opportunity to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower. But these techniques do not get to the heart of the problem and for those with serious phobias it doesn’t work at all; avoidance for an agoraphobe would be never to leave their house. Therapists encourage people to confront their phobias, but this can prove too distressing for some to continue. However, there is a glimmer of hope, which lies in the use of VR. With avatars, patients can confront their fears in the virtual world and some results have been spectacular. In one trial, all arachnophobes who participated found themselves later able to approach spiders in the real world with up to 68 percent reduced levels of fear. There is hope that in future VR units with apps for different scenarios will be available to buy and people will be able to treat themselves. I gain a lot of satisfaction from the thought that there is a very modern answer to a possibly very old problem! However, until this effective form of treatment becomes more widely available, I shall bravely continue to put the rubbish out, defying the enemy that has taken up residence outside my house.
Answer Keys
PART 1
1 B — considered. ‘All things considered’ is a set expression that tries to consider all the factors of any given situation, weighing pros and cons to see how viable it is, often without naming the factors. For instance: ‘All things considered, living in the countryside is a much better option for people with certain lifestyles’.
2 C — sceptical. When you are sceptical of (or about) something, you have doubts about whether it would be a good idea. ‘Pessimistic’ works here grammatically, but it means that the person is convinced it is not going to end well. ‘Sceptical’ works better in this context, as there is no clearly expressed idea of whether this is a good or a bad move.
3 A — leap. A leap into something means entering or getting into some particular sphere. Additionally, in this particular context by science fiction they mean that the likelihood of the described operation is rather low, something we would more often see in sci-fi films or books than in real life.
4 C — come up against. The phrasal verb works well with words like ‘problem’, ‘difficulty’, ‘challenge’ and so on.
5 B — suited. The preposition after the gap is what makes us choose ‘suited’ over ‘proper’. The latter would need a different preposition: ‘to be proper for something’. Notably, this would work equally well with our original choice of the word ‘suited’ with no significant change in meaning.
6 D — presents. ‘Exhibit’ and ‘display’ have meanings that are closer to showing, rather than experiencing difficulty. To present a challenge is a very common collocation that shouldn’t be difficult for a C1 ESL student.
7 A — breakthrough. A breakthrough is when significant progress is achieved in something. Moreover, this is the only word that works well with ‘occurred’ in this context.
8 D — lie. You might feel tempted to answer ‘lay’, however this would be used as the past form of ‘lie’, whereas we are looking for the present form of the verb.
PART 2
9 with. Be careful not to answer ‘without’ – we already have the negative meaning thanks to ‘no’. In the absence of this word, we could use ‘without’ to achieve the same effect.
10 from. To be far from something in this context means ‘to be nothing like, not to be similar at all’. Staying at home can be far from boring if you approach it in the right way.
11 unless/until. Both negative conjunctions can be used to achieve the same effect.
12 so. ‘So why not’ is used to suggest a compelling course of action – to propose something that seems natural in the given situation or setting.
13 being/getting. A passive continuous form is what we are looking for here. The continuous form is needed to keep continuity with the second part of the sentence, which is in continuous as well. Failing to use it, you will likely receive only one point out of the two possible.
14 yourself. If you expose yourself to something, it means you make yourself feel or experience it. Can be both figurative (e.g. ‘expose yourself to modern literature’) and literal (e.g. ‘exposing your skin to the sun for too long can be dangerous’).
15 on. ‘To get on your nerves’ is a common expression that means somebody or something annoys or irritates you.
16 whose. A possessive pronoun that is used with people rather than objects. The latter are more commonly used with ‘that’.
PART 3
17 ignorance. Be careful not to answer ‘ignoring’ – it fits neither contextually nor grammatically. Moreover, making gerunds is generally discouraged in CAE Use of English Part 3.
18 utterance(s). One thing to keep in mind here is spelling – even the original word can be easily misspelled if you use a single ‘t’.
19 illogical. The negative prefix is ‘il-‘ rather than ‘un-‘. Using the latter will not give you any points, even though it can sometimes be seen used in colloquial English.
20 input. ‘Input’ is the command or general information one receives – here the input is the language parents use, contrasted to the much less coherent utterances that toddlers use to communicate.
21 inability. Even though the adjective form is ‘unable’, the noun is ‘inability’.
22 insignificant. This is a bit more challenging, as we are hinted by context that we need the positive form of the adjective. To achieve that, we use the double negative ‘not insignificant’ combination.
23 mislead. To mislead somebody means to confuse them, either intentionally or without meaning to.
24 setbacks. A setback is a situation when progress is slowed down or even reversed as a result of some unfortunate or undesirable event.
PART 4
25 the bottom of what is. To get to the bottom of something is to understand how it works or find out where it comes from. Note that it has to be in the present, hence ‘is’ at the end.
26 had a lengthy/ long discussion of/about/ discussion as to. You have plenty of variants to choose from here. To do something at length just means to do it thoroughly or simply to do it for a long time.
27 were appreciative of. This is arguably the most challenging transformation in the series. To be appreciative of something means to understand its value.
28 will still be (being) enjoyed. The word ‘continue’ hints at the continuous idea of the sentence. The passive form introduced by ‘being’ is optional.
29 were misinformed about the event being. A passive form and a noun-to-verb transformation is not unusual to see in CAE Use of English Part 4. ‘Being’ has to be a part of the transformation as the original is used in the continuous tense.
30 (far) exceeded my expectations. To exceed expectations is to do much better than expected.
PART 5
31 B. According to the author, memory is not a reliable thing as it favours pleasant experiences over unpleasant ones. He asks a rhetorical question about why memory works in that particular way. There is nothing about individual memories and how quickly they fade, his concerns about some memories being gone forever, or hearing rather than seeing something he remembers.
32 A. The author states that he would usually react in a different way to having been led somewhere, like the taxi driver did to Ellie. He mentions being tired (‘wrongfooted by the weather…’), which influenced his unusual reaction to what happened. Nothing is said about the taxi driver’s opinion on how rich the author was or whether the author was surprised by the transportation situation.
33 B. Taking the cases out of the car’s trunk was a move to show how serious the author was about not taking the ride, as the proposed taxi fare was way too high. He used it as a way to attempt to negotiate a lower price for the ride.
34 D. ‘That’ here refers to the word ‘damage’ that was mentioned previously – the connection is clear, but what does ‘damage’ actually mean? It is what colloquially means the price for something, in this case, the price of the ride. The unpleasant experience from answer D is understanding how much the author will have to pay for the ride. He kept his eyes straight ahead not to see the taxi fare shown on the taximeter – a special gauge that counts the cost of the ride based on the distance the cab has travelled.
35 C. Despite the fact that the bookstore is now replaced with a more globalised establishment like a souvenir store, the place has managed to retain its spirit: ‘… nothing can erase the atmosphere … buzzing with an underlying edge of nonconformity.’
36 C. Like with most answers, we have to choose the one that captures the idea fully, in this case, the scaffolding (temporary stairs and passages made to facilitate building or renovation of something) resembled the idea of restoration and hope – similarly to the idea of old Paris from the author’s memories having a chance to come back the way it used to be many years ago.
PART 6
37 A. This reviewer is the only one who believes that empathy deserves the title of a sixth sense, while all other reviewers hold that being a part of such an important category is unwarranted.
38 B. Reviewer C doesn’t seem to be satisfied with the way Dawlish structures her book and her argument, particularly sceptical about the ‘logical progression’ of the ideas in the book. On the other hand, reviewer B believes the book to be well structured and easy to follow. Reviewer A is critical of the evidence rather than the way the ideas develop. Reviewer D mentions nothing about the book structure.
39 A. There is no scientific foundation to the opinions mentioned in the book according to reviewer D. Reviewer A supports the notion, saying that the scientific research was ‘not sound’ (meaning not good enough), which was compensated by a vast amount of anecdotal evidence (which is non-systematic collection of personal experiences, not a part of some organised research effort). There is nothing related to scientific proof or evidence in review B. In C‘s text they express personal irritation with the attempt to give scientific labels to various phenomenon.
40 D. The very first thing reviewer C says is how it is a trendy thing to try and connect behavioral tendencies with genetics. Reviewer D believes that the topic ‘intrigues many of us’ – in other word, they consider the subject to be interesting to many.
PART 7
41 C. Choosing the right first paragraph here is a challenge, as none seem to be fitting too well. All of them except paragraph C seem to be clashing with either the preceding or the following paragraph. That is why we go with paragraph C which gently introduces the protagonist of this story and how she became a storyteller.
42 B. ‘… Brand continues to explain how she reached this point in her life’ from the end of paragraph B matches perfectly with the paragraph that follows the gap, where she carries on to share the story of her life with the author.
43 G. The question asked at the end of the preceding paragraph is answered here, in paragraph G. The reason Brand chose Settle as her place of residence is because she had visited it previously and fell absolutely in love with it.
44 A. ‘In addition to this…’ from paragraph A is about her idea to have the story-telling festival in Settle.
45 E. The ending of the previous mentions that she has done a lot of travelling. ‘Part of that meandering’ is the continuation of that idea. Meandering is the process of travelling, especially one done without a particular destination in mind or that having a winding course.
46 F. The tradition of story-telling, especially one that is oral (spoken rather than written) mentioned in the paragraph before the gap is touched upon once more in paragraph F. The author mentions how these stories change and evolve after countless retelling.
PART 8
47 D. Many people avoid facing their phobias by finding alternative courses of action, some examples given are using the stairs instead of the elevator if a person is afraid of enclosed spaces.
48 A. Examples of seemingly harmless things like clouds or ants as well as the more ominous ones like anesthesia are given and the way they could affect our well-being.
49 C. The last sentence shows an example of ‘giving in to fear’ (or allowing yourself to check if your fear is warranted) by using a feather to see that their child is breathing. ‘Minimising’ here refers to not having to stand up in the middle of the night and peek into the cradle – instead, you can see that your child is okay by just looking at the feather.
50 B. The author brings up the example of avoiding spiders in their garden. To preface something means to use something as an introduction – in this case, to a piece of information about one of the most common fears – arachnophobia.
51 C. Sweating and heightened heart rate are the physical symptoms of fear, as stated in C. Note that ‘an uncontrollable shiver’ from B is not good enough, at least for the reason that we have ‘symptoms’ in plural mentioned in the task – a common trap many CAE students fall into.
52 D. The author mentions being greatly pleased by the fact that there is a possibility technology could help overcome such serious conditions as phobias.
53 A. Note that there is a difference between copying somebody’s fear and inheriting it from your ancestors. The latter is mentioned in C as an integral part of evolution. The former is what we are looking for, and is exactly what is mentioned with the example of stories and films we might get exposed to in our childhood.
54 C. The environment we live in changes at a more rapid pace so the evolutionary safety mechanisms are simply unable to keep up with these changes.
55 B. First sentence of the paragraph clearly states that the more we think about phobias, the more sense they make – as a safeguard against the unknown.
56 D. An example of agoraphobia (which is a complex system of various phobias, can be both about enclosed and open spaces, unfamiliar or crowded environments) is given and how the only way to avoid it would be to never leave your own home.
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