Psychologists used to think personality was fixed in childhood, but positive psychology says qualities like optimism, passion, joy and courage can be learned. The passage gives a researcher's advice and a real person's story for each: a shy lecturer, an injured student, a freediver, a PhD student who changed labs, and an executive who reported a bullying boss.
How to attack this block: A follows the summary sentence by sentence. Watch the word limit: one phrase in the passage is three words and you must cut it to two. The last gap is the feeling you must accept to become happier.
Question 14
Answer: transformationSection A, first sentence
Also accepted: change
What did psychologists traditionally think was impossible for personality?
Psychologists have long held that a person's character cannot undergo a transformation in any meaningful way
Question says → Passage says
traditionally believedhave long held
was impossiblecannot undergo
a personality …a person's character
Why: 'Cannot undergo a transformation' becomes 'a personality transformation was impossible'. The gap needs a noun after 'personality': 'transformation' ('change' is also accepted).
The trap: 'Traits' is in the same sentence, but 'a personality traits was impossible' is ungrammatical, and traits are what's fixed, not what's impossible.
Question 15
Answer: young ageSection A, first sentence
By what point is a person's character usually fixed?
the key traits of personality are determined at a very young age
Question says → Passage says
a person's character tends to be fixedthe key traits of personality are determined
by a …at a very young age
Why: The summary has 'a' already, and the passage says 'a very young age'. With a two-word limit, drop 'very' and write 'young age'.
The trap: Copying 'very young age' breaks the NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS limit and loses the mark.
Question 16
Answer: optimismSection A, middle
Which quality is one of the easiest to acquire?
Some qualities are less challenging to develop than others, optimism being one of them.
Question says → Passage says
one of the easiest qualities to acquireless challenging to develop than others
Why: 'Less challenging to develop' is 'easiest to acquire', and the quality named is optimism. One word, and it's a noun to match 'quality'.
The trap: 'Loyalty' and 'kindness' appear earlier as examples of admired qualities, but nothing says they're easy to learn.
Question 17
Answer: skillsSection A, second half
Also accepted: techniques
What wide variety of things must you learn to develop a new quality?
developing qualities requires mastering a range of skills which are diverse and sometimes surprising
Question says → Passage says
it is necessary to learnrequires mastering
a wide variety of differenta range of… which are diverse
Why: 'Requires mastering' is 'necessary to learn', and 'a range of… diverse' is 'a wide variety of different'. The plural noun is 'skills' ('techniques' is also accepted).
The trap: 'Qualities' is in the same sentence, but the qualities are what you're developing, not what you learn in order to develop them.
Question 18
Answer: negative emotionsSection A, second half
Also accepted: negative feelings
What must a person feel in order to become happier?
to bring more joy and passion into your life, you must be open to experiencing negative emotions
Question says → Passage says
increase their happinessbring more joy and passion into your life
understand and feelbe open to experiencing
Why: More joy (happiness) needs openness to negative emotions. Two words, exactly the limit. 'Negative feelings' is also accepted, matching Kashdan's words in F.
The trap: 'Joy and passion' is the goal, not what you must feel to get there.
Matching statements to people
Questions 19-22
How to attack this block: The list mixes experts and the people in their stories, and only the experts give advice. Kashdan and Pury are the advice-givers in F and H, while Fajgenbaum, Streeter and Pedeleose are examples. Peterson is both, describing his own shyness.
Question 19
Answer: ESection F, last sentence
Who says beginners must accept how little they know?
As a newcomer, you also have to tolerate and laugh at your own ignorance.
Question says → Passage says
when first trying something newAs a newcomer / taking up a new passion
accept that they do not know muchtolerate and laugh at your own ignorance
Why: 'Ignorance' is not knowing much, and 'tolerate' is accept. This is Todd Kashdan's advice for people taking up a new passion: E.
The trap: Tanya Streeter (D) talks about learning her limits as a beginner diver, but her point is about fear and ability, not knowledge.
Question 20
Answer: CSection D, second sentence
Who says people should make a point of noticing good things?
She recommends you train yourself to pay attention to good fortune by writing down three positive things that come about each day.
Question says → Passage says
actively noticetrain yourself to pay attention to
when good things happengood fortune / three positive things that come about each day
Why: Writing down three good things a day is an active way of noticing good fortune. This is Suzanne Segerstrom's advice: C.
The trap: David Fajgenbaum (B) is called 'a typical optimist' in C, but he took action after an accident; he doesn't talk about noticing good things.
Question 21
Answer: GSection H, middle
Who says courage can be learned once you see it comes from a sense of duty?
courage is not motivated by fearlessness, but by moral obligation. Pury also believes that people can acquire courage.
Question says → Passage says
its origins in a sense of responsibilitymotivated… by moral obligation
courage can be learnedpeople can acquire courage
Why: Pury makes both points: courage comes from moral obligation, and people can acquire it. 'Obligation' is responsibility, 'acquire' is learn: G.
The trap: Kenneth Pedeleose (F) is the example of courage, but he doesn't say anything about learning it. The claim is Pury's.
Question 22
Answer: ASection B, second and third sentences
Who says shyness can be overcome when you have to speak in public?
Inherently introverted, he realised early on that as an academic, his reticence would prove disastrous in the lecture hall. So he learned to be more outgoing
Question says → Passage says
shynessInherently introverted / his reticence
the need to speak in publicin the lecture hall
overcomehe learned to be more outgoing
Why: Peterson was naturally shy, knew it would ruin his lectures, and learned to be outgoing. Lecturing is speaking in public: A.
The trap: Pedeleose (F) spoke up about bullying, which can sound like 'speaking out'. That's moral courage, not shyness about public speaking.
Matching information (sections A-H)
Questions 23-26
How to attack this block: Each section tells one person's story, so match the kind of story: physical goals reached by reasoning, a sad event overcome, a change of academic direction, and a career risked for a moral reason.
Question 23
Answer: ESection E, last two sentences
Which section shows clear thinking helping someone reach physical goals?
Streeter learned to untangle her fears from her judgment of what her body and mind could do.
Question says → Passage says
rational thinkinguntangle her fears from her judgment
physical goalsset nine world records and can hold her breath for six minutes
Why: Streeter separated fear from a reasoned judgement of what her body could do, and found her limit was much further than she'd thought. Reason helping physical achievement is E.
The trap: C begins with a sports career, but it ends in an accident; there's no physical goal achieved through thinking.
Question 24
Answer: CSection C
Which section tells how someone got past a sad experience?
the university had no services for students who were undergoing physical rehabilitation and suffering from depression like him. He therefore launched a support group
Question says → Passage says
a sad experiencean accident that put an end to his sports career / suffering from depression
overcameHe took action despite his own pain
Why: Fajgenbaum lost his sports career and suffered depression, then started a support group for others. Acting despite the pain is how he overcame it: C.
The trap: G describes Zappaterra being 'miserable', which is also a sad experience. But G's focus is his change of research direction, which is question 25.
Question 25
Answer: GSection G, first half
Which section describes someone rethinking their academic path?
he was miserable as his research wasn't compatible with his curiosity about healing… When he got back, he switched labs
Question says → Passage says
rethink their academic career pathswitched labs
decidedHe finally took a break
Why: Zappaterra's PhD research didn't fit his interests, so he took a break, learned about other healing methods, and changed labs and topic. That's rethinking an academic path: G.
The trap: B is about an academic too (Peterson), but he changed his behaviour in lectures, not his career direction.
Question 26
Answer: HSection H, second and third sentences
Which section gives an example of someone risking his job because of duty?
took the evidence to a senior director, knowing his own job security would be threatened
Question says → Passage says
risked his careerknowing his own job security would be threatened
out of a sense of dutyspeaking out against something he thought was ethically wrong / moral obligation
Why: Pedeleose reported a bullying manager knowing it could cost him his job, because it was ethically wrong. Risk to career plus duty: H.
The trap: C (Fajgenbaum) also acts for others, but he wasn't risking a career; his sports career had already ended.
C. Fajgenbaum's injury and depression is the sad experience. G's Zappaterra was miserable too, but his story is about changing direction.
Words from this passage worth keeping
inherently(B)
by nature, as a basic part of someone
reticence(B)
being unwilling to speak much or show feelings
rehabilitation(C)
recovery after an injury or illness
stamina(E)
the physical strength to keep going for a long time
untangle(E)
separate things that are mixed up
compatible with(G)
able to fit or work well with
intimidating(H)
frightening or threatening people
mitigate(H)
make something less serious or harmful
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 10 Test 4 reading paper: all three passages, 60 minutes, marked the second you finish with a review of every answer. Already done it? Take it again and see if the same traps still get you.
Cambridge IELTS 10, Test 4, Reading Passage 2. The passage and questions belong to Cambridge University Press and are not reproduced here. We quote short extracts only as evidence for our own commentary, and the answers are published for self-marking. Get the book for the full text, or sit the test on Langujet.
