How stress affects our judgement: reading answers and analysis
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.
Questions 27-40 · 14 marks · 3 question blocks
Where the answers sit
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.
Questions 27-30
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 | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | C | — |
| 28 | A | — |
| 29 | D | — |
| 30 | C | — |
Questions 31-35
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 | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | B | — |
| 32 | G | — |
| 33 | F | — |
| 34 | E | — |
| 35 | D | — |
Questions 36-40
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 | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 36 | YES | — |
| 37 | NOT GIVEN | — |
| 38 | NO | — |
| 39 | YES | — |
| 40 | YES | — |
The questions most people get wrong
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.
F. Stress didn't change how they reacted to good news, so they behaved the same whatever the circumstances. A (feeling optimistic) is never stated.
NO. The passage says stress makes us more likely to absorb negative reports, so reading more makes us take it in more, not less.
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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 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.