Two neuroscientists show that stress makes people better at taking in bad news. Relaxed firefighters ignored bad news, but stressed ones updated their beliefs, and students facing a surprise speech did the same. The writer links this to an evolved alarm switch now triggered by phones and social media, where stress and negative news feed each other.
The multiple choice (27-30) names its paragraph each time (first, second, fourth, seventh). The sentence endings (31-35) come from E and F. YES / NO / NOT GIVEN (36-40) is all in the long final paragraph, I.
Multiple choice
Questions 27-30
How to attack this block: Three of the four ask what a paragraph is doing. The fourth paragraph describes the method (asking for estimates, then giving good or bad news), not the findings, which come before and after it. The opening mentions a situation we all face rather than questioning a belief.
Question 27
Answer: CParagraph A (first paragraph), second sentence
How does the writer open the topic in the first paragraph?
we are all sometimes required to weigh up information under stressful conditions
Question says → Passage says
everyonewe are all
a challenge facedrequired to weigh up information under stressful conditions
Why: The writer starts with something everybody has to do: make important decisions while stressed. 'We are all' signals 'everyone', and weighing up information under stress is the challenge. C.
The trap: B tempts because the paragraph ends with a question. But that question opens the research topic; it doesn't attack any belief people hold. D is wrong because the examples (medical, financial) aren't ranked as 'most' anxious, and A fails because no terms are defined.
Question 28
Answer: AParagraph B (second paragraph), last sentence
What is the writer's point about firefighters in the second paragraph?
These ups and downs presented the perfect setting for an experiment on how people's ability to use information changes when they feel under pressure.
Question says → Passage says
regular changes of stress levelsThese ups and downs / Some are pretty relaxed… Other days can be hectic
ideal study subjectsthe perfect setting for an experiment
Why: The paragraph contrasts quiet days (washing the truck, cooking) with hectic ones (burning homes). Those 'ups and downs' are why firefighters are 'the perfect setting' for the study. A.
The trap: B sounds likely in a stress article, but the writer never discusses how firefighters cope with stress. D is also unsupported: nothing is said about their personalities, only about how their days vary.
Question 29
Answer: DParagraph D (fourth paragraph)
What job does the fourth paragraph do?
This is how we arrived at these results. We asked the firefighters to estimate their likelihood of experiencing 40 different adverse events
Question says → Passage says
describing their methodologyThis is how we arrived at these results
methodologyWe asked… We then gave them… and asked them to provide new estimates
Why: The paragraph is a step-by-step procedure: ask for estimates, give good or bad news, ask for new estimates. 'This is how we arrived at' introduces the method. D.
The trap: A tempts because the first sentence contains 'results'. But it only points back to the results in paragraph C; the findings themselves come in E. B is wrong because the writer never defends the choice of method.
Question 30
Answer: CParagraph G (seventh paragraph)
What does the brain mechanism in the seventh paragraph do?
a physiological change is triggered that causes us to take in warnings and focus on what might go wrong
Question says → Passage says
heightened sensitivitya sudden boost in a neural signal / take in warnings and focus on
indications of external threatswarnings / unexpected warning signs, such as faces expressing fear
Why: Under stress, a 'switch' makes us take in warnings and focus on danger, linked to a boost in a learning signal for warning signs. Being more tuned in to signs of danger is 'heightened sensitivity to indications of external threats'. C.
The trap: A sounds right because stress and reaction go together, but the paragraph is about noticing and learning from warnings, not reacting faster. D mixes in the idea of passing danger on, which is paragraph I's point about stress spreading, not the brain switch.
Sentence endings (A-G)
Questions 31-35
How to attack this block: The results split into relaxed vs stressed and good vs bad news, so draw a quick grid. Relaxed firefighters ignored bad news. Stressed ones believed bad things more likely. Good news had the same effect under any conditions. The students were stressed by the speech the researchers set up.
Question 31
Answer: BParagraph E, first two sentences
How did the firefighters usually treat information when they were relaxed?
they will ignore bad news and embrace the good. This is what happened when the firefighters were relaxed
Question says → Passage says
took relatively little notice ofignore
At times when they were relaxedwhen the firefighters were relaxed
Why: 'This is what happened' points back to the normal optimistic pattern: ignoring bad news. So relaxed firefighters took little notice of bad news. B.
The trap: A ('made them feel optimistic') borrows the word 'optimistic', but the passage says people are optimistic by nature. Nothing says the news made them feel that way, and the sentence start needs a behaviour, not a feeling.
Question 32
Answer: GParagraph E, third sentence
What did stressed firefighters do with bad news?
they became hyper-vigilant to bad news… and altered their beliefs in response
Question says → Passage says
when the firefighters were stressedwhen they were under stress
thought it more likely… something badaltered their beliefs in response
Why: The bad news was that their chance of adverse events was higher than they'd thought. Stressed firefighters took this in and 'altered their beliefs', so their new estimates said something bad was more likely. G.
The trap: C ('responded to negative and positive information in the same way') is tempting, but stress changed only how they treated bad news. Good news was handled as before, so the two weren't treated the same.
Question 33
Answer: FParagraph E, last sentence
How did the firefighters react to good news?
In contrast, stress didn't change how they responded to good news
Question says → Passage says
alwaysdidn't change
regardless of the circumstancesstress didn't change how they responded
Why: Good news got the same response whether they were relaxed or stressed. Stressed or not is the 'circumstances', so they behaved the same regardless. F.
The trap: A ('made them feel optimistic') sounds natural for good news, but the passage never says how good news made them feel. It only says their response didn't change.
Question 34
Answer: EParagraph F
What did the researchers do that pushed up the students' cortisol and heart rate?
students who were told they had to give a surprise public speech, which would be judged by a panel, recorded and posted online. Sure enough, their cortisol levels spiked
Question says → Passage says
put them in a stressful situationtold they had to give a surprise public speech
cortisol levels and heart rates were affectedtheir cortisol levels spiked, their heart rates went up
Why: The ending must be something the researchers did. They told students to give a surprise, judged, recorded speech, which is a stressful situation they created. 'Sure enough' shows the stress response was expected. E.
The trap: D ('were feeling under stress') is true, but it describes the students, and the sentence start needs an action by 'the researchers'.
Question 35
Answer: DParagraphs E and F
In both studies, when was bad information processed better?
but when they were under stress, a different pattern emerged… they suddenly became better at processing unrelated, yet alarming, information
Question says → Passage says
negative information was processed betterbecame better at processing… alarming, information / hyper-vigilant to bad news
were feeling under stresswhen they were under stress
Why: Firefighters became hyper-vigilant to bad news only under stress, and students got better at alarming information once the speech stressed them. The shared condition is stress. D.
The trap: E ('put them in a stressful situation') only fits the students, because the researchers didn't create the firefighters' stress. 'In both experiments' needs the ending that covers both groups.
YES / NO / NOT GIVEN
Questions 36-40
How to attack this block: Paragraph I is long, so place each statement before judging it. The NO reverses the passage: after a public disaster, people take in more alarming information, not less. The NOT GIVEN compares phones with other devices, which the survey never does.
Question 36
Answer: YESParagraph I, fourth and fifth sentences
Do our own posts tend to match the mood of what we see in our feeds?
if we observe positive feeds on social media… we are more likely to post uplifting messages ourselves. If we observe negative posts… we will in turn create more negative posts.
Question says → Passage says
the tone of the content we postpost uplifting messages / create more negative posts
the posts in our feedspositive feeds on social media / negative posts
Why: Positive in, positive out; negative in, negative out. Our posts mirror the tone of what we observe, so YES.
The trap: Don't confuse this with the stress-spreading idea at the start of I (a stressed co-worker). Both are about influence, but this statement is specifically about posting online, which the sunset and coffee-queue examples cover.
Question 37
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph I, middle
Do phones affect stress more than other electronic devices?
Repeatedly checking your phone, according to a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, is related to stress.
Question says → Passage says
phonesRepeatedly checking your phone
our stress levelsis related to stress
Why: The survey links phone checking to stress, but no other device is mentioned, so there's no comparison. 'Greater impact than other devices' is NOT GIVEN.
The trap: The next sentences say social media posting raises your pulse 'more than most daily activities'. That's a comparison, but with activities, not with other devices, so it doesn't make the statement YES.
Question 38
Answer: NOParagraph I, second half
Does reading more about a stressful event make us take in less of it?
there is often a wave of alarming information in traditional and social media, which individuals become very aware of
Question says → Passage says
a stressful public eventa stressful public event, such as a natural disaster or major financial crash
the less able we are to take the information inwhich individuals become very aware of / enhances the likelihood that people will take in negative reports
Why: The passage says the opposite: after a stressful event people 'become very aware of' the alarming information, and stress 'enhances the likelihood' that they take in negative reports. More stress means taking in more, not less. NO.
The trap: NOT GIVEN tempts because the passage never says 'the more we read'. But it clearly states what happens to our ability to absorb negative news under stress, and that contradicts the statement.
Question 39
Answer: YESParagraph I, near the end
Can stress from posts make us take precautions we don't need?
can create collective fear that is not always justified… trips are cancelled, even if the disaster took place across the globe
Question says → Passage says
unnecessarynot always justified / even if the disaster took place across the globe
take… precautionstrips are cancelled / stocks are sold
Why: Fear spreads through media and isn't always justified, so people cancel trips for disasters far away and sell stocks when they should hold. Those are needless protective actions. YES.
The trap: Some readers say NOT GIVEN because the word 'precautions' doesn't appear. The cancelled trips and stock sales are the examples; 'even when holding on is the best thing to do' shows they were unnecessary.
Question 40
Answer: YESParagraph I, last two sentences
Can the way moods spread between people be used for good?
positive emotions, such as hope, are contagious too, and are powerful in inducing people to act to find solutions
Question says → Passage says
our tendency to be affected by other people's moodscontagious too
used in a positive waypowerful in inducing people to act to find solutions / become conscientious agents of change
Why: 'Contagious' means passed from person to person, and the writer calls this 'the good news': hope spreads and moves people to find solutions. The final sentence adds that knowing this helps us frame messages better. YES.
The trap: Most of paragraph I is about stress spreading and doing harm, so you might expect NO. The paragraph turns at 'The good news, however', so read to the very end.
C. The paragraph says we all have to make decisions under stress. Option B tempts because it ends with a question, but it isn't challenging an assumption.
NO. The passage says stress makes us more likely to absorb negative reports, so reading more makes us take it in more, not less.
Words from this passage worth keeping
weigh up(A)
consider carefully before deciding
adverse(D)
harmful or unfavourable
hyper-vigilant(E)
extremely alert to possible danger
spike(F)
rise suddenly and sharply
famished(I)
extremely hungry
contagious(I)
spreading easily from one person to another
conscientious(I)
careful and keen to do the right thing
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The full Cambridge 20 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 20, 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.
