Overcoming the Language Barrier Reading Answers

Jan 4, 2023

Overcoming the Language Barrier Reading Answers contains 13 questions that need to be answered in 20 minutes. This IELTS topic- Overcoming the Language Barrier Reading Answers consists of two types of questions; no more than 3 words, and Choose the appropriate answer. Candidates need to skim the passage for keywords, understand the concept, and answer based on the given instructions. Overcoming the Language Barrier Reading Answers is taken from the book- Cambridge IELTS 10 Student's Book with Answers. To solve IELTS Reading section, candidates need to skim the passage for keywords, understand the concept and answer based on the given instructions. Candidates should use no more than three words for their answers. Candidates must read the IELTS reading passage, identify keywords, and recognize synonyms to answer the question. Candidates can solve more such IELTS reading samples like - Overcoming the Language Barrier Reading Answers from IELTS reading practice tests.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Overcoming the Language Barrier Reading Answers

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26 which are based on Reading Passage 133 below.

The discovery that language can be a barrier to communication is quickly made by all who travel, study, govern or sell. Whether the activity is tourism, research, government, policing, business, or data dissemination, the lack of a common language can severely impede progress or can halt it altogether. 'Common language' here usually means a foreign language, but the same point applies in principle to any encounter with unfamiliar dialects or styles within a single language. 'They don't talk the same language' has a major metaphorical meaning alongside its literal one.

Although communication problems of this kind must happen thousands of times each day, very few become public knowledge. Publicity comes only when a failure to communicate has major consequences, such as strikes, lost orders, legal problems, or fatal accidents — even, at times, war. One reported instance of communication failure took place in 1970, when several Americans ate a species of poisonous mushroom. No remedy was known, and two of the people died within days. A radio report of the case was heard by a chemist who knew of a treatment that had been successfully used in 1959 and published in 1963. Why had the American doctors not heard of it seven years later? Presumably, because the report of the treatment had been published only in journals written in European languages other than English.

Several comparable cases have been reported. But isolated examples do not give an impression of the size of the problem — something that can come only from studies of the use or avoidance of foreign-language materials and contacts in different communicative situations. In the English-speaking scientific world, for example, surveys of books and documents consulted in libraries and other information agencies have shown that very little foreign-language material is ever consulted. Library requests in the field of science and technology showed that only 13 per cent were for foreign language periodicals. Studies of the sources cited in publications lead to a similar conclusion: the use of foreign-language sources is often found to be as low as 10 per cent.

The language barrier presents itself in stark form to firms who wish to market their products in other countries. British industry, in particular, has in recent decades often been criticised for its linguistic insularity - for its assumption that foreign buyers will be happy to communicate in English, and that awareness of other languages is not therefore a priority. In the 1960s, over two-thirds of British firms dealing with non-English-speaking customers were using English for outgoing correspondence; many had their sales literature only in English; and as many as 40 per cent employed no-one able to communicate in the customers' languages. A similar problem was identified in other English-speaking countries, notably the USA, Australia and New Zealand. And non-English-speaking countries were by no means exempt - although the widespread use of English as an alternative language made them less open to the charge of insularity.

The criticism and publicity given to this problem since the 1960s seems to have greatly improved the situation. Industrial training schemes have promoted an increase in linguistic and cultural awareness. Many firms now have their own translation services; to take just one example in Britain, Rowntree Mackintosh now publish their documents in six languages (English, French, German, Dutch, Italian and Xhosa). Some firms run part-time language courses in the languages of the countries with which they are most involved; some produce their own technical glossaries, to ensure consistency when material is being translated. It is now much more readily appreciated that marketing efforts can be delayed, damaged, or disrupted by a failure to take account of the linguistic needs of the customer.

The changes in awareness have been most marked in English-speaking countries, where the realisation has gradually dawned that by no means everyone in the world knows English well enough to negotiate in it. This is especially a problem when English is not an official language of public administration, as in most parts of the Far East, Russia, Eastern Europe, the Arab world, Latin America and French-speaking Africa. Even in cases where foreign customers can speak English quite well, it is often forgotten that they may not be able to understand it to the required level - bearing in mind the regional and social variation which permeates speech and which can cause major problems of listening comprehension. In securing understanding, how 'we' speak to 'them' is just as important, it appears, as how 'they' speak to 'us'.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Questions 14-17:
Complete each of the following statements (Questions 14-17) with words taken from Reading Passage 133.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 14-17 on your answer sheet.

Language problems may come to the attention of the public when they have ........................... such as fatal accidents or social problems.

Answer: major consequences
Supporting Sentence: Publicity comes only when a failure to communicate has major consequences
Keywords: Publicity, communicate
Keyword Location: Paragraph 2
Explanation: Communication issues of this nature must occur hundreds of times every day, with relatively few becoming public knowledge. Publicity occurs only when a lack of communication has serious effects, such as strikes, missed orders, legal issues, deadly accidents, or even war.

Evidence of the extent of the language barrier has been gained from ............................ of materials used by scientists such as books and periodicals.

Answer: surveys
Supporting Sentence: surveys of books and documents consulted in libraries and other information agencies have shown that very little foreign-language material is ever consulted
Keywords: books and documents, information agencies
Keyword Location: Paragraph 3
Explanation: Surveys of books and papers viewed at libraries as well as other information agencies in the English-speaking scientific community. For example, they have revealed that very little foreign-language content is ever consulted.

An example of British linguistic insularity is the use of English for materials such as ...........................

Answer: sales literature
Supporting Sentence: many had their sales literature only in English; and as many as 40 per cent employed no-one able to communicate in the customers' languages.
Keywords: 40 per cent employed, customers' languages
Keyword Location: Paragraph 4
Explanation: In the 1960s, more than two-thirds of British enterprises dealing with non-English-speaking clients used English for outgoing letters. Many had only English sales material; and as many as 40% employed no one who could interact in the customers' languages.

An example of a part of the world where people may have difficulty in negotiating English is ........................... .

Answer: Eastern Europe//Far East//Russia//Arab world//Latin America//French-speaking Africa
Supporting Sentence: as in most parts of the Far East, Russia, Eastern Europe, the Arab world, Latin America and French- speaking Africa.
Keywords: Arab world, Latin America and French- speaking Africa
Keyword Location: Paragraph 6
Explanation: This is especially problematic in countries where English is not the official language of the government. Such as most of the Middle East, Russia, Eastern Europe, the most Arab world, Latin America, and French-speaking Africa.

Questions 18-20:
Choose the appropriate letters A-D, and write them in boxes 18-20 on your answer sheet.

According to the passage, ‘They don't talk the same language' (paragraph 1), can refer to problems in...

understanding metaphor.
learning foreign languages.
understanding dialect or style.
dealing with technological change.

Answer: C understanding dialect or style.
Supporting Sentence: They don't talk the same language' has a major metaphorical meaning alongside its literal one.
Keywords: same language, major metaphorical
Keyword Location: Paragraph 1
Explanation: The term 'common language' generally refers to a foreign language, although the same idea applies to any interaction. Interacting with unusual dialects or styles within a single language. 'They don't speak the same language,' in addition to its literal meaning, has a significant metaphorical significance.

The case of the poisonous mushrooms (paragraph 2) suggests that American doctors …

should pay more attention to radio reports.
only read medical articles if they are in English.
are sometimes unwilling to try foreign treatments.
do not always communicate effectively with their patients.

Answer: B only read medical articles if they are in English.
Supporting Sentence: Presumably because the report of the treatment had been published only in journals written in European languages other than English.
Keywords: journals, European languages
Keyword Location: Paragraph 3
Explanation: Probably because periodicals printed in European languages other than English were the only ones to publish the treatment's report.

According to the writer, the linguistic insularity of British businesses...

later spread to other countries.
had a negative effect on their business.
is not as bad now as it used to be in the past.
made non-English-speaking companies turn to other markets.

Answer: C is not as bad now as it used to be in the past.
Supporting Sentence: The criticism and publicity given to this problem since the 1960s seems to have greatly improved the situation
Keywords: criticism and publicity
Keyword Location: Paragraph 5
Explanation: Since the 1960s, this issue has drawn criticism and public attention. Industrial training programmes have encouraged a rise in language and cultural awareness, which appears to have significantly improved the situation.

Questions 21-24:
List the FOUR main ways in which British companies have tried to solve the problem of the language barrier since the 1960s. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 21-24 on your answer sheet.

21 ......................................

Answer: (industrial) training (schemes)
Supporting Sentence: industrial training schemes have promoted an increase in linguistic and cultural awareness.
Keywords: industrial training schemes
Keyword Location: Paragraph 5
Explanation: Since the 1960s, this issue has drawn criticism and public attention. Industrial training programmes have encouraged a rise in language and cultural awareness, which appears to have significantly improved the situation.

22 ......................................

Answer: translation services
Supporting Sentence: Many firms now have their own translation services;
Keywords: translation services
Keyword Location: Paragraph 5
Explanation: Today, a lot of businesses provide their own translation services. As an illustration, in Britain, Rowntree Mackintosh currently publishes its documentation in six different languages (English, French, German, Dutch, Italian and Xhosa).

23 ......................................

Answer: (part-time) language courses
Supporting Sentence: Some firms run part-time language courses in the languages of the countries with which they are most involved
Keywords: part-time language courses
Keyword Location: Paragraph 5
Explanation: Some businesses provide part-time language programmes in the national tongues of the nations they work most closely with. Hence language courses are the correct answer.

24 ......................................

Answer: (technical) glossaries
Supporting Sentence: some produce their own technical glossaries
Keywords: technical glossaries
Keyword Location: Paragraph 5
Explanation: To maintain uniformity when translating materials, some businesses offer part-time language classes in the languages of the nations in which they are most active. Other businesses create their own technical glossaries.

Questions 25 and 26:
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet

According to the writer, English-speaking people need to be aware that...

some foreigners have never met an English-speaking person.
many foreigners have no desire to learn English.
foreign languages may pose a greater problem in the future.
English-speaking foreigners may have difficulty understanding English.

Answer: D English-speaking foreigners may have difficulty understanding English.
Supporting Sentence: by no means everyone in the world knows English well enough to negotiate in it.
Keywords: world knows English
Keyword Location: Last paragraph
Explanation: The shifts in perception have been most pronounced in English-speaking nations. Where it has increasingly been apparent that not everyone on the globe speaks English fluently enough to do business.

A suitable title for this passage would be .......

Overcoming the language barrier
How to survive an English-speaking world
Global understanding - the key to personal progress
The need for a common language

Answer: A Overcoming the language barrier
Supporting Sentence: how 'we' speak to 'them' is just as important, it appears, as how 'they' speak to 'us'.
Keywords: ‘we’; ‘they’ ; ‘us’
Keyword Location: Last paragraph
Explanation: It seems that in order to ensure comprehension, how "we" communicate to "them" is just as crucial as how "they" speak to "us."

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