Computer programs now paint and compose, which raises the question of whether machines can be creative. Simon Colton's Painting Fool finds its own ideas online, unlike older systems such as Aaron. David Cope's EMI fooled experts with fake Bach, then caused outrage. Studies suggest we dislike art we think a computer made because we value the human process behind it.
The multiple choice (27-31) runs through Paragraphs 1 to 5 in order. The sentence endings (32-37) cover Paragraphs 6 to 8, from Colton's long-term view to Moffat's study. YES / NO / NOT GIVEN (38-40) is in Paragraphs 8 and 9.
Answer key and self-check
Type what you wrote and hit mark. Hide the key first if you haven't done the passage yet. Every question number jumps to its explanation.
How to attack this block: Each question points at one paragraph, so read that paragraph only. The options often borrow words from nearby (imagination, technical, public response) while saying something the paragraph doesn't. Colton's 'double standards' in Paragraph 4 is the clearest paraphrase test.
Question 27
Answer: BParagraph 1
What does the opening paragraph imply about computer-made art?
Artworks painted by a robot have sold for thousands of dollars and been hung in prestigious galleries. And software has been built which creates art that could not have been imagined by the programmer.
Question says → Passage says
A great deal of progressa growing number of computer programs / sold for thousands of dollars and been hung in prestigious galleries
Why: B. The paragraph is a list of achievements: music that fooled audiences, paintings sold and hung in top galleries, software that surprises its own programmer. That's a field that has already come a long way.
The trap: C tempts because the paragraph mentions music and painting, but it never says one has done better than the other. A (acceptance varies) belongs to later paragraphs, and D isn't suggested at all: the writer doesn't play the achievements down.
Question 28
Answer: CParagraph 2, last sentence
Why does computer art worry people, according to Wiggins?
'It scares a lot of people. They are worried that it is taking something special away from what it means to be human.'
Question says → Passage says
underminestaking something special away from
a fundamental human qualitywhat it means to be human / at the very core of humanity
Why: C. People fear computer art takes away something special about being human. Creativity is that special quality, since we're 'the only species' that does it regularly.
The trap: B (supersede human art) sounds like a natural fear, but Wiggins talks about losing something from being human, not computers replacing artists. A and D are never mentioned.
Question 29
Answer: CParagraphs 3 and 4
What mainly separates Aaron from the Painting Fool?
the Painting Fool only needs minimal direction and can come up with its own concepts by going online for material
Question says → Passage says
the source of its subject mattercome up with its own concepts by going online for material / runs its own web searches
Why: C. Aaron paints the programmer's own ideas, while the Painting Fool finds its own ideas online through web searches and social media. The difference is where the subject matter comes from.
The trap: D tempts because Aaron's painting is called 'impressive', but the passage never compares the quality of the two machines' work. B (public response) is about the Painting Fool's landscapes only.
Question 30
Answer: DParagraph 4, second half
What is Colton's point in the fourth paragraph?
Colton argues that such reactions arise from people's double standards towards software-produced and human-produced art.
Question says → Passage says
judge… according to different criteriadouble standards
computer art and human artsoftware-produced and human-produced art
Why: D. A double standard means judging two things by different rules. Colton says people call the landscapes mechanical only because a machine made them.
The trap: C is the opposite of his view: his child example says a machine that paints from its head should count as imaginative, just as a child would. A twists the child example, which is about imagination, not childishness.
Question 31
Answer: AParagraph 5
Why does the writer mention the chair paintings?
Some of the Painting Fool's paintings of a chair came out in black and white, thanks to a technical glitch. This gives the work an eerie, ghostlike quality.
Question says → Passage says
a particularly striking effectan eerie, ghostlike quality
Why: A. The glitch produced something eerie and ghostlike, which is a striking effect, and the writer presents it as a plus, comparing it to human artists praised for a limited palette.
The trap: D looks right because a 'technical glitch' is a limitation, but the writer uses the example to praise the result, not to point out a weakness. C fails because Ellsworth Kelly is compared for limiting colour, not for looking similar.
Sentence endings (A-G)
Questions 32-37
How to attack this block: Every beginning names a person, so find the person and read what they did or said. Two endings look alike: finding out the music was computer-made (EMI's audiences) and not knowing who made it (Moffat's participants). Hofstadter's 'replicas' point is about the original composer's imagination.
Question 32
Answer: DParagraph 6, first sentence
When does Colton say the long-term view matters?
Researchers like Colton don't believe it is right to measure machine creativity directly to that of humans who 'have had millennia to develop our skills'.
Question says → Passage says
the long-term viewhave had millennia to develop our skills
comparing the artistic achievements of humans and computersmeasure machine creativity directly to that of humans
Why: D. Humans have had thousands of years to develop, so Colton thinks a direct comparison with machines is unfair. That's taking the long-term view when comparing the two.
The trap: F (persuading the public) fits Colton's general mission, but this sentence is about measuring machines against humans, not winning people over.
Question 33
Answer: AParagraph 6, last sentence
What surprising thing did Cope's EMI do?
Audiences were moved to tears, and EMI even fooled classical music experts into thinking they were hearing genuine Bach.
Question says → Passage says
surprised people byeven fooled
virtually indistinguishable from that of humansthinking they were hearing genuine Bach
Why: A. If experts thought they were hearing real Bach, the computer's music couldn't be told apart from a human composer's.
The trap: C is Hofstadter's criticism of EMI (copies dependent on the original artist), which is a complaint, not a surprise.
Question 34
Answer: EParagraph 7, second sentence
What did Wiggins criticise Cope for failing to do?
condemned him for his deliberately vague explanation of how the software worked
Question says → Passage says
criticisedblasted / condemned
not revealing the technical details of his programdeliberately vague explanation of how the software worked
Why: E. A deliberately vague explanation of how the software worked means he didn't reveal its technical details.
The trap: B also fits the grammar ('for not knowing whether…'), but not knowing who composed the music describes Moffat's participants. Wiggins's complaint was that Cope kept the workings of his program vague.
Question 35
Answer: CParagraph 7, third sentence
What did Hofstadter say about EMI?
EMI created replicas which still rely completely on the original artist's creative impulses
Question says → Passage says
entirely dependent onrely completely on
the imagination of its creatorthe original artist's creative impulses
Why: C. 'Rely completely on' is 'entirely dependent on', and the 'creative impulses' of the original artist are their imagination. EMI only copied.
The trap: A (indistinguishable from humans) describes what EMI achieved in Paragraph 6. Hofstadter's point is about where the creativity really came from.
Question 36
Answer: GParagraph 7, fourth sentence
Why did EMI's listeners get angry?
When audiences found out the truth they were often outraged with Cope
Question says → Passage says
became angrywere often outraged / tried to punch him
after discoveringWhen audiences found out the truth
Why: G. 'Found out the truth' is 'discovering', and the truth was that a computer program wrote the music. 'Outraged' is 'angry'.
The trap: E tempts because Wiggins attacked Cope for being vague, but that was a critic's complaint. The audiences' anger came from learning the music was computer-made.
Question 37
Answer: BParagraph 8, fourth sentence
What didn't Moffat's participants know when they rated the music?
The participants weren't told beforehand whether the tunes were composed by humans or computers, but were asked to guess
Question says → Passage says
without knowingweren't told beforehand
the work of humans or softwarecomposed by humans or computers
Why: B. They weren't told who composed each piece and had to guess, so they assessed it without knowing whether a human or a computer wrote it.
The trap: G (discovering it was a computer) is the EMI audiences, not Moffat's participants. Moffat's people never found out during the test.
YES / NO / NOT GIVEN
Questions 38-40
How to attack this block: These test the writer's view of the studies. Moffat 'provides a clue' to the EMI reaction. The study's finding is about experts, so a claim about every non-expert has nothing behind it. Kruger's results point the same way as Bloom's, so a claim that they clash is contradicted.
Question 38
Answer: YESParagraph 8, first two sentences
Does the writer think Moffat's study may help explain reactions to EMI?
But why did so many people love the music, yet recoil when they discovered how it was composed? A study by computer scientist David Moffat of Glasgow Caledonian University provides a clue.
Question says → Passage says
may help explainprovides a clue
people's reactions to EMIlove the music, yet recoil when they discovered how it was composed
Why: YES. The writer asks why people turned against EMI's music and says Moffat's study 'provides a clue'. A clue is a partial explanation, which matches 'may help'.
Question 39
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 8, last sentence
Did all the non-experts react in a predictable way?
This was true even among the experts, who might have been expected to be more objective in their analyses.
Question says → Passage says
predictablemight have been expected
Why: NOT GIVEN. The writer comments on the experts, who might have been expected to be more objective. Nothing is said about whether every non-expert behaved predictably.
The trap: 'Expected' is about the experts, not the non-experts. And the general finding uses 'tended to', which tells you about a trend, not that 'all' of anyone did anything.
Question 40
Answer: NOParagraph 9, second and third sentences
Do Kruger's results throw doubt on Bloom's theory?
Meanwhile, experiments by Justin Kruger of New York University have shown that people's enjoyment of an artwork increases if they think more time and effort was needed to create it.
Question says → Passage says
Paul Bloom's theorypart of the pleasure we get from art stems from the creative process behind the work
Why: NO. Bloom says our pleasure comes partly from the creative process. Kruger found enjoyment rises when people think more effort went in, which supports Bloom. The writer then adds Colton with 'Similarly'.
The trap: 'Meanwhile' can read like a contrast, but here it just adds another study. The two findings point the same way, so 'cast doubt' is contradicted, not missing.
A. The glitch gives the chair paintings an eerie, ghostlike quality, which the writer presents as a striking effect. D (technical limits) reads the glitch the wrong way.
NO. Kruger's effort finding supports Bloom's idea that the creative process adds to our pleasure. 'Meanwhile' adds evidence, it doesn't contrast.
Words from this passage worth keeping
enraptured(Paragraph 1)
filled with delight
prestigious(Paragraph 1)
highly respected
trawls through(Paragraph 4)
searches through a large amount of material
lauded(Paragraph 5)
praised highly
revered(Paragraph 6)
deeply respected and admired
pseudoscience(Paragraph 7)
something presented as science without a proper scientific basis
recoil(Paragraph 8)
react with sudden dislike or disgust
objective(Paragraph 8)
not influenced by personal feelings
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The full Cambridge 13 Test 1 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 13, Test 1, 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.
