How Stress Affects Our Judgement — IELTS Reading Answers

In the first paragraph, the writer introduces the topic of the text by

1. Adefining some commonly used terms.
2. Bquestioning a widely held assumption.
3. Cmentioning a challenge faced by everyone.correct
4. Dspecifying a situation which makes us most anxious.

“From medical decisions to financial and professional ones, we are all sometimes required to weigh up information under stressful conditions.”

The opening says 'we are all sometimes required to weigh up information under stressful conditions', a challenge faced by everyone.

What point does the writer make about firefighters in the second paragraph?

1. AThe regular changes of stress levels in their working lives make them ideal study subjects.correct
2. BThe strategies they use to handle stress are of particular interest to researchers.
3. CThe stressful nature of their job is typical of many public service professions.
4. DTheir personalities make them especially well-suited to working under stress.

“These ups and downs presented the perfect setting for an experiment on how people's ability to use information changes when they feel under pressure”

Firefighters' 'ups and downs presented the perfect setting for an experiment', because their stress levels change regularly.

What is the writer doing in the fourth paragraph?

1. AExplaining their findings
2. BJustifying their approach
3. CSetting out their objectives
4. DDescribing their methodologycorrect

“We asked the firefighters to estimate their likelihood of experiencing 40 different adverse events in their life, such as being involved in an accident or becoming a victim of card fraud.”

Paragraph four recounts what participants were asked and given, step by step, which is the experiment's methodology.

In the seventh paragraph, the writer describes a mechanism in the brain which

1. AEnables people to respond more quickly to stressful situations.
2. BResults in increased ability to control our levels of anxiety.
3. CProduces heightened sensitivity to indications of external threats.correct
4. DIs activated when there is a need to communicate a sense of danger.

“When we experience stressful events, a physiological change is triggered that causes us to take in warnings and focus on what might go wrong”

Stress triggers a change that 'causes us to take in warnings and focus on what might go wrong', heightened threat sensitivity.

At times when they were relaxed, the firefighters usually

“People are normally quite optimistic -they will ignore bad news and embrace the good. This is what happened when the firefighters were relaxed”

When relaxed, 'people are normally quite optimistic', ignoring bad news and embracing good news, so option B fits.

The researchers noted that when the firefighters were stressed, they

“Under these conditions, they became hyper-vigilant to bad news, even when it had nothing to do with their job”

Under stress 'they became hyper-vigilant to bad news', even when unrelated to their job, which option G describes.

When the firefighters were told good news, they always

“In contrast, stress didn't change how they responded to good news”

Stress 'didn't change how they responded to good news', so option F fits their unchanged reaction.

The students’ cortisol levels and heart rates were affected when the researchers

“students who were told they had to give a surprise public speech, which would be judged by a panel, recorded and posted online. Sure enough, their cortisol levels spiked, their heart rates went up”

Cortisol spiked and heart rates rose when students faced 'a surprise public speech' judged by a panel, option E.

In both experiments, negative information was processed better when the subjects

“they suddenly became better at processing unrelated, yet alarming, information about rates of disease and violence.”

In both experiments, negative information was processed better when subjects were under stress, which option D states.

The tone of the content we post on social media tends to reflect the nature of the posts in our feeds.

“If we observe positive feeds on social media, such as images of a pink sunset, we are more likely to post uplifting messages ourselves. If we observe negative posts, such as complaints about a long queue at the coffee shop, we will in turn create more negative posts”

Positive feeds make us 'more likely to post uplifting messages', while negative posts produce 'more negative posts'.

Phones have a greater impact on our stress levels than other electronic media devices.

“Repeatedly checking your phone, according to a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, is related to stress”

Phones are linked to stress, but the passage never compares their impact with other electronic media devices.

The more we read about a stressful public event on social media, the less able we are to take the information in.

“And so, a reliable pattern emerges – stress is triggered, spreading from one person to the next, which temporarily enhances the likelihood that people will take in negative reports, which increases stress further”

Stress 'temporarily enhances the likelihood that people will take in negative reports', so more exposure improves uptake, not reduces it.

Stress created by social media posts can lead us to take unnecessary precautions.

“As a result, trips are cancelled, even if the disaster took place across the globe, stocks are sold, even when holding on is the best thing to do.”

Stress leads people to cancel trips and sell stocks 'even if the disaster took place across the globe', unnecessary precautions.

Our tendency to be affected by other people’s moods can be used in a positive way.

“The good news, however, is that positive emotions, such as hope, are contagious too, and are powerful in inducing people to act to find solutions”

'Positive emotions, such as hope, are contagious too, and are powerful in inducing people to act to find solutions'.