The Language Barrier: reading answers and analysis
Language barriers usually go unnoticed until they have serious consequences, like the 1970 mushroom poisoning, whose known treatment was published only in non-English journals. English-speaking scientists rarely use foreign sources, and British firms long assumed buyers would use English. Since the 1960s, training, translation services, language courses and glossaries have improved things, but English speakers must still remember how 'we' speak to 'them'.
Questions 14-26 · 13 marks · 4 question blocks
Where the answers sit
The sentence completions (14-17) run through the whole passage. The multiple choice (18-20) covers the first, second and fourth paragraphs. The four solutions (21-24) are in the fifth paragraph, and 25-26 need the last paragraph and the whole text.
Questions 14-17
Each sentence paraphrases one paragraph. Publicity comes only with major consequences, the evidence comes from surveys of library use, British firms had sales literature only in English, and several regions are listed for question 17, all accepted.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | major consequences | — |
| 15 | surveys | — |
| 16 | sales literature | — |
| 17 | Eastern Europe | the Far East / Far East / Russia / the Arab world / Arab world / Latin America / French-speaking Africa |
Questions 18-20
The metaphor covers unfamiliar dialects or styles within one language. The American doctors missed a treatment published only in other European languages. British insularity has improved since the 1960s.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | C | — |
| 19 | B | — |
| 20 | C | — |
Questions 21-24
The fifth paragraph gives four responses: industrial training schemes for linguistic awareness, in-house translation services, part-time language courses, and technical glossaries. Any order is fine, and the key accepts shorter forms. Rowntree Mackintosh is an example of translation, not a separate method.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | industrial training schemes(in any order) | training schemes / industrial training |
| 22 | translation services(in any order) | — |
| 23 | language courses(in any order) | part-time language courses |
| 24 | technical glossaries(in any order) | glossaries |
Questions 25-26
The last paragraph warns that foreigners who speak English well may still struggle to understand it. The passage is about recognising and overcoming the barrier, which makes 'Overcoming the language barrier' the best title.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | D | — |
| 26 | A | — |
The questions most people get wrong
B. The treatment had been published in 1963, but only in journals in European languages other than English. The doctors apparently read only English.
C. The phrase applies 'to any encounter with unfamiliar dialects or styles within a single language', not to metaphor itself.
D. Even customers who speak English well may not understand it at the level needed, especially with regional and social variation.
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 2 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 2, Test 2, Reading Passage 2. 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.