Procrastination: reading answers and analysis
A researcher argues that procrastination is poor mood management, not laziness. Unpleasant or threatening tasks get delayed because avoiding them feels good for a moment, but guilt follows. The costs are real: cheating and fake excuses among students, lower pay and less job security at work, worse health. The way out is to value the task and forgive yourself.
Questions 14-26 · 13 marks · 4 question blocks
Where the answers sit
The paragraph matching (14-16) uses B twice and F once. The summary (17-22) runs through B and C in order. Questions 23-24 are in D, and 25-26 are in F.
Questions 14-16
B holds both the false beliefs (laziness, bad time management) and the brain-imaging evidence, so it's the answer twice. The reminder that we're not the first or last to procrastinate is near the end of F.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | B | — |
| 15 | F | — |
| 16 | B | — |
Questions 17-22
The summary follows B and C almost line by line. Several gaps need a change of form, so check grammar: after 'feel' you need an adjective, and the group of people who fear judgement needs a plural noun. The last gap is the feeling left after the short-term mood repair.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | laziness | — |
| 18 | anxious | — |
| 19 | threats | — |
| 20 | exams | — |
| 21 | perfectionists | — |
| 22 | guilt | — |
Questions 23-24
The 22,000-employee survey gives exactly two differences: lower annual income and less job stability. Work quality, job satisfaction and colleagues all sound likely but are never mentioned.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 23-24 | A and C(in either order) | — |
Questions 25-26
F recommends managing distractions and forgiving yourself rather than being harsh. Reminding yourself why a task matters sounds like prioritising by importance, but that's a different idea. Goals and rewards aren't mentioned.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 25-26 | A and E(in either order) | — |
The questions most people get wrong
The passage says tasks that make us anxious. The gap follows 'feel', so the adjective 'anxious' fits, not 'anxiety'.
D tempts because F talks about why a task is 'important and valuable'. That is about feeling better about one task, not ranking tasks against each other.
The brain areas are linked to detecting threats and regulating emotion. The summary has already used the emotion half, so the answer is 'threats'.
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The full Cambridge 20 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 20, 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.