'This Marvellous Invention': reading answers and analysis
The writer calls language humanity's greatest invention, then points out the paradox that nobody invented it. A few dozen meaningless sounds combine into endless meaning, and almost anyone can use it effortlessly, so we take it for granted. Unusual languages like Turkish and Sumerian, where even an empty slot carries meaning, show how impressive its design is.
How to attack this block: Seven headings for six paragraphs, and only one decoy (sounds differing between languages). Each paragraph's point is in a punchy line: 'pale in significance', 'apparent paradox', 'just about everybody', 'brings home the wonder', 'the absence of a sound'.
Question 27
Answer: viParagraph A
Which heading fits paragraph A?
Compared to language, all other inventions pale in significance, since everything we have ever achieved depends on language and originates from it.
Question says → Passage says
the most important invention of allall other inventions pale in significance / language must take pride of place
Whysince everything we have ever achieved depends on language
Why: A ranks language above every other invention and gives the reason: everything we've achieved depends on it. That's the 'why' in heading vi.
The trap: Heading iv might tempt you because B begins with language being 'foremost'. But the contradiction (invented yet never invented) only appears in B. A is all about importance.
Question 28
Answer: ivParagraph B, last three sentences
Which heading fits paragraph B?
Language is mankind's greatest invention - except, of course, that it was never invented. This apparent paradox is at the core of our fascination with language
of languagemankind's greatest invention - except, of course, that it was never invented
Why: B's key point is the paradox: language is our greatest invention, yet nobody invented it. 'Incongruity' and 'apparent paradox' match 'apparently incompatible'. Heading iv.
The trap: Heading ii fits the long Port-Royal quote about 'twenty-five or thirty sounds'. That's a detail on the way to B's real point, and C develops the sounds idea properly.
Question 29
Answer: iiParagraph C
Which heading fits paragraph C?
How else could this instrument make so much out of barely three dozen measly morsels of sound?
Question says → Passage says
a few soundsbarely three dozen measly morsels of sound
are organisedlet it arrange them in some very special orders
a huge range of meaningthere is nothing that these meaningless streams of air cannot do
Why: C explains how about 36 meaningless sounds become unlimited meaning once the language 'machine' arranges them in special orders. Heading ii.
The trap: Heading iii (why sounds differ between languages) borrows the list of sounds in C, but C never compares languages.
Question 30
Answer: viiParagraph D, first two sentences
Which heading fits paragraph D?
The language machine allows just about everybody - from pre-modern foragers in the subtropical savannah, to post-modern philosophers in the suburban sprawl - to tie these meaningless sounds together
Question says → Passage says
universaljust about everybody
ability to use languageone doesn't have to be a genius to set its wheels in motion
Why: D's point is that anyone, from foragers to philosophers, can use language with no effort. 'Just about everybody' = universal. Heading vii.
The trap: Heading vi is tempting because D talks about language's 'triumphs'. But D is about who can use it, not why it's the greatest invention.
Question 31
Answer: iParagraph E, first sentence
Which heading fits paragraph E?
Often, it is only the estrangement of foreign tongues, with their many exotic and outlandish features, that brings home the wonder of language's design.
Question says → Passage says
Differences between languagesthe estrangement of foreign tongues, with their many exotic and outlandish features
highlight their impressivenessbrings home the wonder of language's design
Why: Unfamiliar features of other languages, like the very long Turkish word, make you see how impressive language is. 'Brings home the wonder' = highlights the impressiveness. Heading i.
The trap: Heading iii also mentions different languages, but E is about word length and design, not sounds.
Question 32
Answer: vParagraph F, second half
Which heading fits paragraph F?
even the absence of a sound has been enlisted to express something specific
Question says → Passage says
Even silenceeven the absence of a sound / even a non-sound
can be meaningfulhas been invested with a specific function
Why: F's surprise is that in the Sumerian word, an empty slot means 'it'. A missing sound carries meaning, which is heading v.
The trap: Heading i (differences between languages) fits the start of F, which continues E with another unusual language. But F's real point is the meaningful 'nothing'.
Summary completion (word list A-G)
Questions 33-36
How to attack this block: Each box word is a paraphrase: material existence, what made us human, extraordinary sophistication, without the slightest exertion. Check the summary's contrast words ('but', 'yet', 'however'), because each one flips the meaning around a gap.
Question 33
Answer: EParagraph A, second sentence
Which aspects of life did the wheel transform?
Other inventions - the wheel, agriculture, sliced bread - may have transformed our material existence
Question says → Passage says
had a major impact ontransformed
___ aspects of lifeour material existence
Why: The wheel changed our 'material existence', so 'material' (E) is the word that describes those aspects of life.
The trap: 'Fundamental' (G) fits the grammar, but the writer's point is that the wheel only changed material life, while language was the fundamental change.
Question 34
Answer: GParagraph A
How does the impact of language compare with other inventions?
the advent of language is what made us human. Compared to language, all other inventions pale in significance
Question says → Passage says
no impact has been as ___ as that of languageall other inventions pale in significance
fundamentalwhat made us human / everything we have ever achieved depends on language and originates from it
Why: Language 'made us human' and everything comes from it, which describes the most basic, fundamental impact. G.
The trap: 'Complex' (B) is true of language, but the sentence is about the size of its impact, not how complicated it is. You'll need 'complex' for the next gap.
Question 35
Answer: BParagraph B, second sentence
What is language like, though it uses only a few sounds?
In its own right it is a tool of extraordinary sophistication, yet based on an idea of ingenious simplicity
Question says → Passage says
very complexextraordinary sophistication
yet composed of just a small number of soundscomposing out of twenty-five or thirty sounds
Why: 'Extraordinary sophistication' = 'very complex'. The 'yet' in the summary mirrors the passage's 'yet… simplicity'. B.
The trap: 'Admired' (D) is tempting because the Port-Royal grammarians praise language. But the 'yet' contrast needs a quality that clashes with 'a small number of sounds', and that's complexity.
Question 36
Answer: FParagraph D, second and third sentences
How does language seem when we use it?
and all apparently without the slightest exertion. Yet it is precisely this deceptive ease which makes language a victim of its own success
Question says → Passage says
appears to be ___ to useapparently without the slightest exertion / this deceptive ease
its sophistication is often overlookedits triumphs are usually taken for granted
Why: 'Apparently without the slightest exertion' and 'deceptive ease' both say language seems easy. F.
The trap: 'Difficult' (A) is the opposite. People who focus on how sophisticated language is pick it, but the summary says 'appears', which matches 'apparently'.
YES / NO / NOT GIVEN
Questions 37-40
How to attack this block: These test the writer's views. The NO contradicts a 'could never' sentence, and the NOT GIVEN asks about clarity when the writer only talks about length. Don't let the writer's playful tone ('monstrosity', 'one flaw') mislead you about what he actually thinks.
Question 37
Answer: NOParagraph A, last sentence
Could humans have reached their current position without language?
Without language, we could never have embarked on our ascent to unparalleled power over all other animals, and even over nature itself.
Question says → Passage says
might have achieved their present positioncould never have embarked on our ascent to unparalleled power
without languageWithout language
Why: The writer says that without language we 'could never' have risen to power over animals and nature. The statement says we might have, so NO.
Question 38
Answer: YESParagraph B, middle
Does the writer think the Port-Royal grammarians described language well?
the renowned French grammarians of the Port-Royal abbey near Versailles distilled the essence of language, and no one since has celebrated more eloquently the magnitude of its achievement
Question says → Passage says
did justice to the nature of languagedistilled the essence of language / no one since has celebrated more eloquently
Why: The grammarians captured language's 'essence', and nobody has praised it better since. That's doing justice to it. YES.
The trap: The next sentence mentions 'one flaw in all these hymns of praise', which makes people say NO. The flaw is that language was never invented, not that the grammarians described it badly.
Question 39
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph E, second sentence
Is a sentence clearer than one word for explaining a complex idea?
express in one word what English takes a whole sentence to say
Question says → Passage says
in a sentencea whole sentence
in a single wordin one word
Why: The writer says some languages say in one word what English needs a sentence for. Nothing compares which is clearer. NOT GIVEN.
The trap: Calling the Turkish word a 'monstrosity' sounds critical and pushes people to YES. That's about its length, not whether it's less clear.
Question 40
Answer: YESParagraph F, first sentence
Did the Sumerians start the recording of events?
the people who invented writing and thus enabled the documentation of history
Question says → Passage says
were responsible for startinginvented writing and thus enabled
the recording of eventsthe documentation of history
Why: The Sumerians invented writing, which made it possible to document history. 'Documentation of history' = recording of events. YES.
The trap: Some people hesitate because 'enabled' is softer than 'started'. Inventing the writing that made recording possible is what the statement means by starting it.
NOT GIVEN. The writer compares the length of one word and a whole sentence, not which is clearer.
Words from this passage worth keeping
manifold(A)
many and varied
pale in significance(A)
seem unimportant by comparison
incongruity(B)
something that doesn't fit or seems contradictory
paradox(B)
a statement that seems to contradict itself
haphazard(C)
random, without order
exertion(D)
physical or mental effort
estrangement(E)
the feeling of something being unfamiliar or strange
thrifty(F)
economical, wasting nothing
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 11 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 11, Test 4, Reading Passage 3. 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.
