Is Science Dangerous Reading Answers

Oct 21, 2024

Is Science Dangerous Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. Is Science Dangerous Reading Answers has a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. In the questions set there are questions where you have to choose the correct option from the given choices. In the next section you have to fill in the blanks with correct answers.

The IELTS Reading section is a crucial component of the IELTS exam, designed to assess a candidate's ability to comprehend and analyze different types of texts. In this passage, you will engage with a series of IELTS reading practice questions that simulate real test scenarios. These questions are aimed at improving your skills in identifying key ideas, extracting specific information, and making inferences. Whether you are preparing for the Academic or General Training module, practicing these IELTS reading questions will help you become familiar with the format and boost your confidence for the actual test.

Section 1

IS SCIENCE DANGEROUS?

A. The idea that scientific knowledge is dangerous is deeply embedded in our culture. Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and in Milton's Paradise Lost the serpent addresses the tree as the 'Mother of Science'. Indeed, the whole of western literature has not been kind to scientists and is filled with images of them meddling with nature with disastrous results. Just consider Shelley's Frankenstein

Goethe's Faust and Huxley's Brave New World. One will search with very little success for a novel in which scientists come out well - the persistent image is that of scientists as a soulless group unconcerned with ethical issues. And where is there a film sympathetic to science?

B. Part of the problem is the conflation of science and technology. The distinction between science and technology, between knowledge and understanding on the one hand and the application of that knowledge to making something, or using it in some practical way, is fundamental

C. Science produces ideas about how the world works, whereas the ideas in technology result in usable objects. Technology is much older than anything one could regard as science and unaided by any science. Technology gave rise to the crafts of early humans, like agriculture and metalworking. It is technology that carries with it ethical issues, from motorcar production to cloning a human.

D. By contrast, reliable scientific knowledge is value-free and has no moral or ethical value. Science merely tells us how the world is. That we are not at the centre of the universe is neither good nor bad, nor is the possibility that genes can influence our intelligence or our behaviour

E. The social obligations that scientists have as distinct from those responsibilities they share with all citizens comes from them having access to specialised knowledge of how the world works, not easily accessible to others. Their obligation is to both make public any social implications of their work and its possible applications and to give some assessment of its reliability.

F. It is not easy to find examples of scientists as a group behaving immorally or in a dangerous manner, the classic paradigm being the eugenics movement. The scientific assumptions behind this proposal are crucial; the assumption is that most desirable and undesirable human attributes are inherited. Not only was talent perceived of as being inherited, but so too were insanity and any kind of so-called feeblemindedness. They completely failed to give an assessment of the reliability of their ideas. Quite the contrary, and even more blameworthy, their conclusions seem to have been driven by what they saw as the desirable social implications. By contrast, in relation to the building of the atomic bomb, scientists behaved morally and fulfilled their social obligations by informing their governments about the implications of atomic theory. It was an enormous engineering feat to build the bomb but the decision to do this was taken by politicians, not scientists.

G. The moralists have been out in force telling us of the horrors of cloning. Many others, national leaders included, have joined in a chorus of horror. But what horrors? What ethical issues? In all the righteous indignation not a single relevant new ethical issue has been spelled out

H. Those who propose to clone a human are medical technologists not scientists. It is not, as the bio-moralists claim, that scientific innovation has outstripped our social and moral codes. Just the opposite is the case. Their obsession with the life of the embryo has deflected our attention away from the real issue, which is how children are raised and nurtured. The ills in our society have nothing to do with assisting or preventing reproduction but are profoundly affected by how children are treated.

I. So what danger does genetics pose? Gene therapy, introducing genes to cure a genetic disease like cystic fibrosis, carries risks, as do all new medical treatments. There may well be problems with the testing of new treatments, but are these difficulties any different from those related to trying out new drugs for AIDS? Anxieties about creating designer babies are at present premature as it is too risky, and we may have, in the first instance, to accept what has been called procreative autonomy, a couple's right to control their own role in reproduction unless the state has a compelling reason for denying them that control. Should the ethical issues relating to the applications of genetics, for example, lead to stopping research in this field? The individual scientist cannot decide, for science, like genetics, is a collective activity with no single individual controlling the process of discovery. It is ethically unacceptable and impractical to censor any aspect of trying to understand the nature of our world.

Questions 29-34

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?

Write TRUE if the statement is true according to the passage

FALSE if the statement is false according to the passage

NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

29. The film industry does not make films about science.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: “........the persistent image is that of scientists as a soulless group unconcerned with ethical issues. And where is there a film sympathetic to science?........”

Keywords: film, sympathetic

Keyword Location: para A, Line 8

Explanation: The passage mentions that there are very few films that portray science positively, but it does not state that the film industry avoids making films about science entirely.

30. Scientists do not work in unison when deciding what needs to be researched.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: “........Science, like genetics, is a collective activity with no single individual controlling the process of discovery........”

Keywords: collective, discovery

Keyword Location: para I, Line 6

Explanation: The passage mentions that scientific research is a collective activity, implying that scientists work together rather than individually. This contradicts the idea that scientists do not work in unison

31. Parents want to have cloned children nov

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: The passage does not discuss whether parents currently desire cloned children. It focuses on the ethical issues surrounding cloning but does not provide information about parental desires

32. Technology was important before the development of science.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: “........Technology is much older than anything one could regard as science and unaided by any science........”

Keywords: technology, older

Keyword Location: para C, Line 2

Explanation: The passage explicitly states that technology existed long before science and that it was crucial to early human activities like agriculture and metalworking. This confirms that technology played an important role before science was formally developed

33. Many people consider cloning to be undesirable.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: “........The moralists have been out in force telling us of the horrors of cloning. Many others, national leaders included, have joined in a chorus of horror. But what horrors?........”

Keywords: moralists, horrors

Keyword Location: para G, Line 1

Explanation: The passage describes how many moralists and others view cloning negatively, referring to it as something horrifying. This indicates that a significant number of people find cloning undesirable

34. Science and technology must be seen as separate entities.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: “........The distinction between science and technology, between knowledge and understanding on the one hand and the application of that knowledge to making something, is fundamental........”

Keywords: distinction, fundamental

Keyword Location: para B, Line 3

Explanation: The passage stresses the fundamental difference between science (knowledge and understanding) and technology. This suggests that science and technology are separate entities and should be viewed as such.

Question 35

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE words

35. What influenced the eugenics movement when they were summarizing the finding?

of their research?

Answer: SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Supporting statement: “.......Their conclusions seem to have been driven by what they saw as the desirable social implications.........”

Keywords: conclusions, social

Keyword Location: para F, Line 5

Explanation: The passage mentions that the eugenics movement’s conclusions were influenced by what the researchers believed to be the desirable social outcomes. This indicates that social implications, rather than purely scientific findings, influenced their summaries

Questions 36-39

Choose ONE phrase from the list of phrases A - H. Write the appropriate letters.

LIST OF PHRASES

A. work in groups in an unethical way

B. was responsible for helping to develop basic trades and skills

C. scientists are portrayed as being irreligious

D. does not make moral judgements

E. become involved in hazardous research

F. scientists are seen to interfere with nature

G. does not help us to understand how the world works

H. is more concerned with ethics than research

36. In literature

Answer: F

Supporting statement: “.......Western literature has not been kind to scientists and is filled with images of them meddling with nature with disastrous results..........”

Keywords: meddling, disastrous

Keyword Location: para A, Line 6

Explanation: The passage states that literature often portrays scientists as interfering with nature, leading to negative consequences. This supports the idea that in literature, scientists are seen as meddling with nature

37. Technology

Answer: B

Supporting statement: “.......Technology gave rise to the crafts of early humans, like agriculture and metalworking. It is technology that carries with it ethical issues, from motorcar production to cloning a human..........”

Keywords: crafts, technology

Keyword Location: para C, Line 3

Explanation: The passage explains that technology was crucial in developing early human skills such as agriculture and metalworking. This suggests that technology helped establish basic trades and skills

38. Science

Answer: D

Supporting statement: “........Reliable scientific knowledge is value-free and has no moral or ethical value........”

Keywords: free, ethical

Keyword Location: para D, Line 1

Explanation: The passage states that scientific knowledge is neutral and does not carry moral or ethical judgments. This makes option D the appropriate answer, as science is portrayed as not making moral judgments.

39. Rarely do scientists

Answer: A

Supporting statement: “........It is not easy to find examples of scientists as a group behaving immorally or in a dangerous manner........”

Keywords: immorally, group

Keyword Location: para F, Line 1

Explanation: The passage points out that it is rare to find examples of scientists acting immorally as a group, suggesting that scientists do not commonly work unethically in teams. Therefore, option A is the correct answer.

Questions 40

Choose the best answer.

40. According to the writer, Science shows us

A. our position in the universe

B. how intelligence affects our behavior.

C. what the world is really like.

D. scientists have special social obligations.

Answer: C

Supporting statement: “........Science merely tells us how the world is. That we are not at the centre of the universe is neither good nor bad, nor is the possibility that genes can influence our intelligence or our behaviour........”

Keywords: world, tells

Keyword Location: para D, Line 2

Explanation: The passage indicates that science provides us with an understanding of how the world truly operates. This makes option C the best answer, as science is described as showing us "what the world is really like."

Read More IELTS Reading Related Samples