Twin Study: Two of a Kind Reading Answers

Aug 19, 2022

Twin Study: Two of a Kind Reading Answers contains 13 questions that have to be answered in 20 minutes. In this IELTS Reading Candidates will be shown various question types with clear instructions in Section. In the Development of Plastics IELTS Reading Answers Three different sorts of questions are included : Matching Information, Finish the summary and select the appropriate answer. Candidates need to carefully read through each passage to find any information that matches. Candidates must scan the passage for important terms and grasp the subject in order to finish the summary. To select the appropriate option,candidates must read the IELTS passage and understand the statement provided.

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Section 1

Reading Passage Question

Twin study: Two of a kind IELTS Reading Sample

The scientific study of twins goes back to the late 19th century, when Francis Galton, an early geneticist, realized that they came in two varieties: identical twins born from one egg and non-identical twins that had come from two. That insight turned out to be key, although it was not until 1924 that it was used to formulate what is known as the twin rule of pathology, and twin studies really got going.
The twin rule of pathology states that any heritable disease will be more concordant (that is, more likely to be jointly present or absent) in identical twins than in non-identical twins—and, in turn, will be more concordant in non-identical twins than in non-siblings. Early work, for example, showed that the statistical correlation of skin-mole counts between identical twins was 0.4, while non-identical twins had a correlation of only 0.2. (A score of 1.0 implies perfect correlation, while a score of zero implies no correlation.) This result suggests that moles are heritable, but it also implies that there is an environmental component to the development of moles, otherwise the correlation in identical twins would be close to 1.0.
Twin research has shown that whether or not someone takes up smoking is determined mainly by environmental factors, but once he does so, how much he smokes is largely down to his genes. And while a person’s religion is clearly a cultural attribute, there is a strong genetic component to religious fundamentalism. Twin studies are also unraveling the heritability of various aspects of human personality. Traits from neuroticism and anxiety to thrill- and novelty-seeking all have large genetic components. Parenting matters, but it does not determine personality in the way that some had thought.
More importantly, perhaps, twin studies are helping the understanding of diseases such as cancer, asthma, osteoporosis, arthritis and immune disorders. And twins can be used, within ethical limits, for medical experiments. A study that administered vitamin C to one twin and a placebo to the other found that it had no effect on the common cold. The lesson from all today’s twin studies is that most human traits are at least partially influenced by genes. However, for the most part, the age-old dichotomy between nature and nurture is not very useful. Many genetic programs are open to input from the environment, and genes are frequently switched on or off by environmental signals. It is also possible that genes themselves influence their environment. Some humans have an innate preference for participation in sports. Others are drawn to novelty. Might people also be drawn to certain kinds of friends and types of experience? In this way, a person’s genes might shape the environment they act in as much as the environment shapes the actions of the genes.
In the past, such research has been controversial. Josef Mengele, a Nazi doctor working at the Auschwitz extermination camp during the Second World War, was fascinated by twins. He sought them out among arrivals at the camp and preserved them from the gas-chambers for a series of brutal experiments. After the war, Cyril Burt, a British psychologist who worked on the heredity of intelligence, tainted twin research with results that appear, in retrospect, to have been rather too good. Some of his data on identical twins who had been reared apart were probably faked. In any case, the prevailing ideology in the social sciences after the war was Marxist, and disliked suggestions that differences in human potential might have underlying genetic causes. Twin studies were thus viewed with suspicion.
the ideological pendulum has swung back; however, as the human genome project and its aftermath have turned genes from abstract concepts to real pieces of DNA. The role of genes in sensitive areas such as intelligence is acknowledged by all but a few die-hards. The interesting questions now concern how nature and nurture interact to produce particular bits of biology, rather than which of the two is more important. Twin studies, which are a good way to ask these questions, are back in fashion, and many twins are enthusiastic participants in this research.
Research at the Twinsburg festival began in a small way, with a single stand in 1979. Gradually, news spread, and more scientists began turning up. This year, half a dozen groups of researchers were lodged in a specially pitched research tent. In one comer of this tent, Paul Breslin, who works at the Monell Institute in Philadelphia, watched over several tables where twins sat sipping clear liquids from cups and making notes. It was the team’s third year at Twinsburg. Dr Breslin and his colleagues want to find out how genes influence human perception, particularly the senses of smell and taste and those (warmth, cold, pain, tingle, itch and so on) that result from stimulation of the skin. Perception is an example of something that is probably influenced by both genes and experience. Even before birth, people are exposed to flavours such as chocolate, garlic, mint and vanilla that pass intact into the bloodstream, and thus to the fetus. Though it is not yet clear whether such pre-natal exposure shapes taste-perception, there is evidence that it shapes preferences for foods encountered later in life.
However, there are clearly genetic influences at work, as well-for example in the ability to taste quinine. Some people experience this as intensely bitter, even when it is present at very low levels. Others, whose genetic endowment is different, are less bothered by it. Twin studies make this extremely clear. Within a pair of identical twins, either both, or neither, will find quinine hard to swallow. Non-identical twins will agree less frequently.
On the other side of the tent Dennis Drayna, from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, in Maryland, was studying hearing. He wants to know what happens to sounds after they reach the ear. It is not clear, he says, whether sound is processed into sensation mostly in the ear or in the brain. Dr Drayna has already been involved in a twin study which revealed that the perception of musical pitch is highly heritable. At Twinsburg, he is playing different words, or parts of words, into the left and right ears of his twinned volunteers. The composite of the two sounds that an individual reports hearing depends on how he processes this diverse information and that, Dr Drayna believes, may well be influenced by genetics.
Elsewhere in the marquee, Peter Miraldi, of Kent State University in Ohio, was trying to find out whether genes affect an individual’s motivation to communicate with others. A number of twin studies have shown that personality and sociability are heritable, so he thinks this is fertile ground. And next to Mr. Miraldi was a team of dermatologists from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. They are looking at the development of skin diseases and male-pattern baldness. The goal of the latter piece of research is to find the genes responsible for making men’s hair fall out.
The busiest part of the tent, however, was the queue for forensic-science research into fingerprints. The origins of this study are shrouded in mystery. For many months, the festival/’s organisers have been convinced that the Secret Service – the American government agency responsible for, among other things, the safety of the president – is behind it. When The Economist contacted the Secret Service for more information, we were referred to Steve Nash, who is chairman of the International Association for Identification (IAI), and is also a detective in the scientific investigations section of the Marin County Sheriff’s Office in California. The IAI, based in Minnesota, is an organisation of forensic scientists from around the world. Among other things, it publishes the Journal of Forensic Identification.

Section 2

Solution With Explanation

Questions 14-18

The reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-K.
Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter A-K, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
Note: You may use any letter more than once.

Mentioned research conducted in Ohio

Answer: J
Supportive Sentence: Peter Meraldi, of Kent State University of Ohio, researched to find out if genes affect one's impetus to communicate with another person.
Keyword: Peter Miraldi, Ohio
Keyword Location: Paragraph J - 1st and 2nd Line
Explanation: In the diversity of research being done on twins, one of them included research being conducted by Peter Miraldi in Ohio.

Medical contribution to the research for twins.

Answer: D
Supportive Sentence: The various studies conducted on the matter of twins helped to make extensive research on illnesses such as cancer, asthma, osteoporosis, arthritis and immune disorders.
Keywords: medical, diseases, research
Keyword Location: Paragraph D - 1st, 2nd and 3rd Line
Explanation:Other than the knowledge gained about the various diseases, the twin research also helped in putting an ethical limit.

Research situation life-threatening ending conditions.

Answer: E
Supportive Sentence:Cyril Brut, a British psychologist made research on the twins and most of his reports illustrated were artificial and falsified.
Keywords: Cyril Brut, Faked
Keyword Location: Paragraph E - 6th and 8th line
Explanation: The twin research was viewed with mistrust and trepidation as a result of Cyril Brut's comments on the study on twins producing false information.

Data of similarities of identical twins.

Answer: B
Supportive Sentence:The rule of pathology stated the presence of the disease as well as moles in identical and non-identical twins.
Keywords: pathology, concordant, heritable
Keyword Location: Paragraph B - 1st and 2nd line
Explanation: According to the research, both identical and nonidentical twins had ailments and none had them. The investigation on diseases came to the statistical conclusion that skin moles are correlated.

Reasons that make one study unconvincing

Answer: A
Supportive Sentence:Until 1924, there was not a theory that would help the study of twins move forward.
Keyword: 1924, Rule of Pathology
Keyword Location: Paragraph A - 5th and 6th line.
Explanation: The rule of pathology in 1924 was the theory that made the research on twins foregoing.

Questions 19-20

Summary

Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage - 2, using no more than two words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 19-20 on your answer sheet.

The first one that researched twins is

called ……………….. 19………………… He separated twins into two categories: non identical and identical twins. The twin research was used in medical application in as early as the year of………………………………… 20………………

Question 19:

Answer: Francis Galton
Supportive Sentence: With the rule of pathology, Francis Galton categorised twins.
Keyword: Francis Galton, rule of pathology
Keyword Location: Paragraph A - 5th and 6th line
Explanation: Galton categorizes identical twins as those who were born from one egg and non-identical from two.

Question 20:

Answer: 1924
Supportive Sentence: As early in the years as 1924, the rule of pathology and the various research carried out on twins helped the medical stream.
Keywords: diseases, medical research
Keyword Location: Paragraph D - 1st, 2nd and 3rd Line
Explanation:The pathology rule aided researchers in formulating several hypotheses regarding illnesses. Like cancer, asthma, osteoporosis, arthritis, and immunological disorders as well as numerous other experimental trials.

Questions 21-23

Choose the correct letters in the following options:

Write your answers in boxes 21-23 on your answer sheet.

Please choose THREE research fields that have been carried out in Ohio, Maryland and Twinsburg?

Sense
Cancer
Be allergic to Vitamin D
Mole heredity
Sound
Baldness of men

Question 21:

Answer: A
Supportive Sentence: In Twinsburg, Dr Breslin and his co-workers found out in a study that genes affect basic human perception which includes senses of smell and taste.
Keyword: Dr Breslin, Sense
Keyword Location: Paragraph G - 9th and 11th line.
Explanation: The genes perception is referred to like the change or the effect influenced by both genes or background.

Question 22:

Answer: E
Supportive Sentence: In Maryland, Dr Dennis Drayna played several kinds of sound into the left and right ears of the twin volunteers.
Keyword: Sound, ears, Dr Dennis Drayna
Keyword Location: Paragraph I - 1st line and 11th line.
Explanation:The influence of the sound concluded by the two assisted Dr Drayna to conclude the response to the sound may have some genetic influence.

Question 23:

Answer:F
Supportive Sentence: In Ohio, Peter Miraldi researched the various trait such as skin pattern and male baldness and the genes responsible for them.
Keyword: Ohio, male-patten baldness, Peter Miraldi
Keyword Location: Paragraph J - 1st, 2nd and 8th line.
Explanation: The primary aim of the research being carried out was to find out information about the genes which were accountable for the hair fallout.

Questions 24-26

Choose the correct letters in the following options:

Write your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

Please choose THREE results that have been verified in this passage.

Non-identical twins come from different eggs.
The genetic relation between identical twins is closer than non-identical ones.
Vitamin C has an evident effect on a cold.
Genetic influence on smoking is superior to the environment.
If a pregnant woman eats too many sweets it could lead to skin disease.
Hair loss has been the fourth skin problem.

Question 24:

Answer: A
Supportive Sentence:Galton categorises identical twins as those who were born from one egg and non-identical from two.
Keyword: Galton, Non-identical
Keyword Location: Paragraph A - 2nd and 4th line
Explanation: In 1924, the rule of Pathology concluded that the non-identical eggs came from two varied eggs.

Question 25:

Answer: B
Supportive Sentence: The work done on genetic influence found out that the more possibility lies for the identical twins to agree effortlessly.
Keyword: identical twin, agree
Keyword Location: Paragraph H - 6th and 7th line.
Explanation: Compared to identical twins, the relationship between non-identical twins turns out to be more contentious.

Question 26:

Answer: D
Supportive Sentence: The adaptation of an individual to smoking is solely dependent on the environment to which he/she belongs.
Keyword: smoking, environment
Keyword Location: Paragraph C - 2nd line.
Explanation: The choice of variation may differ depending on one's environmental conditions, but the impact on the genes is significant.