Cambridge 4 Reading Test 2 - Answers With Explanation

1. "Isolation breeds linguistic diversity: as a result, the world is peppered with languages spoken by only a few people" — geographical isolation explains the great variety of languages.

2. Mufwene argues "the deadliest weapon is not government policy but economic globalisation" — alongside government initiatives, this is squeezing out minority languages.

3. "A growing interest in cultural identity may prevent the direst predictions from coming true" — appreciation of cultural identity is helping preserve languages.

4. In California's apprentice programmes, volunteers "pair up with one of the last living speakers of a Native American tongue to learn a traditional skill such as basket weaving", using the endangered language as the teaching medium.

5. "Most of these languages will not survive without a large degree of bilingualism,' he says" — this is Doug Whalen's point, matching E.

6. Mufwene says "preventing a language dying out is not the same as giving it new life by using it every day. 'Preserving a language is more like preserving fruits in a jar,' he says" — saving a language isn't a satisfactory end in itself, matching B.

7. Pagel says learning a language "produces physiological changes in the brain" that "could affect our thoughts and perceptions" — language may shape how we think, matching D.

8. Ostler observes that "when the next generation reaches their teens, they might not want to be induced into the old traditions" — young people rejecting the established way of life, matching C.

9. "'If a person shifts from Navajo to English, they lose something,' Mufwene says" — a language shift can mean losing traditional culture, matching B.

10. The passage stresses "what makes a language endangered is not just the number of speakers, but how old they are" — Navajo has 150,000 speakers yet is still endangered, so a low speaker count isn't the reason it might die out, NO.

11. This directly supports the same point: even a language with many speakers (Navajo) is endangered because those speakers are mostly middle-aged or elderly — a large speaker base doesn't guarantee survival, YES.

12. The passage discusses government policies that suppress minority languages but makes no claim about what governments could additionally do to protect them — NOT GIVEN.

13. "Despite linguists' best efforts, many languages will disappear over the next century" — the writer treats this loss as effectively inevitable, YES.

14. "We've had a tradition of doctors being fairly powerful and I guess they are pretty loath to allow anybody... to come into their position" — Australian doctors have traditionally resisted alternative therapists, matching C.

15. "Americans made more visits to alternative therapists than orthodox doctors in 1990" — they consulted alternative therapists more often than doctors, matching B.

16. "The popularity of alternative therapies in Australia [has climbed] steadily during the past 20 years" — YES.

17. The 1983 survey found 1.9% of people had consulted an alternative therapist, rising to 2.6% by 1990 — a rise of well under one percentage point, not a further 8%, so NO.

18. "The 550,000 consultations with alternative therapists reported in the 1990 survey" — YES.

19. "The high standing of professionals, including doctors, has been eroded as a consequence" of growing scepticism — implying doctors were held in higher regard in the past, YES.

20. "Increasing numbers of Australian doctors, particularly younger ones, are forming group practices with alternative therapists or taking courses themselves, particularly in acupuncture and herbalism" — YES.

21. No comparison of alternative therapists' and doctors' earnings is made anywhere in the passage — NOT GIVEN.

22. The 289 Sydney people surveyed had attended "eight alternative therapists' practices" offering "a wide range of alternative therapies from 25 therapists", not specifically acupuncture, so NO.

23. Those surveyed "had experienced chronic illnesses, for which orthodox medicine had been able to provide little relief" — all had long-term complaints, YES.

24. Digestive complaints (12%) are described as "only 1% more than those suffering from emotional problems" — so the bar just below Digestive on the chart is emotional problems (11%).

25. "Headache sufferers... represent 6%... of patients" — placed after Respiratory and Candida (7% each) on the descending chart.

26. "Those complaining of general ill health represent... 5% of patients" — the next bar down after headache, just above general health maintenance (4%).

27. Paragraph H explains that play "creates a brain that has greater behavioural flexibility" by "allowing link-ups between brain areas that might not normally communicate with each other" — unusual, beneficial brain connections.

28. Paragraph F describes Byers' finding that "if you plot the amount of time a juvenile devotes to play each day over the course of its development, you discover a pattern" tied to a sensitive developmental window.

29. Paragraph A opens with the cost of play: "eighty per cent of deaths among juvenile fur seals occur because playing pups fail to spot predators approaching" — the physical hazards of play.

30. Paragraph H again, on the mental side: play "often involves complex assessments of playmates, ideas of reciprocity and the use of specialised signals and rules" and "activates higher cognitive processes."

31. Paragraph I asks what happens as play declines: "rat pups denied the chance to play grow smaller brain components... with schooling beginning earlier... play is likely to get even less of a look-in. Who knows what the result of that will be?" — the effect on humans.

32. Paragraph B notes "playfulness... is common only among mammals, although a few of the larger-brained birds also indulge" — the classes of animal for which play matters.

33-35. The writer mentions play as a rehearsal for adult skills ("helps juveniles develop the skills they will need to hunt, mate and socialise as adults", A), as exercise to build strength ("the exercise theory", C), and as something that helps grow bigger, better brains (the article's own framing, F) — but never as a way to prove oneself to peers (B), communicate feelings (D), or a defensive strategy (E).

36. Robert Barton's point is that larger brains "require more play to help mould them for adulthood", given "the importance of environmental data to the brain during development" — play supplying input about physical surroundings, matching B.

37. Marc Bekoff says animals at play "use behaviour from a lot of different contexts – predation, aggression, reproduction" — a wide range of activities combined, matching G.

38. John Byers points out that "the benefits of increased endurance disappear rapidly after training stops, so any improvement... would be lost by adulthood" — play is not effective fitness training for later life, matching E.

39. Sergio Pellis found "a strong positive link between brain size and playfulness among mammals" — meaning smaller-brained mammals play less, matching D.

40. Stephen Siviy "studied how bouts of play affected the brain's levels of a particular chemical associated with the stimulation and growth of nerve cells" — a specific brain substance linked to play, matching A.