Having a laugh: reading answers and analysis
Laughter is universal and full of social information. Listeners from 24 societies could tell friends' laughter from strangers' about 60% of the time, and a fraternity teasing study showed dominant laughs signal high status (and can lift low-status people). An Australian study found that watching Mr. Bean after a dull task made people persist far longer at a nearly impossible one: humour energises.
Questions 27-40 · 14 marks · 3 question blocks
Where the answers sit
The multiple choice (27-31) covers the first five paragraphs. The summary (32-36) covers the Australian studies. YES / NO / NOT GIVEN (37-40) moves from the Santa Cruz study to the conclusion.
Questions 27-31
The opening frames laughter as a rich resource for scientists. Douglass wanted home viewers to feel part of a crowd. The Santa Cruz study matters for its consistent results across 24 cultures. In San Diego, participants took turns teasing and being teased. High-status people were always rated high-status, whatever laugh they tried.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | C | — |
| 28 | A | — |
| 29 | B | — |
| 30 | B | — |
| 31 | D | — |
Questions 32-36
Each clip was meant to produce a different emotion, and the amusing one worked best. The multiplication task was boring. Humour is already known to relieve stress (anxiety), and the new finding is that it's energising (stimulating). 'Relaxing' describes the dolphin clip and is a trap.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | F | — |
| 33 | H | — |
| 34 | C | — |
| 35 | D | — |
| 36 | E | — |
Questions 37-40
The San Diego predictions about high-status laughs came true (YES). The Australian participants could quit at any time, so there was no fixed time (NO). The traditional view says to avoid distractions such as humour, which Cheng and Wang contradict (NO). Santa Cruz reports overall accuracy, not friends versus strangers.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 37 | NOT GIVEN | — |
| 38 | YES | — |
| 39 | NO | — |
| 40 | NO | — |
The questions most people get wrong
D. High-status individuals were rated high-status whether they produced a dominant laugh or tried a submissive one, so they can always be identified.
NOT GIVEN. Guesses were right about 60% of the time overall, but the passage doesn't compare accuracy for friends and for strangers.
B. Each student 'took a turn at being teased by the others', and newcomers laughed differently when they were the teasers, so roles were exchanged.
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The full Cambridge 15 Test 2 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 15, Test 2, Reading Passage 3. The passage name belongs to Cambridge University Press. No passage text or question wording is reproduced on this page. The answers are published for self-marking, and the analysis is our own.