Second Nature - IELTS Reading Sample Answer

Second Nature -this IELTS Reading Sample Answer- includes 13 questions with explanations and supporting statements. In this IELTS, it is important to provide detailed explanations and supporting evidence to locate the answer. In the IELTS reading exam reading is an integral part to score marks.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Second Nature IELTS Reading Sample

1. Psychologists have long held that a person's character cannot undergo a transformation in any meaningful way and that the key traits of personality are determined at a very young age. However, researchers have begun looking more closely at ways we can change. Positive psychologists have identified 24 qualities we admire, such as loyalty and kindness, and are studying them to find out why they come so naturally to some people. What they're discovering is that many of these qualities amount to habitual behaviour that determines the way we respond to the world. The good news is that all this can be learned.

Some qualities are less challenging to develop than others, optimism being one of them. However, developing qualities requires mastering a range of skills which are diverse and sometimes surprising. For example, to bring more joy and passion into your life, you must be open to experiencing negative emotions. Cultivating such qualities will help you realise your full potential.

2. 'The evidence is good that most personality traits can be altered,' says Christopher Peterson, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, who cites himself as an example. Inherently introverted, he realised early on that as an academic, his reticence would prove disastrous in the lecture hall. So he learned to be more outgoing and to entertain his classes. 'Now my extroverted behaviour is spontaneous,' he says.
3. David Fajgenbaum had to make a similar transition. He was preparing for university, when he had an accident that put an end to his sports career. On campus, he quickly found that beyond ordinary counselling, the university had no services for students who were undergoing physical rehabilitation and suffering from depression like him. He therefore launched a support group to help others in similar situations. He took action despite his own pain - a typical response of an optimist.
4. Suzanne Segerstrom, professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, believes that the key to increasing optimism is through cultivating optimistic behaviour, rather than positive thinking. She recommends you train yourself to pay attention to good fortune by writing down three positive things that come about each day. This will help you convince yourself that favourable outcomes actually happen all the time, making it easier to begin taking action.
5. You can recognise a person who is passionate about a pursuit by the way they are so strongly involved in it. Tanya Streeter's passion is freediving - the sport of plunging deep into the water without tanks or other breathing equipment. Beginning in 1998, she set nine world records and can hold her breath for six minutes. The physical stamina required for this sport is intense but the psychological demands are even more overwhelming. Streeter learned to untangle her fears from her judgment of what her body and mind could do. 'In my career as a competitive freediver, there was a limit to what I could do - but it wasn't anywhere near what I thought it was/ she says.
6. Finding a pursuit that excites you can improve anyone's life. The secret about consuming passions, though, according to psychologist Paul Silvia of the University of North Carolina, is that 'they require discipline, hard work and ability, which is why they are so rewarding.' Psychologist Todd Kashdan has this advice for those people taking up a new passion: 'As a newcomer, you also have to tolerate and laugh at your own ignorance. You must be willing to accept the negative feelings that come your way,' he says.
7. In 2004, physician-scientist Mauro Zappaterra began his PhD research at Harvard Medical School. Unfortunately, he was miserable as his research wasn't compatible with his curiosity about healing. He finally took a break and during eight months in Santa Fe, Zappaterra learned about alternative healing techniques not taught at Harvard. When he got back, he switched labs to study how cerebrospinal fluid nourishes the developing nervous system. He also vowed to look for the joy in everything, including failure, as this could help him learn about his research and himself.

One thing that can hold joy back is a person's concentration on avoiding failure rather than their looking forward to doing something well. 'Focusing on being safe might get in the way of your reaching your goals,' explains Kashdan. For example, are you hoping to get through a business lunch without embarrassing yourself, or are you thinking about how fascinating the conversation might be?

8. Usually, we think of courage in physical terms but ordinary life demands something else. For marketing executive Kenneth Pedeleose, it meant speaking out against something he thought was ethically wrong. The new manager was intimidating staff so Pedeleose carefully recorded each instance of bullying and eventually took the evidence to a senior director, knowing his own job security would be threatened. Eventually the manager was the one to go. According to Cynthia Pury, a psychologist at Clemson University, Pedeleose's story proves the point that courage is not motivated by fearlessness, but by moral obligation. Pury also believes that people can acquire courage. Many of her students said that faced with a risky situation, they first tried to calm themselves down, then looked for a way to mitigate the danger, just as Pedeleose did by documenting his allegations.

Over the long term, picking up a new character trait may help you move toward being the person you want to be. And in the short term, the effort itself could be surprisingly rewarding, a kind of internal adventure.

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Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Questions 1-5

Write your answers in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

Psychologists have traditionally believed that a personality __1____ was impossible and that by a __2__ a person’s character tends to be fixed. This is not true according to positive psychologists, who say that our personal qualities can be seen as habitual behavior. One of the easiest qualities to acquire is __3__. However, regardless of the quality, it is necessary to learn a wide variety of different ___4___ in order for a new quality to develop; for example, a person must understand and feel some __5___ in order to increase their happiness.

1. Answer: transformation/changeA

Supporting Sentence: Psychologists have long held that a person's character cannot undergo a transformation in any meaningful way and that the key traits of personality are determined at a very young age.

Keywords: Transformation, personality

Keyword Location: first para, 1st, and 2nd line

Explanation: In the first paragraph, it is given in the first and second lines, that the personality transformation of a person cannot happen in a meaningful way, rather the key traits of a personality are inborn within that person. So, the appropriate answer is transformation.

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2. Answer: young age

Supporting Sentence: Psychologists have long held that a person's character cannot undergo a transformation in any meaningful way and that the key traits of personality are determined at a very young age.

Keywords: transformation, young age

Keyword Location: first para, 1st, and 2nd line

Explanation: In the first paragraph, it is given in the first and second lines, that the personality transformation of a person cannot happen in a meaningful way, rather the key traits of a personality are inborn within that person at a very young age. So, the appropriate answer is a young age.

3. Answer: optimism

Supporting Sentence: D Suzanne Segerstrom, professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, believes that the key to increasing optimism is through cultivating optimistic behavior, rather than positive thinking.

Keywords: optimism, positive thinking

Keyword Location: 4th para, 2nd line

Explanation: in the fourth paragraph, given in the second line that one of the professors of the University of Kentucky, D Suzanne Segerstrom believes that to increase the value of optimism in a person it is important to inculcate optimistic behavior in that person. Mere positive thinking cannot nurture optimism in that person. So the appropriate answer is optimism.

4. Answer: skills/techniques

Supporting Sentence: However, developing qualities requires mastering a range of skills that are diverse and sometimes surprising.

Keywords: mastering, skills

Keyword Location: first para, 9th line

Explanation: In the first paragraph, it is mentioned in the ninth line that, to develop certain qualities in one’s personality, one needs to master a range of skill sets and these skills are much more diverse and surprising. Hence the correct answer skills.

5. Answer: negative emotions/feelings

Supporting Sentence: However, developing qualities requires mastering a range of skills that are diverse and sometimes surprising. For example, to bring more joy and passion into your life, you must be open to experiencing negative emotions.

Keywords: negative, emotions

Keyword Location: first para 11th line

Explanation: In the first paragraph, it is mentioned in the eleventh line that, to develop some qualities you need to master some diverse and surprising skill just as to bring joy and passion in one’s life, one needs to be open to every kind of negative emotions to understand the value of joy. Hence, the correct answer is negative emotions.

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Questions 6-9

Match each statement with the correct person, A-G.

Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 6-9 on your answer sheet.

6. ABCDEFG People must accept that they do not know much when first trying something new.
7. ABCDEFG It is important for people to actively notice when good things happen.
8. ABCDEFG Courage can be learned once its origins in a sense of responsibility are understood.
9. ABCDEFG It is possible to overcome shyness when faced with the need to speak in public.

List of People

1. Christopher Peterson
2. David Fajgenbaum
3. Suzanne Segerstrom
4. Tanya Streeter
5. Todd Kashdan
6. Kenneth Pedeleose
7. Cynthia Pury

6. Answer: E

Supporting Sentence: 'As a newcomer, you also have to tolerate and laugh at your ignorance. You must be willing to accept the negative feelings that come your way,' he says.

Keywords: tolerate, laugh, ignorance

Keyword Location: 6th para, 4th, and 5th line

Explanation: In the sixth paragraph, it is given in the fourth and fifth line that, according to Todd Kashdan, if you are a newcomer, you need to tolerate and be open to your own’s ignorance and must be able to accept negative feelings with open arms. Hence the appropriate answer is E.

7. Answer: C

Supporting Sentence: She recommends you train yourself to pay attention to good fortune by writing down three positive things that come about each day.

Keywords: train

Keyword Location: 4th para, 3rd line

Explanation: in the fourth paragraph, it is mentioned in the 3rd line that, Suzzane Segerstorm recommends writing down three positive things that happen with you in a day to train your mind to pay attention to the good fortunes in life. Hence the appropriate answer is C.

8. Answer: G

Supporting Sentence: According to Cynthia Pury, a psychologist at Clemson University, Pedeleose's story proves the point that courage is not motivated by fearlessness, but by moral obligation. Pury also believes that people can acquire courage.

Keywords: courage, fearlessness

Keyword Location: 8th para, 6th, and 7th line

Explanation: In the eighth paragraph, it is mentioned in the sixth and seventh lines that, according to the belief system of Cynthia Pury, a person cannot acquire courage by fearlessness, but by moral obligation. Also, any person can acquire courage with the help of moral obligation. Hence the correct answer is G

9. Answer: A

Supporting Sentence: So he learned to be more outgoing and to entertain his classes. 'Now my extroverted behavior is spontaneous,' he says

Keywords: learned, entertain, behavior

Keyword Location: 2nd para, 4th, and 5th line

Explanation: In the second paragraph, it is mentioned in the 4th and 5th lines that, Christopher Peterson, believes that most personality traits can be changed just as he changed his introvert behavior to extrovert to entertain his class and now his extroverted comes spontaneously. Hence the correct answer is A

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Questions 10-13

Reading Passage has eight sections, A-H.
Which section contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.

10. ABCDEFGH a mention of how rational thinking enabled someone to achieve physical goals
11. ABCDEFGH an account of how someone overcame a sad experience
12. ABCDEFGH a description of how someone decided to rethink their academic career path
13. ABCDEFGH an example of how someone risked his career out of a sense of duty

10. Answer: D

Supporting Sentence: The physical stamina required for this sport is intense but the psychological demands are even more overwhelming.

Keywords: stamina

Keyword Location: 5th para,4th line

Explanation: In the fifth paragraph, it is given in the fourth line that, Tanya Streeters went beyond her physical needs and set nine world records in freediving following her passion. She believes that the psychological demands to pursue your passion are more than the physical demands. Hence the correct option is D.

11. Answer: C

Supporting Sentence: David Fajgenbaum had to make a similar transition. He took action despite his pain - a typical response of an optimist.

Keywords: action, optimist

Keyword Location: 3rd para, 5th line

Explanation: In the third paragraph, it is mentioned in the fifth line that, David Faigenbaum despite his pain remained optimistic and launched a support group to help others. Even after sacrificing his sports career due to accidents he remained optimistic and helped others. Hence the correct answer is C.

12. Answer: G

Supporting Sentence: When he got back, he switched labs to study how cerebrospinal fluid nourishes the developing nervous system.

Keywords: cerebrospinal fluid

Keyword Location: 7th para, 5th line

Explanation: In the seventh paragraph, it is mentioned in the fifth line that, Mauro Zappaterra started to look for joy even in his failure and for that, he studied alternative healing techniques and studied how cerebrospinal fluid nourishes the developing nervous system. Hence the correct option is G.

13. Answer: H

Supporting Sentence: Pedeleose carefully recorded each instance of bullying and eventually took the evidence to a senior director, knowing his job security would be threatened.

Keywords: bullying

Keyword Location: 8th para, 4th line

Explanation: In the eighth paragraph, it is mentioned in the fourth line that, in the case of Kenneth Pedeleose, courage cannot be thought of in terms of physical manner rather it is more than that. In his case, it is more about fighting for what is ethically wrong. This is why, Kenneth Pedeleose, recorded each instance of bullying in the office and reported the same to the senior director with evidence staking his job security. Hence the correct answer is H.