Our Political and Business Leaders IELTS Reading Answers

Sep 4, 2023

Our political and business leaders IELTS Reading Answers is a general reading subject that explores Our political and business leaders topic in depth. Our political and business leaders IELTS reading answers have a total of thirteen questions. The specified topic generates a single type of question: True/False/Not Given. Candidates should read the IELTS Reading passage thoroughly in order to recognize synonyms, identify keywords, and answer the questions below. IELTS reading practice papers, which feature topics such as Our political and business leaders IELTS Reading Answers. Candidates can use IELTS reading answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Our Political and Business Leaders IELTS Reading Answers

Ingenuity, as I define it here, consists not only of ideas for new technologies like a computer or drought-resistant crops but, more fundamentally, of ideas for better institutions and social arrangements, like efficient markets and competent governments.
How much and what kinds of ingenuity a society requires depends on a range of factors, including the society's goals and the circumstances within which it must achieve those goals - - whether it has a young population or an aging one, an abundance of natural resources or a scarcity of them, an easy climate or a punishing one, whatever the case may be.
How much and what kinds of ingenuity a society supplies also depends on many factors, such as the nature of human inventiveness and understanding, the rewards an economy gives to the producers of useful knowledge, and the strength of political opposition to social and institutional reforms.
A good supply of the right kind of ingenuity is essential, but it isn't, of course, enough by itself. We know that the creation of wealth, for example, depends not only on an adequate supply of useful ideas but also on the availability of other, more conventional factors of production, like capital and labor. Similarly, prosperity, stability and justice usually depend on the resolution, or at least the containment, of major political struggles over wealth and power. Yet within our economies ingenuity often supplants labor, and growth in the stock of physical plant is usually accompanied by growth in the stock of ingenuity. And in our political systems, we need great ingenuity to set up institutions that successfully manage struggles over wealth and power. Clearly, our economic and -political processes are intimately entangled with the production and use of ingenuity.
The past century's countless incremental changes in our societies around the planet, in our technologies and our interactions with our surrounding natural environments, have accumulated to create a qualitatively new world. Because these changes have accumulated slowly, it's often hard for us to recognize how profound and sweeping they're. They include far larger and denser populations; much higher per capita consumption of natural resources; and far better and more widely available technologies for the movement of people, materials, and especially information.
In combination, these changes have sharply increased the density, intensity, and pace of our interactions with each other; they have greatly increased the burden we place on our natural environment; and they have helped shift power from national and international institutions to individuals and subgroups, such as political special interests and ethnic factions.
As a result, people in all walks of life-from our political and business leaders to all of us in our day-to-day--must cope with much more complex, urgent, and often unpredictable circumstances. The management of our relationship with this new world requires immense and ever-increasing amounts of social and technical ingenuity. As we strive to maintain or increase our prosperity and improve the quality of our lives, we must make far more sophisticated decisions, and in less time, than ever before.
When we enhance the performance of any system, from our cars to the planers network of financial institutions, we tend to make it more complex. Many of the natural systems critical to our well-being, like the global climate and the oceans, are extraordinarily complex, to begin with. We often can't predict or manage the behavior of complex systems with much precision, because they are often very sensitive to the smallest of changes and perturbations, and their behavior can flip from one mode to another suddenly and dramatically.
In general, as the human-made and natural systems, we depend upon becoming more complex, and as our demands on them increase, the institutions and technologies we use to manage them must become more complex too, which further boosts our need for ingenuity.
The good news, though, is that the last century's stunning changes in our societies and technologies have not just increased our need for ingenuity; they have also produced a huge increase in its supply. The growth and urbanization of human populations have combined with astonishing new communication and transportation technologies to expand interactions among people and produce larger, more integrated, and more efficient markets. These changes have, in turn, vastly accelerated the generation and delivery of useful ideas.
But-and this is the critical "but" we should not jump to the conclusion that the supply of ingenuity always Increases in lockstep with our ingenuity requirement: while it's true that necessity is often the mother of invention, we can't always rely on the right kind of ingenuity appearing when and where we need it. In many cases, the complexity and speed of operation of today's vital economic, social, arid ecological systems exceed the human brain s grasp. Very few of us have more than a rudimentary understanding of how these systems work. They remain fraught with countless "unknown unknowns, which makes it hard to supply the ingenuity we need to solve problems associated with these systems.
In this book, explore a wide range of other factors that will limit our ability to supply the ingenuity required in the coming century. For example, many people believe that new communication technologies strengthen democracy and will make it easier to find solutions to our societies, collective problems, but the story is less clear than it seems. The crush of information in our everyday lives is shortening our attention span, limiting the time we have to reflect on critical matters of public policy, and making policy arguments more superficial.
Modem markets and science are an important part of the story of how we supply ingenuity. Markets are critically important because they give entrepreneurs an incentive to produce knowledge. As for science, although it seems to face no theoretical limits, at least in the foreseeable future, practical constraints often slow its progress. The cost of scientific research tends to increase as it delves deeper into nature. And science's rate of advance depends on the characteristic of the natural phenomena it investigates, simply because some phenomena are intrinsically harder to understand than others, so the production of useful new knowledge in these areas can be very slow. Consequently, there is often a critical time lag between the recognition between a problem and the delivery of sufficient ingenuity, in the form of technologies, to solve that problem. Progress in the social sciences is especially slow, for reasons we don't yet understand; but we desperately need better social scientific knowledge to build the sophisticated institutions today's world demands.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Questions 27-30

Complete each sentence with the appropriate answer, A, B, C, or D. Write the correct answer in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.

Definition of ingenuity
The requirement for ingenuity
The creation of social wealth
The stability of society

depends on many factors including climate.
depends on the management and solution of disputes.
is not only of technological advance but more of institutional renovation.
also depends on the availability of some traditional resources.

Ques: 27

Answer: C
Supporting statement:“...not only of ideas for new technologies like a computer or drought-resistant crops but, more fundamentally, of ideas for better institutions and social arrangements...”
Keywords :technologies, social arrangements
Keyword location: para 1 , line 1-2
Explanation: Ingenuity doesn’t always have to be for new technologies. For the long term one has to think about the betterment of institutions and the social arrangements.

Ques: 28

Answer: A
Supporting statement:“...an easy climate or a punishing one, whatever the case may be....”
Keywords : systems, extraordinary
Keyword location: para B, line 3 - 4
Explanation: The type of ingenuity required depends on many factors. Such as the population, the resources available and the climate.

Ques: 29

Answer: D
Supporting statement:“...but also on the availability of other, more conventional factors of production, like capital and labor....”
Keywords : availability, production
Keyword location: para D, line 3-4
Explanation:We know that, for example, the creation of wealth relies on more than just a good supply of useful ideas. It also depends on the availability of capital and labor, which are more traditional factors of production.

Ques: 30

Answer: B
Supporting statement:“...Similarly, prosperity, stability and justice usually depend on the resolution, or at least the containment, of major political struggles over wealth and power...”
Keywords : prosperity, containment
Keyword location: para D, line 4 - 5
Explanation: In the same way, prosperity, stability, and justice generally rely on how big political fights over money and power are settled or at least kept in check. It all depends on the disputes.

Questions 31-33 Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

What does the author say about the incremental change of the last 100 years?

It has become a hot scholastic discussion among environmentalists.
Its significance is often not noticed.
It has reshaped the natural environments we live in.
It benefited a much larger population than ever.

Answer: B
Supporting statement:“...Because these changes have accumulated slowly, it's often hard for us to recognize how profound and sweeping...”
Keywords :profound, sweeping
Keyword location: para E, line 3-4
Explanation: Our civilizations, technologies, and connections with nature have changed dramatically during the past century. We don't realise how significant these changes are since they've happened slowly.

The combination of changes has made a life:

easier
faster
slower
less sophisticated

Answer: B
Supporting statement:“... these changes have sharply increased the density, intensity, and pace of our interactions with each other....”
Keywords : density, intensity, and pace of our interactions
Keyword location: para F, line 1-2
Explanation: The changes include greater and denser populations, higher per capita natural resource usage, and better and more widely available technology for moving people, commodities, and notably information.These changes have increased the density, intensity, and made life faster. na

What does the author say about natural systems?

New technologies are being developed to predict change with precision.
Natural systems are often more sophisticated than other systems.
Minor alterations may cause natural systems to change dramatically.
Technological developments have rendered human being more independent of natural systems.

Answer: C
Supporting statement:“..Many of the natural systems critical to our well-being, like the global climate and the oceans, are extraordinarily complex, to begin with. ....”
Keywords :
Keyword location: para H, line 2-3
Explanation: We frequently cannot forecast or regulate the behavior of complex systems with high precision because they are often extremely sensitive to even minor changes and perturbations, and their behavior can abruptly and dramatically shift from one mode to another.

Questions 34-40
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 34 -40 on your answer sheet, write

YES - if the statement is true
NO - if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN - if the information is not given in the passage.

The demand for ingenuity has been growing during the past 100 years.

Answer: YES
Supporting statement:“...and our interactions with our surrounding natural environments, have accumulated to create a qualitatively new world...”
Keywords :accumulated, qualitatively
Keyword location: para E, line 1-2
Explanation: The past century's myriad gradual changes in cultures around the world, technologies, and interactions with our natural settings have created a qualitatively different world.

The ingenuity we have may be inappropriate for solving the problems at hand.

Answer: YES
Supporting statement:“...explore a wide range of other factors that will limit our ability to supply the ingenuity required in the coming century. ...”
Keywords : ingenuity, century
Keyword location: para K, line 2-3
Explanation: For example, a lot of people think that new communication tools will make democracy stronger and make it easier to find solutions to the problems we all face as a society. However, the story isn't as clear as it seems.

There are very few who can understand the complex systems of the present world.

Answer: YES
Supporting statement:“..In many cases, the complexity and speed of operation of today's vital economic, social, arid ecological systems exceed the human brain s grasp......”
Keywords : economic, social
Keyword location: para J, line 4-5
Explanation: Today's vital economic, social, and ecological processes are often too complicated and fast for the human brain. Few people understand these systems. They have many "unknown unknowns," making it hard to use ingenuity to address problems related to these systems.

More information will help us to make better decisions.

Answer: NO
Supporting statement:“...As we strive to maintain or increase our prosperity and improve the quality of our lives, we must make far more sophisticated decisions, and in less time, than ever before....”
Keywords : prosperity, decisions
Keyword location: para G, line 4-5
Explanation: There is nowhere mentioned that the increase in information will allow us to make better decisions.

The next generation will blame the current government for their conduct.

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: There is nowhere mentioned about the next generation. Neither there is a mention of the government for it.

Science tends to develop faster in certain areas than others.

Answer: YES
Supporting statement:“..As for science, although it seems to face no theoretical limits, at least in the foreseeable future, practical constraints often slow its progress.....”
Keywords : forseeable, practical
Keyword location: para L, line 3-4
Explanation: Science will always develop. The speed of the progress may depend on various factors.

Social science develops especially slowly because it is not as important as natural science.

Answer: NO
Supporting statement:“...Progress in the social sciences is especially slow....”
Keywords : Progress, social science
Keyword location: para L, line 12 -13
Explanation: For reasons we don't understand, social science progress is slow, but we need stronger social science to develop the complex institutions today's world requires.