Visual Symbols and the Blind: reading answers and analysis
A researcher tests whether blind people understand visual symbols. In Part 1, blind volunteers feel raised drawings of wheels with different kinds of spokes and agree on what motion each one shows, much as sighted people do. In Part 2, blind and sighted people match words like soft and hard to circles and squares, and again their choices are close.
The multiple choice (27-29) covers Part 1 in order. The diagrams (30-32) all come from the results paragraph of Part 1. The summary (33-39) covers the Part 2 experiment from start to finish, and Question 40 needs both parts.
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.
How to attack this block: Each wrong option reuses a word from the passage and changes what it says: 'outlines' becomes drawing, 'own initiative' becomes the surprise, 'as a group' becomes teamwork. Check the verb in each option against the passage, not just the nouns.
Question 27
Answer: CPart 1, paragraph 1
What point does the opening paragraph make about blind people?
blind people can appreciate the use of outlines and perspectives to describe the arrangement of objects and other surfaces in space
Question says → Passage says
can recognisecan appreciate
conventions such as perspectivethe use of outlines and perspectives
Why: 'Appreciate the use of' means understand how something works, which is what 'recognise' means here. Perspective is a drawing convention, and the passage names it. So C.
The trap: B uses the word 'outlines' from the passage, but turns 'appreciate' into 'draw'. The first paragraph is about understanding pictures, not producing them. D (drawing accurately) and A (studying art) aren't mentioned.
Question 28
Answer: CPart 1, paragraph 2
What surprised the writer about the blind woman's drawing?
To show this motion, she traced a curve inside the circle (Fig. 1). I was taken aback. Lines of motion, such as the one she used, are a very recent invention
Question says → Passage says
The writer was surprisedI was taken aback
a symbol representing movementLines of motion / To show this motion, she traced a curve
Why: 'Taken aback' means surprised, and it comes right after she adds a curve to show the wheel spinning. A line that stands for motion is a symbol representing movement, so C.
The trap: D twists the history. The writer says motion lines are a recent invention, not that she invented them. A borrows 'on her own initiative', but what surprised him was the motion line, not the circle.
Question 29
Answer: APart 1, paragraph 6
What did the Part 1 experiment show about the blind subjects?
the blind not only figured out meanings for each line of motion, but as a group they generally came up with the same meaning at least as frequently as did sighted subjects
Question says → Passage says
had good understandingfigured out meanings
symbols representing movementeach line of motion
Why: The blind subjects worked out a meaning for every motion line and agreed with each other about as often as sighted people. That's a good understanding of movement symbols, so A.
The trap: D overstates it. The sighted group's consensus was 'barely higher' than the blind group's, so the blind did not get better results. C picks up 'as a group', but that just means their answers taken together. They didn't work together.
Matching (diagrams to types of movement A-E)
Questions 30-32
How to attack this block: One paragraph links each kind of spoke to a motion: curved, wavy, bent, extending and dashed. Name the spoke type in each diagram first, then find it in that paragraph. Two of the five motions aren't used.
Question 30
Answer: EPart 1, paragraph 5, last sentence
Which motion was usually given to the wheel whose spokes extend past the rim?
Subjects assumed that spokes extending beyond the wheel's perimeter signified that the wheel had its brakes on
Question says → Passage says
use of brakeshad its brakes on
Why: Diagram 30 is the wheel whose spokes stick out beyond the edge. The passage links that design to the wheel having its brakes on, which is E.
The trap: Students who don't look closely at the diagrams mix up 'extending' and 'dashed'. Match the drawing to the description first, then to the motion.
Question 31
Answer: CPart 1, paragraph 5, last sentence
Which motion was usually given to the wheel with dashed spokes?
dashed spokes indicated the wheel was spinning quickly
Question says → Passage says
rapid spinningspinning quickly
Why: Diagram 31 shows broken, dashed spokes. Subjects read these as the wheel spinning quickly, so C, rapid spinning.
The trap: A (steady spinning) is the other spinning option. That one belongs to curved spokes, so check 'quickly' against 'steadily'.
Question 32
Answer: APart 1, paragraph 5, second sentence
Which motion was usually given to the wheel with curved spokes?
Most guessed that the curved spokes indicated that the wheel was spinning steadily
Question says → Passage says
steady spinningspinning steadily
Why: Diagram 32 has curved spokes, the design the writer's subjects drew themselves. Most read it as spinning steadily, which is A.
The trap: D (wobbling) belongs to the wavy spokes. Curved and wavy look alike at a glance, so check the drawing carefully.
Summary completion (word list)
Questions 33-39
How to attack this block: Words can be used more than once, and 'sighted' is needed twice. The last two gaps turn on the blind volunteers' results: they made similar choices to the sighted subjects, not identical ones.
Question 33
Answer: GPart 2, paragraph 2
What kind of set of words was used in the Part 2 experiment?
We gave a list of twenty pairs of words to sighted subjects
Question says → Passage says
a set of worda list of twenty pairs of words
Why: The summary says 'a set of word ___', so you need a plural noun that follows 'word'. The experiment used word pairs, so the answer is 'pairs' (G).
The trap: 'Words' (M) and 'associations' (A) are in the box, but 'word words' makes no sense, and 'word associations' describes what the subjects made, not the set they were given.
Question 34
Answer: HPart 2, paragraph 1, last sentence
What was the symbolism being tested found in?
I have begun exploring how well blind people understand the symbolism behind shapes such as hearts that do not directly represent their meaning
Question says → Passage says
the symbolism in abstractthe symbolism behind shapes / the blind interpret abstract shapes
Why: The research question is about the symbolism behind shapes, and the conclusion talks about 'abstract shapes'. Circles and squares are the shapes used, so 'shapes' (H).
The trap: 'Words' (M) fits the grammar, but the words were the tool. The symbolism being studied belonged to the shapes.
Question 35
Answer: IPart 2, paragraphs 2 and 3
Which volunteers all matched 'soft' to the circle?
All our subjects deemed the circle soft and the square hard.
Question says → Passage says
everyone thoughtAll our subjects deemed
Why: 'All our subjects' refers back to the people given the list in the previous paragraph, the sighted subjects. The blind group comes later. So 'sighted' (I).
The trap: 'Hundred' (E) is tempting because Fig. 2 shows 100% for SOFT-HARD, but 'the hundred volunteers' would mean a group of 100 people, which isn't what the figure measures.
Question 36
Answer: IPart 2, paragraph 3, fourth sentence
Which volunteers were only 51% in agreement over one pair?
And only 51% linked deep to circle and shallow to square.
Question says → Passage says
only 51%only 51%
Why: The percentages, including 51%, are the levels of agreement among sighted subjects, as the Fig. 2 caption says. 'Sighted' (I) again. The box says words can be reused.
The trap: Students often think a word can't be used twice and switch to 'blind'. The blind volunteers are only introduced in the next sentence of the summary.
Question 37
Answer: CPart 2, paragraph 3, fourth sentence
Which word did 51% assign to the circle?
only 51% linked deep to circle and shallow to square
Question says → Passage says
assigned a circle tolinked deep to circle
Why: The circle was linked to 'deep', and the square to 'shallow'. So the answer is C.
The trap: 'Shallow' (K) is right next to it in the box and in the sentence. Check which shape each word goes with.
Question 38
Answer: BPart 2, paragraph 3, fifth sentence
Which group of volunteers was tested next?
When we tested four totally blind volunteers using the same list
Question says → Passage says
the test was later repeatedwe tested… using the same list
Why: 'Repeated' matches 'using the same list', and the new group was 'four totally blind volunteers'. So 'blind' (B).
The trap: 'Sighted' was the answer twice already, but the summary has now moved on to the second group.
Question 39
Answer: JPart 2, paragraph 3, fifth sentence
How did the blind volunteers' choices compare with the sighted ones?
we found that their choices closely resembled those made by the sighted subjects
Question says → Passage says
they made… choicestheir choices closely resembled
Why: 'Closely resembled' means very like, not exactly the same. So 'similar' (J).
The trap: 'Identical' (F) is too strong. The blind man who scored best still made one match that differed from the consensus, so the choices weren't identical.
Multiple choice (general conclusion)
Question 40
How to attack this block: Both parts end with the same finding, which is that blind people read visual symbols much as sighted people do. Options about invented symbols or art training take a detail from the passage and treat it as the main point.
Question 40
Answer: BPart 2, paragraph 1, first sentence, and paragraph 3, last sentence
Which statement best sums up the writer's overall conclusion?
We have found that the blind understand other kinds of visual metaphors as well… Thus, we concluded that the blind interpret abstract shapes as sighted people do.
Question says → Passage says
comprehend visual metaphorsunderstand other kinds of visual metaphors
in similar ways to sighted peopleinterpret abstract shapes as sighted people do
Why: Both parts of the passage end the same way: the blind understand motion lines and shape symbolism much as sighted people do. B says that.
The trap: C is tempting because blind subjects did invent symbols like curved spokes and a child in a heart. But those are examples on the way, not the conclusion. A says the opposite of the findings, and D (training artists) isn't discussed.
D says the blind did better than the sighted, but the sighted group's agreement was 'barely higher', so the blind group did not do better.
Words from this passage worth keeping
taken aback(Part 1, paragraph 2)
surprised or shocked
rendition(Part 1, paragraph 3)
a particular way of showing or performing something
metaphorical(Part 1, paragraph 3)
standing for an idea rather than showing it literally
idiosyncratic(Part 1, paragraph 3)
personal and unusual, belonging to one person only
apt(Part 1, paragraph 3)
suitable or appropriate
perimeter(Part 1, paragraph 4)
the outer edge of a shape
consensus(Part 1, paragraph 6)
general agreement among a group
ascribe(Part 2, paragraph 3)
say that something belongs to or goes with something else
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The full Cambridge 4 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 4, 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.
