Cambridge IELTS 19 · Academic · Test 2 · Passage 2
Athletes and stress — IELTS Reading Answers
All 11 answers for Athletes and stress, Cambridge IELTS 19 Academic Reading Test 2 Passage 2, with the passage evidence and an explanation for each.
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Athletes and stress answer key at a glance
Questions 14–25. Tap an answer to see the evidence.
What this passage tests
This passage is tested with Matching Information (Q14–18), Sentence Completion (Q19–22), Two Choices (Q23–24), Two Choices (Q25–26). Each section below gives the strategy for that question type, the answers, and the sentence that proves them.
Questions 14–18: Matching Information
Strategy: Scan for the idea, not the exact words. The answer is a paragraph letter, and one paragraph may be used more than once unless the instructions say otherwise.
reference to two chemical compounds which impact on performance
“Our challenge and threat responses essentially influence how our body responds to stressful situations, as both affect the production of adrenaline and cortisol-also known as ‘stress hormones’.”
Paragraph D names 'adrenaline and cortisol', the two stress hormones whose production affects how the body responds and performs.
examples of strategies for minimising the effects of stress
“Recreating competitive pressure during training can also help athletes learn how to deal with stress. An example of this might be scoring athletes against their peers to create a sense of competition.”
Paragraph F gives practical measures, such as recreating competitive pressure in training and scoring athletes against peers, to reduce stress effects.
how a sportsperson accounted for their own experience of stress
“she began having difficulty regulating her breathing and heart rate during a match, which she later attributed to ’the accumulation of the excitement and the buzz’.”
Paragraph A reports a sportsperson explaining her breathing and heart-rate trouble as 'the accumulation of the excitement and the buzz'.
study results indicating links between stress responses and performance
“they are to experience a negative stress response -known as a threat state. Research shows that the challenge states lead to good performance, while threat states lead to poorer performance.”
Paragraph C cites research showing 'challenge states lead to good performance, while threat states lead to poorer performance'.
mention of people who can influence how athletes perceive their stress responses
“Psychologists can also help athletes change how they see their physiological responses – such as helping them see a higher heart rate as excitement, rather than nerves.”
Paragraph F notes psychologists can help athletes reinterpret a racing heart 'as excitement, rather than nerves'.
Questions 19–22: Sentence Completion
Strategy: Find the stem's keyword in the passage, then complete the sentence with the exact words the grammar requires, within the word limit.
“These demands include the high level of physical and mental effort required to succeed, and also the athlete’s concerns about the difficulty of the event, their chance of succeeding, and any potential dangers such as injury.”
The gap needs one of the 'potential dangers', and the text lists 'any potential dangers such as injury'.
“In tennis players, cortisol has been associated with more unsuccessful serves and greater anxiety.”
Cortisol in tennis players is linked to 'more unsuccessful serves', so the plural 'serves' is the gap.
“Psychologists can also help athletes change how they see their physiological responses – such as helping them see a higher heart rate as excitement, rather than nerves.”
Psychologists help athletes read a higher heart rate 'as excitement, rather than nerves', so 'excitement' fits.
“Developing psychological skills, such as visualisation, can also help decrease physiological responses to threat.”
The text names 'visualisation' as a psychological skill that 'can also help decrease physiological responses to threat'.
Questions 23–24: Two Choices
Strategy: Both answers must be supported by the passage. Check each option independently; order does not usually matter.
“This is something that British tennis player Emma Raducanu wrote about on social media following her withdrawal from the 2021 Wimbledon tournament. Though the young player had been doing well in the tournament, she began having difficulty regulating her breathing and heart rate during a match,”
B and D match two pressures on Raducanu: a much larger audience with higher expectations, and facing a more skilful opponent.
Questions 25–26: Two Choices
Strategy: Both answers must be supported by the passage. Check each option independently; order does not usually matter.
“The intensity with which a person experiences anxiety depends on the demands and resources they have. Negative stress responses can be damaging to both physical and mental health – and repeated episodes of anxiety coupled with negative responses can increase risk of heart disease and depression.”
A and E follow from the warning that negative stress responses damage physical and mental health and raise the risk of heart disease and depression.
Learn the question types in this passage
Frequently asked questions
Where does the Athletes and stress passage come from?
It is Passage 2 of Cambridge IELTS 19 Academic Reading Test 2, and it covers Questions 14–25.
What question types appear in Athletes and stress?
The passage is tested with Matching Information, Sentence Completion, Two Choices, Two Choices. Each type is explained on this page, alongside the answers.
Are these reading answers reliable?
Every answer is paired with the sentence that proves it, so you can check each one against the passage yourself. Use the page after a timed attempt, not instead of one.
Cambridge IELTS is published by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Band9Prep is not affiliated with Cambridge. This page is an independent study aid: it gives the answer key, the passage evidence and an explanation so you can review an attempt you have already made.