What a Coincidence Reading Answers

Jul 3, 2025

What a Coincidence Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. What a Coincidence Reading Answers has a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. In the question set, you have to choose which paragraph contains the given statement. In questions 19 and 20, choose TWO letters, A-E. In the last set, you have to fill in the blank with the correct answer, only with one word.

The IELTS Reading section is an essential part of the test that evaluates a candidate's comprehension and analysis of various passage types. You will work through a number of IELTS reading practice problems in this section that resemble actual test situations. These questions are designed to help you improve your ability to recognise essential concepts, extract particular facts, and make inferences. Practising these IELTS reading problems can help you get comfortable with the structure and increase your confidence for the exam, regardless of whether you are studying for the Academic or General Training module.

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Section 1 WHAT A COINCIDENCE!

We're so often surprised when two similar things happen at the same time for no obvious reason. But is that surprise always justified?

A. Many families write an annual round-robin - one letter, with identical copies sent to numerous 'friends'. This consists of annoying tales of their brilliant children and winter holidays in the sun, of interest only to themselves, and which is only matched by the dullness of hearing about the coincidences they have experienced such as bumping into their next-door neighbour in Antarctica. These may seem to be amazing events to the people concerned - though not to anybody else - but in fact they may be far less unusual than we think.

B. Unlikely things happen extremely frequently. Last Saturday, I bought a lottery ticket using the random lucky-dip process and got the numbers 2, 12, 15, 25, 32 and 47, and when the lottery was drawn, one of the six numbers was 15. Amazing? No, you say. The probability of twelve particular numbers coming up is one in 200 trillion - the same chance as flipping a coin 48 times and it coming up heads every time. Yet because the two sets of figures are mostly different, we aren't impressed by the low probability of their occurrence.

C. Even rather remarkable events can be unsurprising. Take the 2010 story in the British media about the Allali family, whose third child, Sami was born on the same date - 7 October - as her older brother Adam (aged three) and sister Najla (aged five). The Daily Mail newspaper said this was a 1 in event - a number obtained by multiplying three 1 in 365 events together. This number is misleading for two reasons. First, it is wrong: this would be the chance of all three children being born on a pre-specified date of 7 October (and also makes the rather strong assumption of random birth dates, and hence conceptions, throughout the year). Since the first child, Najla, set the date, she does not feature as part of the coincidence, and so the appropriate calculation is 1/365 x 1/365, which is a 1 in 133,000 chance. This is not terribly exciting, as there are 1,000,000 families with three children under 18 in the UK, and so we would expect around seven other examples to exist at any time. This also means there are about 167,000 third children born each year, and so we would expect the event to be reported roughly annually. This duly happens, and the Daily Mail wrote the same story about the MacKriell family in 2008 (but this time getting the odds right).

D. The more deflationary way of measuring 'impressiveness' is to take the chance of a specific event and then multiply it by the number of opportunities for a similar such event to occur. And there is always a vast number of possible coincidences that could happen, but don't. For example, there is a I in 14,000,000 chance of any particular ticket winning the lottery, which is tiny, but they sell 30,000,000 tickets each draw, and so we expect on average two people to win each week. The 'birthday paradox' is a classic example, where only 23 people are needed to have more than a 50:50 chance that two share the same birthday, owing to there being 23 x 22/2 253 possible 'pairings'.

E. And maybe some coincidences are not as unlikely as claimed. Many top 10 coincidence lists include John Adams (2nd US president) and Thomas Jefferson (3rd US president) both dying on 4 July 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Even if we

assume the families honestly reported the dates, some people on their deathbeds have been known to hold on to life until a significant anniversary - James Monroe (5th US president) also died on 4 July.

F. People tell stories to themselves, make connections, claim a mysterious power of synchrony and seem unwilling to admit that things could have been different. A standard coincidence story is about how people met their partner, what if they had not gone on that date, what if the car had not broken down outside the farm with the beautiful daughter? They regard these events as coincidences on the basis of the outcome, yet if the events had played out otherwise, the people concerned would have seen those as equally being 'coincidences'. The fact that something happens and leads to something else doesn't make it a coincidence.

G. There is a strong tendency to believe that things are as they are for a purpose, to find patterns and meaning in our lives. Perhaps the greatest coincidence, both for its unlikeliness and for its importance, is that we are here at all, both as a species or as individuals. Each

one of us exists due to a single extraordinary event that might well not have happened. But pondering the possibility of non-existence is quite tricky and, unsurprisingly, we tend to avoid it.

Questions 14-18

Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-G.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

14. a reference to the probability of a coincidence being miscalculated

Answer: C

Supporting statement: and so the appropriate calculation is 1/365 x 1/365, which is a 1 in 133,000 chance.

Keywords: appropriate, calculation

Keyword Location: Para C, Line 8

Explanation: Paragraph C mentions a reference to the probability of a coincidence being miscalculated in the case of three children of the family having the same birthday.

15. an example of events being seen as coincidences because of what they led to

Answer: F

Supporting statement: A standard coincidence story is about how people met their partner,

Keywords: coincidence, partner

Keyword Location: Para F, Lines 2-3

Explanation: Paragraph F states that an event is considered a coincidence due to the result it creates, such as the chance of meeting their life partners.

16. a mention of two events that are equally unlikely to happen

Answer: B

Supporting statement: The probability of twelve particular numbers coming up is one in 200 trillion - the same chance as flipping a coin 48 times and it coming up heads every time.

Keywords: probability, 200 trillion

Keyword Location: Para B, Lines 3-4

Explanation: In paragraph B, it is mentioned that the probability of twelve same numbers coming up is in 200 trillion, and the chance of a coin being heads is 48 times.

17. a claim that coincidences only interest the people who are directly involved

Answer: A

Supporting statement: These may seem to be amazing events to the people concerned - though not to anybody else - but in fact they may be far less unusual than we think.

Keywords: people, unusual

Keyword Location: Para A, Lines 5-6

Explanation: As mentioned in the para A, coincidence only amazes the people concerned with it, not the ones who have nothing to do with it.

18. a mention of similar unlikely events occurring in different families

Answer: C

Supporting statement: This is not terribly exciting, as there are 1,000,000 families with three children under 18 in the UK,

Keywords: 1,000,000, UK

Keyword Location: Para C, Line 10

Explanation: Paragraph C mentions that the chance of similar unlikely events occurring in different families, such as the children being under 18, is quite common in the UK.

Questions 19 and 20: Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO of these events are said to be more common than most people realise?

A. meeting a neighbour in Antarctica

B. buying a lottery ticket with particular numbers

C. three siblings sharing the same birthday

D. people dying on a significant date

E. meeting a partner because a car broke down

Answer: C

Supporting statement: Sami was born on the same date - 7 October - as her older brother Adam (aged three) and sister Najla (aged five).

Keywords: same date, 7 October

Keyword Location: Para C, Line 2

Explanation: According to the text, siblings having the same birthday is common than most people realise

Answer: D

Supporting statement: Many top 10 coincidence lists include John Adams (2nd US president) and Thomas Jefferson (3rd US president) both dying on 4 July 1826,

Keywords: US president, 4 July

Keyword Location: Para E, Line 2-3

Explanation: According to the text, another common possibility is people dying on the same date, for example, the deaths of the three US presidents all dying on 4 July.

Questions 21-26

Choose ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

21. Round-robins are known for the…………….. of the news they include.

Answer: DULLNESS

Supporting statement: which is only matched by the dullness of hearing about the

Keywords: matched, dullness

Keyword Location: Para A, Line 3

Explanation: The text states that the round-robin is known for its dullness.

22. Unlikely events occur more .............. than is generally realised.

Answer: FREQUENTLY / OFTEN

Supporting statement: Unlikely things happen extremely frequently.

Keywords: Unlikely, frequently

Keyword Location: Para B, Line 1

Explanation: According to the text, unlikely events occur more frequently than people realise.

23. Stories about siblings born on the same date are likely to occur once a ....................

Answer: YEAR

Supporting statement: This also means there are about 167,000 third children born each year, and so we would expect the event to be reported roughly annually.

Keywords: 167,000, annually

Keyword Location: Para C, Lines 11-12

Explanation: According to the text, the possibilities of siblings sharing the same birthdate are likely to happen yearly.

24. It is a well-known .................. that relatively few people are required for any two of them to

share a birthday.

Answer: PARADOX

Supporting statement: The 'birthday paradox' is a classic example, where only 23 people are needed to have more than a 50:50 chance that two share the same birthday,

Keywords: birthday, paradox

Keyword Location: Para D, Line 6

Explanation: There is a well-known paradox that only a few people need to share a birthdate.

25. On three occasions, an American......... has died on 4 July.

Answer: PRESIDENT

Supporting statement: John Adams (2nd US president) and Thomas Jefferson (3rd US president) both dying on 4 July 1826,

James Monroe (5th US president) also died on 4 July.

Keywords: US president, dying

Keyword Location: Para E, Lines 2-5

Explanation: According to the text, the deaths of three presidents of the United States of America on the same date, which is 4 July, makes coincidence seem more unlikely.

26. People are unlikely to think about....... because it is difficult to do so.

Answer: NON(-)EXISTENCE

Supporting statement: But pondering the possibility of non-existence is quite tricky and, unsurprisingly, we tend to avoid it.

Keywords: pondering, non-existence

Keyword Location: Para G, Line 5

Explanation: According to the text, it is very common to look for patterns and significance in our lives and to think that things are the way they are for a reason. However, considering the concept of non-existence is difficult, and we naturally stay away from it.

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