Play is a Serious Business: reading answers and analysis
Play costs young animals energy and even lives, so why did it evolve? The writer rejects the old ideas that play trains skills or builds fitness, and looks at the newer idea that play builds bigger, more flexible brains. Researchers link brain size to playfulness, find a sensitive period for play, and show how much of the brain play activates.
The paragraph matching (27-32) is not in order and uses H twice. The three-from-six question (33-35) draws on B, C and D. The researcher matching (36-40) jumps between C, E, G and H.
Answer key and self-check
Type what you wrote and hit mark. Hide the key first if you haven't done the passage yet. Every question number jumps to its explanation.
Q
Your answer
Answer
Questions 27-32 · Matching information (paragraphs A-I)
How to attack this block: H holds two answers, one on brain connections and one on cognitive skills, while G, which is also about Bekoff and the brain, holds none. Match the specific idea (connections, mental activities, time spent playing) rather than the general topic of brains.
Question 27
Answer: HParagraph H, last sentence
Which paragraph explains that play links up brain areas in unusual, useful ways?
By allowing link-ups between brain areas that might not normally communicate with each other, play may enhance creativity.
Question says → Passage says
unusual connections in the brainlink-ups between brain areas that might not normally communicate with each other
which are beneficialmay enhance creativity
Why: 'Might not normally communicate' is what makes the connections unusual, and enhanced creativity is the benefit. That's the end of H.
The trap: G also says play activates 'many different parts of the brain', but it's about how much of the brain is stimulated, not about new connections between areas.
Question 28
Answer: FParagraph F, second sentence
Which paragraph draws conclusions from measuring how long young animals play each day?
If you plot the amount of time a juvenile devotes to play each day over the course of its development, you discover a pattern typically associated with a 'sensitive period'
Question says → Passage says
recording how much time young animals spend playingplot the amount of time a juvenile devotes to play each day
insightsyou discover a pattern
Why: Plotting play time is the recording, and the 'sensitive period' pattern is the insight it gives. That's F.
The trap: C also deals with timing (play peaking halfway through suckling), but it's used to argue against the exercise theory, not to describe recording time spent playing.
Question 29
Answer: AParagraph A, middle
Which paragraph describes the physical dangers that come with play?
play can even cost animals their lives. Eighty per cent of deaths among juvenile fur seals occur because playing pups fail to spot predators approaching.
Question says → Passage says
physical hazardscost animals their lives / deaths among juvenile fur seals
accompany playplaying pups fail to spot predators approaching
Why: Paragraph A explains the costs of play, and the most serious is death: fur seal pups busy playing don't see predators coming. That's a physical hazard.
The trap: A also mentions the energy cost of play. That's a cost, but not a hazard, so don't let it make you doubt the match. No other paragraph mentions danger.
Question 30
Answer: HParagraph H, first three sentences
Which paragraph describes the mental processes used and developed in play?
'There's enormous cognitive involvement in play,' says Bekoff. He points out that play often involves complex assessments of playmates, ideas of reciprocity and the use of specialised signals and rules.
exercised and developedcreates a brain that has greater behavioural flexibility
Why: 'Cognitive' means mental. H lists those mental activities (judging playmates, reciprocity, signals and rules) and says play builds a more flexible brain. H again, which is allowed.
The trap: G is also Bekoff, and also about the brain. But G describes the variety of behaviour (predation, aggression, reproduction), not mental skills like judging and rule-following.
Question 31
Answer: IParagraph I
Which paragraph considers what less play might mean for children?
With schooling beginning earlier and becoming increasingly exam-orientated, play is likely to get even less of a look-in. Who knows what the result of that will be?
Question says → Passage says
a reduction in play opportunitiesplay is likely to get even less of a look-in
on humansthe way children are raised in many societies today
possible effectsWho knows what the result of that will be?
Why: I links earlier, exam-focused schooling to children getting less play, and asks what the result will be. The rat evidence just before hints at the possible effects.
The trap: The rat pups denied play are in I as well, but they're animals. What makes I the answer is the jump to children and schooling.
Question 32
Answer: BParagraph B, fourth sentence
Which paragraph says which groups of animals play?
Playfulness, it seems, is common only among mammals, although a few of the larger-brained birds also indulge.
Question says → Passage says
the classes of animalsmammals… larger-brained birds
for which play is importantPlayfulness… is common
Why: Mammals and birds are classes of animal, and B says which of them play. That's B.
The trap: E compares 'fifteen orders of mammal', which sounds like classification. But E is about brain size and play within mammals, not about which classes of animal play.
Multiple choice (choose THREE)
Questions 33-35
How to attack this block: The question asks which views of play are mentioned, not which ones the writer accepts. Two of the three are theories the passage argues against. The third is the brain-building idea, written in the options as organ growth.
Question 33-35
Answer: A and C and F (in either order)Paragraphs B, C and D
Which three ways of viewing play does the writer mention?
play has evolved to build big brains… it helps juveniles develop the skills they will need to hunt, mate and socialise as adults… If play evolved to build muscle
Question says → Passage says
a rehearsal for later adult activitiesdevelop the skills they will need to hunt, mate and socialise as adults
build up strength for adulthoodIf play evolved to build muscle or as a kind of endurance training / get in shape for adult life
assisting organ growthplay has evolved to build big brains
Why: A is the skills-training idea: practising adult hunting and social skills. C is the exercise theory: building muscle and endurance for adult life. F is the newest idea, that play builds bigger brains, and the brain is an organ. The writer doesn't have to agree with an idea for it to be 'mentioned'.
The trap: D (communicating feelings) is tempting because of the 'unique signs' like tail-wagging in B, but those signs show that play isn't serious. They aren't a view of what play is for. B and E aren't mentioned at all.
Matching features (researchers)
Questions 36-40
How to attack this block: Barton and Pellis share paragraph E, and Bekoff and Siviy share paragraph H, so work out who says which sentence. Three findings in the list belong to nobody, and one of them (larger-brained birds) is a passage detail that no researcher is credited with.
Question 36
Answer: BParagraph E, last two sentences
What did Robert Barton find?
'I concluded it's to do with learning, and with the importance of environmental data to the brain during development,'
Question says → Passage says
inputenvironmental data
physical surroundingsenvironmental
Why: Barton says big brains need play because of 'environmental data' during development. Play feeds the brain information about the world around it, which is B.
The trap: D (smaller brains, less play) is in the same paragraph, but that's Pellis's finding. Barton explains why big brains need more play.
Question 37
Answer: GParagraph G, last three sentences
What did Marc Bekoff find?
Bekoff likens it to a behavioural kaleidoscope, with animals at play jumping rapidly between activities… They use behaviour from a lot of different contexts - predation, aggression, reproduction
Question says → Passage says
A wide range of activitiesbehaviour from a lot of different contexts / a behavioural kaleidoscope
are combined during playjumping rapidly between activities
Why: A kaleidoscope mixes many pieces, and Bekoff lists behaviour from hunting, fighting and mating all appearing in play. That's G.
The trap: H (the other Bekoff paragraph) is about cognitive skills, which isn't in the list of findings. Don't pick C (stages of evolutionary history) just because 'predation, aggression, reproduction' sounds evolutionary.
Question 38
Answer: EParagraph C
What did John Byers find?
the benefits of increased exercise disappear rapidly after training stops, so any improvement in endurance resulting from juvenile play would be lost by adulthood
Question says → Passage says
not a form of fitness training for the futureany improvement in endurance resulting from juvenile play would be lost by adulthood
Why: Byers argues that fitness gained in youth disappears, so play can't be training for adult fitness. That's E.
The trap: H (teaching survival techniques) is the skills-training idea, which is rejected in D using Tim Caro's study, not Byers. Byers also appears in A and F, but neither matches a finding in the list.
Question 39
Answer: DParagraph E, first three sentences
What did Sergio Pellis find?
larger brains (for a given body size) are linked to greater playfulness. The converse was also found to be true.
Question says → Passage says
mammals with smaller brains to play lessThe converse was also found to be true
Why: 'The converse' means the reverse: smaller brains go with less play. The finding is written from that reverse angle, which is D.
The trap: F (larger-brained birds) uses 'larger-brained' but comes from paragraph B, not Pellis. Pellis studied mammals only.
Question 40
Answer: AParagraph H, middle
What did Stephen Siviy find?
Siviy studied how bouts of play affected the brain's levels of a particular chemical associated with the stimulation and growth of nerve cells.
Question says → Passage says
a specific substance in the braina particular chemical
a link… and playinghow bouts of play affected the brain's levels
Why: Siviy measured how play changed the level of one brain chemical. 'Specific substance' paraphrases 'particular chemical', so A.
The trap: Bekoff is quoted around Siviy in H, and his ideas about cognitive involvement aren't a finding in the list. Keep the chemical with Siviy.
Both G and H are about Bekoff and the brain, but only H describes the mental activities (judging playmates, rules, signals) used in play.
Words from this passage worth keeping
engrossed(A)
so interested in something that you notice nothing else
exuberant(A)
full of energy and excitement
cavorting(A)
jumping and moving around playfully
in earnest(B)
seriously, not as a game
prowess(D)
great skill at something
converse(E)
the opposite or reverse
reciprocity(H)
giving and taking in return, fair exchange
look-in(I)
a chance to take part
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The full Cambridge 4 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 4, Test 2, 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.
