A review of a book on unconventional ways of learning, focusing on Lozanov's suggestopedia. Lozanov argues we remember peripheral details better than what we try to learn, so his classes use music and indirect suggestion. The writer notes the method's ritual works as a placebo and that most teachers can't match Lozanov's results.
All three blocks follow the passage. The multiple choice (27-30) covers the opening three paragraphs, the TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN statements (31-36) run through the classroom description, and the summary (37-40) comes from the last two paragraphs.
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: The first question is about the whole book, so match it to the opening sentence's general description, not to the one theory the passage then discusses. The others test the logic of Lozanov's argument: what we recall easily, why the writer uses the book and lecture examples, and where attention should go.
Question 27
Answer: DParagraph 1, first sentence
What is the book as a whole mainly about?
Educating Psyche by Bernie Neville is a book which looks at radical new approaches to learning
Question says → Passage says
ways of learningapproaches to learning
not traditionalradical new
Why: The first sentence describes the whole book: radical new approaches to learning. 'Not traditional' is D's way of saying 'radical new'. Lozanov's theory is introduced only as 'one theory discussed in the book'.
The trap: A (the power of suggestion) is what the rest of the passage is about, so it feels like the main topic. But it's Lozanov's theory, one part of the book. C lists words from the first sentence but links them in a way the passage doesn't.
Question 28
Answer: AParagraph 2, third sentence
According to Lozanov, what is easiest to remember?
we will find it easier to recall peripheral details - the colour, the binding, the typeface, the table at the library where we sat while studying it - than the content
Question says → Passage says
unimportant detailsperipheral details
the easiest to recalleasier to recall
Why: 'Peripheral' means on the edge, not central, so 'unimportant details' is a fair paraphrase. The paragraph's point is that these stick better than what we tried to learn.
The trap: B (concentrating hard works best) is the opposite: the lecture we followed 'with great concentration' is the one whose ideas we forget. D misuses 'peripheral': the passage means side details, not peripheral vision.
Question 29
Answer: BParagraph 2
Why does the writer bring in the examples of a book and a lecture?
Besides the laboratory evidence for this, we know from our experience that we often remember what we have perceived peripherally
Question says → Passage says
to illustratewe know from our experience
his theory… is validBesides the laboratory evidence for this
Why: The book and lecture are everyday evidence added to the lab evidence, both supporting Lozanov's claim about unconscious learning. Their job is to show the theory is valid.
The trap: D (hypnosis) picks up the line that details come back 'in hypnosis'. That's a side comment inside the example, not the reason the examples are there.
Question 30
Answer: CParagraph 3, last two sentences
Where should students' attention go, according to Lozanov?
In suggestopedia, as he called his method, consciousness is shifted away from the curriculum to focus on something peripheral.
Question says → Passage says
think about something other thanshifted away from… to focus on something peripheral
the curriculum contentthe curriculum
Why: Suggestopedia deliberately moves attention off the curriculum onto something else, and lets the brain's reserve capacity handle the content. That is C.
The trap: B uses 'indirect instruction', but it's the teacher who uses indirect methods, not students developing their own. D twists 'reserve capacity' into a warning about overload that isn't there.
TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN
Questions 31-36
How to attack this block: Watch for small contradictions: the session changes more than the music, and students expect learning to be easy, not hard. Two statements are NOT GIVEN because the passage never mentions memory improving as a side effect or what teachers prefer.
Question 31
Answer: FALSEParagraph 4
In the classroom example, is the music the only thing that changes between the two parts?
the teacher reads the text slowly and solemnly… the teacher reads the text in a normal speaking voice. During this time they have their books closed.
Question says → Passage says
the only variable that changesIn the first part… In the second part
the musicthe music is classical / they listen to baroque music
Why: The music does change, from classical to baroque, but so does the teacher's voice (solemn, then normal) and the books (open, then closed). More than one thing changes, so it's FALSE.
The trap: If you only notice the music change, it looks TRUE. Compare the two parts line by line.
Question 32
Answer: FALSEParagraph 5, second sentence
Are students told beforehand that the class will be hard?
they develop the expectation that learning will be easy and pleasant
Question says → Passage says
Prior to the suggestopedia classBeforehand
will be demandingwill be easy and pleasant
Why: Students are prepared to expect the opposite: easy and pleasant. 'Demanding' contradicts that, so FALSE.
The trap: 'Carefully prepared' in the first sentence may suggest serious, hard work ahead. The preparation is there to make them relaxed and confident.
Question 33
Answer: TRUEParagraph 6 to Paragraph 7, first sentence
Are the follow-up class activities like those in ordinary classes?
focus on using the language to communicate (e.g. through games or improvised dramatisations). Such methods are not unusual in language teaching.
Question says → Passage says
the teaching activitiesgames or improvised dramatisations
similar to those used in conventional classesSuch methods are not unusual in language teaching
Why: 'Not unusual' means common, so games and role-plays are standard in ordinary language classes too. TRUE.
The trap: The next sentence says what is 'distinctive' about the method. That difference is the purpose (recall), not the activities themselves.
Question 34
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 7
Do students notice their memory getting better as a side benefit?
The teacher's task is to assist the students to apply what they have learned paraconsciously, and in doing so to make it easily accessible to consciousness.
Question says → Passage says
memoryassisting recall
Why: The passage talks about helping students recall the material from the session, but never says students notice their memory improving in general. That claim is missing, so NOT GIVEN.
The trap: The whole method is about recall, so it feels as if better memory must follow. The passage doesn't make that claim.
Question 35
Answer: NOT GIVENParagraph 9
Do teachers say they prefer suggestopedia to traditional teaching?
few teachers are able to emulate the spectacular results of Lozanov and his associates
Question says → Passage says
Teachersfew teachers
Why: The only thing said about other teachers is that most can't match Lozanov's results. We hear nothing about their preferences, so NOT GIVEN.
The trap: It's tempting to call it FALSE because their results are mediocre. Poor results don't tell us what teachers prefer.
Question 36
Answer: TRUEParagraph 7, last sentence
Do suggestopedia students learn more new words than students in normal classes?
Another difference from conventional teaching is the evidence that students can regularly learn 1000 new words of a foreign language during a suggestopedic session
Question says → Passage says
than those in ordinary classesAnother difference from conventional teaching
retain more new vocabularycan regularly learn 1000 new words
Why: The writer presents 1000 words in a session as a difference from conventional teaching, which means ordinary classes don't manage this. TRUE.
The trap: 'Several hundred words' in Paragraph 5 is only what students are led to expect. The comparison with ordinary classes is made in Paragraph 7, with the 1000-word figure.
Summary completion (word list A-K)
Questions 37-40
How to attack this block: The summary compresses the last two paragraphs. Two gaps come from the sentence where Lozanov admits his own system relies on ritual and placebo. The last two need adjectives: one for how famous the method has become, and one for other teachers' ordinary results. Several words in the box are near-opposites, so check the direction.
Question 37
Answer: FParagraph 8, fourth sentence
What does Lozanov admit his system needs to convince students?
Lozanov acknowledges that the ritual surrounding suggestion in his own system is also a placebo
Question says → Passage says
Lozanov admitsLozanov acknowledges
a certain amount ofthe ritual surrounding suggestion
Why: 'Admits' = 'acknowledges', and what he admits is that his system has a ritual around it. The gap needs a noun for that: ritual, F.
The trap: D (authoritarian) links to the doctor's 'autocratic suggestion', but it's an adjective and doesn't fit after 'a certain amount of'.
Question 38
Answer: HParagraph 8, fourth sentence
What does Lozanov say the ritual may be, in the end?
is also a placebo, but maintains that without such a placebo people are unable or afraid to tap the reserve capacity of their brains
Question says → Passage says
even if this is just ais also a placebo
Why: The ritual 'is also a placebo': something with no real power of its own that works because people believe in it. 'Just a' matches that idea, so H.
The trap: 'Lesson' or 'teaching' fit the grammar after 'a', but the passage never calls the ritual either of those.
Question 39
Answer: KParagraph 9, first sentence
How famous has Lozanov's method become?
While suggestopedia has gained some notoriety through success in the teaching of modern languages
Question says → Passage says
has become quitehas gained some notoriety
Why: 'Notoriety' here means being widely known, so 'well known' (K) is the paraphrase. The gap needs an adjective after 'quite'.
The trap: E (unpopular) is a trap for anyone who reads 'notoriety' as 'bad reputation'. The passage links it to success, so it means fame, not dislike.
Question 40
Answer: GParagraph 9, first two sentences
How good have other teachers' results been with the method?
few teachers are able to emulate the spectacular results of Lozanov and his associates. We can, perhaps, attribute mediocre results to an inadequate placebo effect.
Question says → Passage says
the results of most other teachersfew teachers are able to emulate
have beenmediocre results
Why: Most teachers can't copy Lozanov's results, and theirs are 'mediocre'. 'Unspectacular' (G) means ordinary, not impressive, which matches.
The trap: A (spectacular) is in the same sentence, but it describes Lozanov's results, not the other teachers'. 'Although' in the summary also signals a contrast with success.
The book and lecture are there to support the theory that peripheral details stick. They aren't about concentration, reading versus listening or hypnosis.
Other teachers' results are 'mediocre', so the word is 'unspectacular'. 'Spectacular' is in the same sentence, but it describes Lozanov's own results.
Words from this passage worth keeping
peripheral(Paragraph 2)
at the edge, not central to what you are focusing on
elusive(Paragraph 2)
hard to remember or pin down
counterproductive(Paragraph 3)
having the opposite effect to the one intended
solemnly(Paragraph 4)
in a serious, formal way
placebo(Paragraph 8)
something that works only because people believe it will
dispensed(Paragraph 8)
given out
notoriety(Paragraph 9)
the state of being widely known
emulate(Paragraph 9)
match or copy someone's success
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 7 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 7, 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.
