Changes In Reading Habits — IELTS Reading Answers

What is the writer’s main point in the first paragraph?

1. AOur use of technology is having a hidden effect on us.correct
2. BTechnology can be used to help youngsters to read.
3. CTravellers should be encouraged to use technology on planes.
4. DPlaying games is a more popular use of technology than reading.

“Unbeknown to most of us, an invisible, game-changing transformation links everyone in this picture: the neuronal circuit that underlies the brain’s ability to read is subtly, rapidly changing and this has implications for everyone from the pre-reading toddler to the expert adult.”

'an invisible, game-changing transformation' in the reading circuit is 'unbeknown to most of us', technology's hidden effect, so A.

What main point does Sherry Turkle make about innovation?

1. ATechnological innovation has led to a reduction in print reading.
2. BWe should pay attention to what might be lost when innovation occurs.correct
3. CWe should encourage more young people to become involved in innovation.
4. DThere is a difference between developing products and developing ideas.

“As MIT scholar Sherry Turkle has written, we do not err as a society when we innovate but when we ignore what we disrupt or diminish while innovating”

Turkle warns we err 'when we ignore what we disrupt or diminish while innovating', so attend to what innovation costs, B.

What point is the writer making in the fourth paragraph?

1. AHumans have an inborn ability to read and write.
2. BReading can be done using many different mediums.
3. CWriting systems make unexpected demands on the brain.
4. DSome brain circuits adjust to whatever is required of them.correct

“it will adapt to that environment’s requirements — from different writing systems to the characteristics of whatever medium is used.”

The fourth paragraph says the reading circuit 'will adapt to that environment's requirements', whatever writing system or medium is used, so D.

According to Mark Edmundson, the attitude of college students

1. Ahas changed the way he teaches.
2. Bhas influenced what they select to read.correct
3. Cdoes not worry him as much as it does others.
4. Ddoes not match the views of the general public.

“Mark Edmundson describes how many college students actively avoid the classic literature of the 19th and 20th centuries in favour of something simpler as they no longer have the patience to read longer, denser, more difficult texts”

Edmundson describes students who 'actively avoid the classic literature' in favour of 'something simpler', their attitude shaping what they select, so B.

“Multiple studies show that digital screen use may be causing a variety of troubling downstream effects on reading comprehension in older high school and college students.”

The gap needs what screen use harms; 'troubling downstream effects on reading comprehension' points to option D.

“Results indicated that students who read on print were superior in their comprehension to screen-reading peers”

The gap needs the comparison result; 'students who read on print were superior in their comprehension' fits H.

“particularly in their ability to sequence detail and reconstruct the plot in chronological order.”

The gap needs the specific skill where print readers excelled; 'sequence detail and reconstruct the plot in chronological order' fits F.

“the ‘new norm’ in reading is skimming, involving word-spotting and browsing through the text”

The gap needs the new reading norm; 'skimming, involving word-spotting and browsing through the text' fits B.

“In other words, we don’t have time to grasp complexity, to understand another’s feelings, to perceive beauty, and to create thoughts of the reader’s own.”

The gap needs what skimming costs us; 'we don't have time to grasp complexity, to understand another's feelings' fits C.

The medium we use to read can affect our choice of reading content.

“It is about how we all have begun to read on various mediums and how that changes not only what we read, but also the purposes for which we read.”

The text says reading on various mediums 'changes not only what we read, but also the purposes for which we read', so YES.

Some age groups are more likely to lose their complex reading skills than others.

“The subtle atrophy of critical analysis and empathy affects us all equally.”

'The subtle atrophy of critical analysis and empathy affects us all equally' denies that some age groups lose skills more than others, so NO.

False information has become more widespread in today’s digital era.

“It incentivizes a retreat to the most familiar stores of unchecked information, which require and receive no analysis, leaving us susceptible to false information and irrational ideas.”

The passage mentions susceptibility to 'false information' but never says false information has become more widespread today, so NOT GIVEN.

We still have opportunities to rectify the problems that technology is presenting.

“We possess both the science and the technology to identify and redress the changes in how we read before they become entrenched.”

'We possess both the science and the technology to identify and redress the changes in how we read' confirms the chance to fix them, so YES.