Starting from Emma Raducanu's Wimbledon withdrawal, the passage explains stress as demands weighed against resources. Feeling well-resourced gives a 'challenge state' and better play, while feeling overloaded gives a 'threat state', with cortisol blunting adrenaline. It closes with ways to steer athletes toward the positive response.
Paragraph matching (14-18) uses F twice. The sentence completions (19-22) run in order through B, D and F. Questions 23-24 are about paragraphs A and C, and 25-26 are confined to E, as the question says.
Matching information (paragraphs A-F)
Questions 14-18
How to attack this block: F is the answer twice: it holds both the strategies and the people (coaches, parents, psychologists) who shape how athletes read their own reactions. The 'two chemical compounds' are adrenaline and cortisol in D. The research results linking stress responses to performance are in C, not D.
Question 14
Answer: DParagraph D, first sentence
Which paragraph names two chemicals in the body that affect how athletes perform?
as both affect the production of adrenaline and cortisol - also known as stress hormones
Question says → Passage says
two chemical compoundsadrenaline and cortisol / stress hormones
impact on performanceconsistently related to superior sport performance / perform more poorly
Why: Hormones are chemical compounds, and D names two: adrenaline and cortisol. It then explains how each affects performance, from better putting and penalties to worse decisions and serves.
The trap: Paragraph E lists physical symptoms like a faster heart rate and sweating, which sound chemical, but no compound is named there.
Question 15
Answer: FParagraph F
Which paragraph gives examples of ways to reduce the effects of stress?
Developing psychological skills, such as visualisation, can also help decrease physiological responses to threat.
Question says → Passage says
strategiesmany ways athletes can ensure they respond positively under pressure
minimising the effects of stresshelp decrease physiological responses to threat
examplessuch as visualisation / Recreating competitive pressure during training
Why: F is a list of methods: changing the language people use, reframing a racing heart, visualisation, and recreating pressure in training. 'Examples of strategies' means more than one method, and F has several.
The trap: Paragraph B mentions 'resources' that help people cope, like confidence. But those are things a person has, not strategies they use, and B gives no methods.
Question 16
Answer: AParagraph A, last sentence
Which paragraph has an athlete explaining her own stress?
she began having difficulty regulating her breathing and heart rate during a match, which she later attributed to the accumulation of the excitement and the buzz
Question says → Passage says
a sportspersonBritish tennis player Emma Raducanu
accounted forattributed to
their own experience of stressdifficulty regulating her breathing and heart rate
Why: 'Accounted for' means explained the cause of. Raducanu put her symptoms down to the build-up of excitement and buzz, and she wrote about it herself on social media. That's her own explanation.
The trap: Paragraph C also discusses Raducanu, but there it's the writer explaining her stress with the demands-and-resources model. The question wants her own account, which is in A.
Question 17
Answer: CParagraph C, middle
Which paragraph reports research linking types of stress response to performance?
Research shows that challenge states lead to good performance, while threat states lead to poorer performance.
Question says → Passage says
study results indicatingResearch shows
stress responseschallenge states… threat states
links… and performancelead to good performance… lead to poorer performance
Why: The two stress responses (challenge and threat) are linked to good and poor performance, and the sentence opens with 'Research shows'. That's study results showing a link.
The trap: Paragraph D also connects the body's responses to performance in cricket, golf and football. But it's about what hormones do, and it doesn't present it as research findings. The research sentence is in C.
Question 18
Answer: FParagraph F, first half
Which paragraph mentions people who can change how athletes see their stress reactions?
others - such as coaches or parents - use. Psychologists can also help athletes change how they see their physiological responses
Question says → Passage says
people who can influencecoaches or parents / Psychologists
how athletes perceive their stress responseschange how they see their physiological responses
Why: F names coaches, parents and psychologists. Psychologists help athletes 'change how they see' their physical reactions, and coaches and parents shape responses through their language. 'Perceive' = 'see'.
The trap: F is also the answer to 15, and people often refuse to use a letter twice. The instructions say you may, so don't jump to E, which mentions excitement but no people.
Sentence completion (ONE WORD ONLY)
Questions 19-22
How to attack this block: Each sentence points to one paragraph: the demands list in B, the tennis detail at the end of D, and the psychologist and technique examples in F. Question 22 needs a capital letter only because it starts the sentence. Both spellings of visualisation are accepted.
Question 19
Answer: injuryParagraph B, middle
Which possible danger is one of the demands on an athlete?
any potential dangers such as injury
Question says → Passage says
many demandsThese demands include
the possible risk ofany potential dangers such as
Why: 'Possible risk' paraphrases 'potential dangers', and the example given is 'injury'. The gap after 'risk of' needs a noun.
The trap: 'Difficulty of the event' and 'chance of succeeding' are also demands in the list, but they aren't risks or dangers. Only injury is.
Question 20
Answer: servesParagraph D, last sentence
What do tennis players produce fewer good ones of because of cortisol?
In tennis players, cortisol has been associated with more unsuccessful serves and greater anxiety.
Question says → Passage says
fewer goodmore unsuccessful
Why: More unsuccessful serves means fewer good ones, so the sentence flips the passage's wording. The gap needs a plural noun after 'fewer good': 'serves'.
The trap: 'Anxiety' is in the same sentence, but 'fewer good anxiety' makes no sense and anxiety went up, not down.
Question 21
Answer: excitementParagraph F
Which positive feeling can psychologists get athletes to see their heart rate as?
helping them see a higher heart rate as excitement, rather than nerves
Question says → Passage says
view their physiological responseschange how they see their physiological responses
as the effect ofsee a higher heart rate as
Why: Psychologists help athletes read a faster heart rate as excitement instead of nerves. The sentence wants 'a positive feeling', and excitement is the positive one.
The trap: 'Nerves' is right next to it, but that's the negative reading psychologists steer athletes away from. 'Confidence' appears in B, but not as a way of seeing physical responses.
Question 22
Answer: VisualisationParagraph F, middle
Also accepted: Visualization / visualisation / visualization
Which psychological technique is given as a way to reduce stress responses?
Developing psychological skills, such as visualisation, can also help decrease physiological responses to threat.
Question says → Passage says
an example of a psychological techniquepsychological skills, such as
reduce an athlete's stress responseshelp decrease physiological responses to threat
Why: 'Such as' introduces the example, and 'decrease' = 'reduce'. The gap opens the sentence, so you'd write 'Visualisation' with a capital. Both the -isation and -ization spellings are accepted.
The trap: 'Training' turns up later in F ('Recreating competitive pressure during training'), but that's a separate method, and the passage doesn't call it a psychological skill.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 23-24
How to attack this block: A gives her symptoms (breathing, heart rate), and C lists what made Wimbledon more demanding (bigger crowd, higher expectations, a stronger opponent). The passage never says what round she left in, what she did to manage stress, or how people reacted to her post.
Question 23-24
Answer: B and D (in either order)Paragraphs A and C
Which two facts about Raducanu's withdrawal does the passage actually give?
she began having difficulty regulating her breathing and heart rate during a match… a much larger audience, higher expectations and facing a more skilful opponent
Question says → Passage says
symptoms of her performance stressdifficulty regulating her breathing and heart rate
aspects of the… tournament which increased her stressa much larger audience, higher expectations and facing a more skilful opponent
Why: B: paragraph A describes her symptoms, trouble with her breathing and heart rate. D: paragraph C lists what made Wimbledon more demanding for her: a bigger crowd, higher expectations and a stronger opponent.
The trap: A is the most tempting: we're told she 'had been doing well in the tournament', but never at what stage she pulled out. C and E fail too: no stress-management steps or reactions to her post are given.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 25-26
How to attack this block: Stay inside paragraph E. It says intensity depends on demands and resources, and that repeated episodes raise the risk of heart disease and depression. It lists many symptoms but never ranks them, so 'most common symptom' is a trap.
Question 25-26
Answer: A and E (in either order)Paragraph E, second half
Which two facts about anxiety appear in Paragraph E?
The intensity with which a person experiences anxiety depends on the demands and resources they have.… repeated episodes of anxiety coupled with negative responses can increase risk of heart disease and depression
Question says → Passage says
the factors which determine how severe it may beThe intensity… depends on the demands and resources
the harmincrease risk of heart disease and depression
if athletes experience it too oftenrepeated episodes of anxiety
Why: A: intensity (how severe) depends on demands and resources. E: repeated episodes can raise the risk of heart disease and depression, so experiencing it often causes harm.
The trap: C is tempting because E gives a long list of symptoms, but it never says which one is most common. B (how long effects take) and D (which athletes suffer most) aren't covered either.
The answer is 'excitement', the feeling psychologists relabel a racing heart as. 'Nerves' is the word they steer athletes away from.
Words from this passage worth keeping
attributed to(A)
said to be caused by
accumulation(A)
a gradual build-up
dictate(B)
decide or control
inhibits(D)
blocks or slows down
palpitations(E)
a fast or irregular heartbeat you can feel
manifest itself(E)
show itself or appear
coupled with(E)
combined with
peers(F)
people of the same level or age
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The full Cambridge 19 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 19, Test 2, 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.
