Study on gender in physics: listening answers and explanations
Two students, Lisa and Greg, discuss an article about Akira Miyake's study of women's performance in college physics. They go through what the researchers did and found, what the article left out, and then plan a similar study of their own.
Ten single-answer questions in order. Questions 21-26 cover Miyake's study, 27 their criticism of the article, 28 their own project, 29 a second article by Smolinsky, and 30 their next step. Both students give answers, and several ideas are suggested and then dropped.
Answer key and self-check
Type what you wrote and hit mark. Hide the key first if you haven't done the part yet. Every question number jumps to its explanation.
How to attack this block: Classic Part 3: most options are mentioned, but only one survives. Listen for corrections ('they weren't actually majoring in physics'), for what was a surprise versus what was expected, and for the moment one student accepts the other's idea. The final decision often comes after two or three suggestions.
Question 21
Answer: CNear the start, when Lisa says she was confused about which students were in the study
What were the students in Miyake's study majoring in?
They weren't actually majoring in physics … STEM disciplines. That's science, technology, engineering and … and math.
Question says → You hear
were all majoring inSTEM disciplines
Why: Greg and Lisa spell out STEM together: science, technology, engineering and maths. That's option C, word for word.
The trap: Physics (A) is ruled out directly: they were taking physics courses as part of their studies, but not majoring in it. B mixes in psychology because the researchers were psychologists and physicists, not the students.
Question 22
Answer: BAfter Lisa explains that women are underrepresented and get lower results
What was Miyake's study trying to find out?
what the researchers wanted to find out was basically what they … about the relatively low level of the women's results. But in order to find a solution
Question says → You hear
The aim of Miyake's studywhat the researchers wanted to find out
a way of improvingwhat they … about the relatively low level of the women's results
Why: The aim was 'what they could do' about the women's low results, in other words a solution. That's a way of improving women's performance, B.
The trap: C is tempting because Lisa says women are underrepresented in physics courses. But that's the known starting point, not what they were investigating.
Question 23
Answer: BWhen Lisa tries to remember the nature of the problem
Which belief of the female students turned out to be mistaken?
they thought that the men expected them to get poor results in their tests. … But actually they were wrong ... No one was
Question says → You hear
were wrong to believeBut actually they were wrong
the male students expected them to do badlythe men expected them to get poor results
Why: The women thought the men expected them to do badly. Greg says they were wrong: nobody was making assumptions about them. That's B.
The trap: C is the strong distractor. The women did get poor results because they were nervous, so believing their results were lower wasn't wrong. A (unfair marking by teachers) is never mentioned.
Question 24
Answer: CWhen Lisa asks what the writing exercise was called
What did Miyake's team ask the students to write about?
Values-affirmation - they had to write an essay focusing on things that were … not particularly to do with the subject they were studying … or people who mattered to them
Question says → You hear
something that was important to them personallythings that were … or people who mattered to them
Why: The essays were about things that were significant to the students themselves, like music or people who mattered to them. That's C.
The trap: B borrows 'people', but the students wrote about people who mattered to them, not about other people's success. A is ruled out: the topic was not about the subject they were studying.
Question 25
Answer: AStraight after Lisa says the writing gets students thinking positively
What was the writing exercise meant to do for the students?
And putting these thoughts into words can relax them and help them overcome the … psychological factors that lead to poor performance
Question says → You hear
to reduce stresscan relax them
Why: Writing relaxes the students and helps them get past the psychological factors behind poor results. Relaxing them means reducing stress, A.
The trap: B is a word trap: 'putting thoughts into words' sounds like verbal skill, but nobody says the aim is better language. C doesn't fit either: the thinking is 'positive', not logical.
Question 26
Answer: BRight after Greg mentions the psychological factors
What surprised the researchers?
But what the researchers, in the study hadn't expected was that this one activity raised the women's
Question says → You hear
What surprised the researchershadn't expected
Why: 'Hadn't expected' is the surprise. One writing activity raised the women's physics grades from C to B, which is the positive impact on their results, B.
The trap: A comes from Lisa's comment 'Pity it wasn't to an A', which is her reaction, not the researchers' surprise. C, the gap between men and women, is Lisa's conclusion afterwards, and that gap was already known.
Question 27
Answer: CWhen Greg says the article left out a lot of details
What do Greg and Lisa think could have affected Miyake's results?
And had they been told why they were doing the writing? That might have affected the results.
Question says → You hear
could have been affected byThat might have affected the results
the information the students were givenhad they been told why they were doing the writing
Why: Greg wonders whether the students were told why they were writing, and Lisa agrees they might then try to meet that expectation. That's the information they were given, C.
The trap: A is close: Greg also asks whether they wrote once or several times. That's about how often, not how long, and he doesn't link it to the results. B, the number of students, isn't raised about Miyake's study.
Question 28
Answer: AAfter Greg says they could check whether it really was the writing that made the difference
What will Greg and Lisa compare in their own project?
Or even, half do the same writing task as in the original research and half do a … factual writing task
Question says → You hear
two different writing tasksthe same writing task as in the original research and half do a … factual writing task
Why: Lisa's final idea is the original values task for half the students and a factual writing task for the other half. Greg says 'That's it. Good.' Two writing tasks, A.
The trap: B is Greg's suggestion just before: half writing and half an oral task. Lisa's 'Or even' replaces it, and that's the plan Greg accepts.
Question 29
Answer: BWhen Lisa mentions another article she read, by Smolinsky
What was Smolinsky's main finding about teamwork in class?
That's what I expected, but actually the men … whether they were working in teams or on their own
Question says → You hear
had no effect on the performance of men or womenthe women got the same results
Why: Men and women got the same results whether they worked in teams or alone. So teamwork made no difference to either, B.
The trap: A is Greg's guess, that women are better at teamwork, and Lisa expected that too. 'But actually' tells you the finding was different.
Question 30
Answer: AThe end of the conversation, when Lisa asks 'what do we need to do next?'
What will Lisa and Greg do next?
We could have a look at the timetable for the science classes … appointment to see one of the science professors. That'd be better. … OK maybe let's just go with your idea.
Question says → You hear
talk to a professorappointment to see one of the science professors
Why: Lisa first suggests the timetable, then changes to seeing a professor ('That'd be better'). Greg agrees. His own idea gets no support and he goes back to hers. So, A.
The trap: B is Greg's add-on idea. When Lisa asks 'What for?', he drops it. C is the idea Lisa replaces straight away.
The women believed two things. The belief that they'd get poor results turned out true, because nerves made it happen. The belief that the men expected them to do badly was the wrong one.
Three ideas in a row: the timetable, a professor, observing a class. Lisa moves from the timetable to the professor, Greg suggests observing, then backs down: 'let's just go with your idea'.
Words from this recording worth keeping
underrepresented(Background to the study)
present in smaller numbers than you would expect
enrol(Background to the study)
officially join a course
assumptions(The women's beliefs)
beliefs accepted as true without proof
values-affirmation(The writing exercise)
writing about what matters most to you
psychological factors(The writing exercise)
things in the mind that affect behaviour
underperforming(The results)
doing worse than you are able to
supervisor(Their own project)
the tutor who guides a student's project
sample(Their own project)
the group of people chosen for a study
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