Cambridge IELTS 17 · Academic · Test 2 · Passage 3
Insight Or Evolution? — IELTS Reading Answers
All 14 answers for Insight Or Evolution?, Cambridge IELTS 17 Academic Reading Test 2 Passage 3, with the passage evidence and an explanation for each.
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Insight Or Evolution? answer key at a glance
Questions 27–40. Tap an answer to see the evidence.
What this passage tests
This passage is tested with One Choice (Q27–31), Yes / No / Not Given (Q32–36), Summary Completion (Q37–40). Each section below gives the strategy for that question type, the answers, and the sentence that proves them.
Questions 27–31: One Choice
Strategy: Read the question stem and predict the answer before looking at the options. Wrong options often repeat passage words while the correct one paraphrases them.
The purpose of the first paragraph is to
- Adefend particular ideas.
- Bcompare certain beliefs.
- Cdisprove a widely held view.
- Doutline a common assumption.correct
“Scientific discovery is popularly believed to result from the sheer genius of such intellectual stars as naturalist Charles Darwin and theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.”
The first paragraph states the popular belief that discovery comes from 'the sheer genius of such intellectual stars', outlining a common assumption, so D.
What are the writers doing in the second paragraph?
- Acriticising an opinioncorrect
- Bjustifying a standpoint
- Cexplaining an approach
- Dsupporting an argument
“However, we believe that it largely misrepresents the real nature of scientific discovery, as well as that of creativity and innovation in many other realms of human endeavor.”
The second paragraph says 'we believe that it largely misrepresents the real nature of scientific discovery', criticising the genius view, so A.
In the third paragraph, what do the writers suggest about Darwin and Einstein?
- AThey represent an exception to a general rule.correct
- BTheir way of working has been misunderstood.
- CThey are an ideal which others should aspire to.
- DTheir achievements deserve greater recognition.
“Setting aside such greats as Darwin and Einstein – whose monumental contributions are duly celebrated – we suggest that innovation is more a process of trial and error, where two steps forward may sometimes come with one step back, as well as one or more steps to the right or left.”
The writers 'set aside such greats as Darwin and Einstein' before arguing that innovation is trial and error, treating them as exceptions, so A.
John Nicholson is an example of a person whose idea
- Aestablished his reputation as an influential scientist.
- Bwas only fully understood at a later point in history.
- Claid the foundations for someone else’s breakthrough.correct
- Dinitially met with scepticism from the scientific community.
“Niels Bohr, the Nobel prize-winning father of modern atomic theory, jumped off from this interesting idea to conceive his now-famous model of the atom.”
Nicholson's proto-element idea was wrong, yet 'Niels Bohr ... jumped off from this interesting idea', so it laid foundations for another's breakthrough, C.
What is the key point of interest about the ‘acey-deucy’ stirrup placement?
- Athe simple reason why it was inventedcorrect
- Bthe enthusiasm with which it was adopted
- Cthe research that went into its development
- Dthe cleverness of the person who first used it
“No. He suffered a leg injury, which left him unable to fully bend his left knee. His modification just happened to coincide with enhanced left-hand turning performance.”
The stirrup change happened because the rider 'suffered a leg injury', a simple practical reason rather than clever design, so A.
Questions 32–36: Yes / No / Not Given
Strategy: These test the writer's opinions, not facts. Look for evaluative language, and treat 'may' or 'could' as weaker than the question's claim.
Acknowledging people such as Plato or da Vinci as geniuses will help us understand the process by which great minds create new ideas.
“These notions merely label rather than explain the evolution of human innovations. We need another approach, and there is a promising candidate.”
The text says such labels 'merely label rather than explain the evolution of human innovations', so calling people geniuses does not aid understanding, so NO.
The Law of Effect was discovered at a time when psychologists were seeking a scientific reason why creativity occurs.
“The Law of Effect was advanced by psychologist Edward Thorndike in 1898, some 40 years after Charles Darwin published his groundbreaking work on biological evolution, On the Origin of Species.”
The passage dates the Law of Effect to 1898 but never says psychologists then were seeking a scientific reason for creativity, so NOT GIVEN.
The Law of Effect states that no planning is involved in the behaviour of organisms.
“the Law of Effect involves an entirely mechanical process of variation and selection, without any end objective in sight.”
'an entirely mechanical process of variation and selection, without any end objective in sight' confirms that no planning is involved, so YES.
The Law of Effect sets out clear explanations about the sources of new ideas and behaviours.
“In particular, the provenance of the raw material on which the Law of Effect operates is not as clearly known as that of the genetic mutations on which the Law of Natural Selection operates.”
The Law of Effect's raw material provenance 'is not as clearly known', contradicting the claim that it clearly explains the sources of new ideas, so NO.
Many scientists are now turning away from the notion of intelligent design and genius.
“The time seems right for abandoning the naive notions of intelligent design and genius, and for scientifically exploring the true origins of creative behavior.”
The writers urge abandoning 'naive notions of intelligent design and genius' but say nothing about how many scientists are doing so, so NOT GIVEN.
Questions 37–40: Summary Completion
Strategy: Read the summary as a paragraph first to establish the logic, then locate the missing idea in the passage. With a lettered list, confirm the grammar fits.
“Conventional wisdom also places great weight on insight in promoting breakthrough scientific achievements, as if ideas spontaneously pop into someone’s head – fully formed and functional.”
The gap needs the popular emphasis on sudden inspiration; 'Conventional wisdom ... places great weight on insight ... as if ideas spontaneously pop into someone's head' fits F.
“These successes are all the more noteworthy given the fact that Nicholson was wrong about the presence of proto-elements: they do not actually exist.”
The gap needs the striking fact about Nicholson; he 'was wrong about the presence of proto-elements: they do not actually exist', so D.
“Plenty of other stories show that fresh advances can arise from error, misadventure, and also pure serendipity – a happy accident.”
The gap needs how advances also arise; 'error, misadventure, and also pure serendipity - a happy accident' fits E.
“the Law of Effect involves an entirely mechanical process of variation and selection, without any end objective in sight.”
The gap needs the Law of Effect's mechanism; 'an entirely mechanical process of variation and selection' fits B.
Learn the question types in this passage
Frequently asked questions
Where does the Insight Or Evolution? passage come from?
It is Passage 3 of Cambridge IELTS 17 Academic Reading Test 2, and it covers Questions 27–40.
What question types appear in Insight Or Evolution??
The passage is tested with One Choice, Yes / No / Not Given, Summary Completion. 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.