A look at the scientific search for telepathy, centred on the ganzfeld experiments, where a relaxed receiver tries to identify a picture a sender is concentrating on. Results slightly above chance led to arguments about flaws, automated testing and meta-analysis, while mainstream scientists still reject telepathy because no mechanism has been found.
The sentence endings (27-30) follow the passage: paragraph 3 twice, then paragraph 9 twice. The table (31-40) runs in order through paragraphs 4 to 7, with 1982 studies in the top row and the 1987 autoganzfeld work below.
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: Find each beginning's keywords first: 'differing attitudes' is sceptics and advocates, 'alter drastically' is 'transform'. Two endings (A and F) both come from the last paragraph, so decide whether the sentence is about a mechanism or about choosing the right people.
Question 27
Answer: EParagraph 3, third sentence
What do researchers on both sides of the telepathy debate agree about?
Sceptics and advocates alike do concur on one issue, however: that the most impressive evidence so far has come from the so-called 'ganzfeld' experiments
Question says → Passage says
researchers with differing attitudesSceptics and advocates alike
agree ondo concur on one issue
the significance of the ganzfeld experimentsthe most impressive evidence so far has come from the so-called 'ganzfeld' experiments
Why: 'Sceptics and advocates' are the two opposing camps, and 'concur' means agree. What they agree on is that the ganzfeld experiments have produced the most impressive evidence, in other words that those experiments matter. That's E.
The trap: C, 'their claims of a high success rate', sounds like something researchers might share. But the hit-rates were small (just over 30 per cent), and the sceptics certainly don't agree they're high.
Question 28
Answer: BParagraph 3, last two sentences
What did reports from people meditating suggest?
such signals might be more easily detected by those experiencing meditation-like tranquillity in a relaxing 'whole field' of light, sound and warmth
Question says → Passage says
reports of experiences during meditationReports of telepathic experiences had by people during meditation
a suitable environmenta relaxing 'whole field' of light, sound and warmth
Why: The meditation reports led researchers to think telepathic signals are faint and easily swamped, so they'd be easier to pick up in calm, relaxing surroundings. That's the need for the right environment, B. The next paragraph shows them building exactly that: a sealed room, soft chairs, pink light.
The trap: G, 'a need to keep altering conditions', also mentions conditions. But the idea was to create one particular calm setting, not to keep changing it.
Question 29
Answer: AParagraphs 8-9
What would completely change how people see parapsychology?
The problem stems at least in part from the lack of any plausible mechanism for telepathy… Answering such questions would transform parapsychology.
Question says → Passage says
attitudes… would alter drasticallywould transform parapsychology
the discovery of a mechanismthe lack of any plausible mechanism / probing possible mechanisms
Why: Mainstream scientists reject telepathy mainly because nobody can explain how it would work. 'Such questions' are questions about a mechanism, like quantum entanglement in the brain. Answering them would 'transform' the field. So the ending is A.
The trap: D, 'a solution to the problem posed by random guessing', looks scientific, but random guessing isn't an open problem: the 25 per cent baseline is the standard everyone measures against.
Question 30
Answer: FParagraph 9, last three sentences
According to recent autoganzfeld trials, what should raise success rates?
researchers trying to identify people who are particularly successful in autoganzfeld trials. Early results show that creative and artistic people do much better than average
Question says → Passage says
success rates will improvedo much better than average / achieved a hit-rate of 56 per cent
a more careful selection of subjectstrying to identify people who are particularly successful
Why: The researchers are looking for the kind of person who scores well. Creative people, and musicians especially (56 per cent), did far better. Choosing participants like these is a more careful selection of subjects: F.
The trap: A is tempting because the same paragraph is about mechanisms. But the trials themselves point to who you test, not to a mechanism. A belongs with Q29.
Table completion (NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS)
Questions 31-40
How to attack this block: The table follows the passage closely, so use the years to find the right paragraph. Check grammar for each gap: a plural noun before 'were used', a noun after 'a', and the words after 'not'. Q34 and Q35 can be in either order.
Question 31
Answer: senderParagraph 4, middle
Who tried to beam the picture across in the 1982 studies?
a person acting as a 'sender' would attempt to beam the image over to the 'receiver' relaxing in the sealed room
Question says → Passage says
a person acting as aa person acting as a 'sender'
Why: The table copies the passage's phrase 'a person acting as a', so the next word is the answer: sender. Leave off the quotation marks.
The trap: 'Receiver' is in the same sentence. Watch the order: the sender sends the image, then the receiver tries to identify it, which is the third gap.
Question 32
Answer: pictureParagraph 4, second sentence
Also accepted: image
What was chosen from a random set of four?
the telepathy test involved identification of a picture chosen from a random selection of four taken from a large image bank
Question says → Passage says
one ___ from a random selection of foura picture chosen from a random selection of four
Why: 'A random selection of four' is copied word for word, and the noun right before it is 'picture'. The gap needs a singular noun after 'one'.
The trap: Some people write 'image bank' because it sits at the end of the same sentence. The bank is where the four pictures came from, not the thing that was picked out.
Question 33
Answer: receiverParagraph 4, middle
Who then tried to work out which image had been sent?
beam the image over to the 'receiver' relaxing in the sealed room. Once the session was over, this person was asked to identify which of the four images had been used.
Question says → Passage says
tried to identify itasked to identify which of the four images had been used
Why: 'This person' points back to the receiver, the one relaxing in the sealed room. The receiver is asked to identify the picture, so that's the role in the gap.
The trap: Don't write 'participant': the passage uses that word for the people in the chairs in general. The table wants the named role.
Question 34
Answer: sensory leakageParagraph 5, middle
Also accepted: fraud / outright fraud
What is one factor that could produce positive results without telepathy?
These ranged from 'sensory leakage' - where clues about the pictures accidentally reach the receiver - to outright fraud.
Question says → Passage says
Positive results could be produced bythere were many other ways of getting positive results
factors such asThese ranged from 'sensory leakage'
Why: The passage names two other ways to get positive results, and Q34 and Q35 can go in either order. 'Sensory leakage' is two words, well within the limit.
The trap: Writing just 'leakage' loses the meaning, and adding 'clues about the pictures' goes over three words. Copy the term as it stands.
Question 35
Answer: fraudParagraph 5, middle
Also accepted: outright fraud / sensory leakage
What is the other factor that could produce a false positive?
These ranged from 'sensory leakage' - where clues about the pictures accidentally reach the receiver - to outright fraud.
Question says → Passage says
such as ___ or ___These ranged from… to outright fraud
Why: The second item in the 'ranged from… to' pair is fraud. 'Outright fraud' also fits the word limit, but 'fraud' alone is the core answer. Q34 and Q35 can be swapped.
The trap: 'Chance' is mentioned just before, but the passage says chance had been ruled out. The table wants the other explanations, not chance.
Question 36
Answer: computersParagraph 6, first sentence
What carried out key tasks in the autoganzfeld tests?
an automated variant of the technique which used computers to perform many of the key tasks such as the random selection of images
Question says → Passage says
were used for key tasksused computers to perform many of the key tasks
Why: The gap comes before 'were used', so it needs a plural noun. Computers did the key jobs, such as choosing the images at random.
The trap: 'Automated' is an adjective and can't sit before 'were used' on its own. Write the noun: computers.
Question 37
Answer: human involvementParagraph 6, second sentence
What were the computers meant to cut down?
By minimising human involvement, the idea was to minimise the risk of flawed results.
Question says → Passage says
to limit the amount ofBy minimising
Why: 'Limit' paraphrases 'minimising'. The thing being minimised, and the reason for using computers, is human involvement.
The trap: The same sentence also minimises 'the risk of flawed results'. That's the goal, but the table asks what computers reduced in carrying out the tests: the human side.
Question 38
Answer: meta-analysisParagraph 6, third sentence
What statistical analysis were the 1987 results put through?
In 1987, results from hundreds of autoganzfeld tests were studied by Honorton in a 'meta-analysis', a statistical technique for finding the overall results from a set of studies.
Question says → Passage says
The results were then subjected to aresults from hundreds of autoganzfeld tests were studied… in a 'meta-analysis'
Why: The year 1987 in the table points you to this sentence. The results were studied in a meta-analysis. Keep the hyphen.
The trap: 'Statistical technique' is the passage's definition of the term, not the term itself, and 'statistical tests' belongs to the 1982 studies.
Question 39
Answer: lack of consistencyParagraph 7, first sentence
What problem between test results did researchers explain by small samples?
some parapsychologists remain disturbed by the lack of consistency between individual ganzfeld studies
Question says → Passage says
The ___ between different test resultsthe lack of consistency between individual ganzfeld studies
Why: The table's 'between different test results' mirrors 'between individual ganzfeld studies'. The words before 'between' are the gap: lack of consistency, exactly three words.
The trap: 'Inconsistency' would be your own word, not the passage's. In a 'words from the passage' task, copy the passage's phrase.
Question 40
Answer: big enoughParagraph 7, middle
Also accepted: large enough
What weren't the sample groups, according to defenders of telepathy?
it's unlikely to be detected by a typical ganzfeld study involving around 40 people: the group is just not big enough.
Question says → Passage says
sample groups were notthe group is just not big enough
Why: The table already gives 'not', so you need what follows: big enough. Small effects need large samples, and 40 people isn't large.
The trap: 'Large' alone ('it takes large samples') changes the grammar and isn't the phrase after 'not'. Read on to 'big enough'.
Copy 'lack of consistency' exactly. 'Inconsistency' is your own word, and the table says 'words from the passage'.
Words from this passage worth keeping
derision(Paragraph 2)
mockery, being laughed at
concur(Paragraph 3)
agree
swamped(Paragraph 3)
overwhelmed so that something can't be noticed
tranquillity(Paragraph 3)
calm and peace
outright(Paragraph 5)
complete and obvious
marginally(Paragraph 7)
only very slightly
plausible(Paragraph 8)
believable, reasonable
esoteric(Paragraph 9)
understood only by a few specialists
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The full Cambridge 8 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 8, 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.
