Why Fairy Tales are Really Scary Tales Reading Answers

Jan 16, 2023

Why Fairy Tales are Really Scary Tales Reading Answers contains a write up about the scary stories and tales.Why Fairy Tales are Really Scary Tales Reading Answers contains a total of 12 paragraphs. Related to the paragraphs are 14 questions. Candidates in this IELTS Section will be shown various question types with clear instructions.The paragraphs contain the purpose of scary tales. Also, its impact on children and their lives.

Why Fairy Tales are Really Scary Tales Reading Answers is an IELTS Reading passage which comprises three types of questions: Choose the correct option, true/false and not given and Complete the summary. To complete the summary candidate must be aware of each detail mentioned. The paragraphs must be read thoroughly and important details remembered. So. A deep understanding of paragraphs is required. Some information might be missing from paragraphs which need to be mentioned as not given. To choose the correct option the information in paragraphs must be remembered. To gain proficiency, candidates can practice from IELTS reading practice test.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Why Fairy Tales are Really Scary Tales Reading Answers

Some people think that fairy tales are just stories to amuse children, but their universal and enduring appeal may be due to more serious reasons. People of every culture tell each other fairy tales but the same story often takes a variety of forms in different parts of the world. In the story of Little Red Riding Hood that European children are familiar with, a young girl on the way to see her grandmother meets a wolf and tells him where she is going.
The wolf runs on ahead and disposes of the grandmother, then gets into bed dressed in the grandmother's clothes to wait for Little Red Riding Hood. You may think you know the story - but which version? In some versions, the wolf swallows up the grandmother, while in others it locks her in a cupboard. In some stories Red Riding Hood gets the better of the wolf on her own, while in others a hunter or a woodcutter hears her cries and comes to her rescue.
The universal appeal of these tales is frequently attributed to the idea that they contain cautionary messages: in the case of Little Red Riding Hood, to listen to your mother, and avoid talking to strangers. 'It might be what we find interesting about this story is that it's got this survival-relevant information in it, says anthropologist Jamie Tehrani at Durham University in the UK. But his research suggests otherwise.
"We have this huge gap in our knowledge about the history and prehistory of storytelling, despite the fact that we know this genre is an incredibly ancient one; he says. That hasn't stopped anthropologists, folklorists* and other academics devising theories to explain the importance of fairy tales in human society. Now Tehrani has found a way to test these ideas, borrowing a technique from evolutionary biologists.
To work out the evolutionary history, development and relationships among groups of organisms, biologists compare the characteristics of living species in a process called 'phylogenetic analysis'. Tehrani has used the same approach to compare related versions of fairy tales to discover how they have evolved and which elements have survived longest.
Tehrani's analysis focused on Little Red Riding Hood in its many forms, which include another Western fairy tale known as The Wolf and the Kids. Checking for variants of these two tales and similar stories from Africa, East Asia and other regions, he ended up with 58 stories recorded from oral traditions. Once his phylogenetic analysis had established that they were indeed related, he used the same methods to explore how they have developed and altered over time.
First he tested some assumptions about which aspects of the story alter least as it evolves, indicating their importance. Folklorists believe that what happens in a story is more central to the story than the characters in it - that visiting a relative, only to be met by a scary animal in disguise, is more fundamental than whether the visitor is a little girl or three siblings, or the animal is a tiger instead of a wolf.
However, Tehrani found no significant difference in the rate of evolution of incidents compared with that of characters. 'Certain episodes are very stable because they are crucial to the story, but there are lots of other details that can evolve quite freely, he says. Neither did his analysis support the theory that the central section of a story is the most conserved part. He found no significant difference in the flexibility of events there compared with the beginning or the end.
But the really big surprise came when he looked at the cautionary elements of the story. 'Studies on hunter-gatherer folk tales suggest that these narratives include really important information about the environment and the possible dangers that may be faced there - stuff that's relevant to survival, he says. Yet in his analysis such elements were just as flexible as seemingly trivial details. What, then, is important enough to be reproduced from generation to generation?
The answer, it would appear, is fear - blood-thirsty and gruesome aspects of the story, such as the eating of the grandmother by the wolf, turned out to be the best preserved of all. Why are these details retained by generations of storytellers, when other features are not? Tehrani has an idea: 'In an oral context, a story won't survive because of one great teller. It also needs to be interesting when it's told by someone who's not necessarily a great storyteller.' Maybe being swallowed whole by a wolf, then cut out of its stomach alive is so gripping that it helps the story remain popular, no matter how badly it's told.
Jack Zipes at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, is unconvinced by Tehrani's views on fairy tales. 'Even if they're gruesome, they won't stick unless they matter, he says. He believes the perennial theme of women as victims in stories like Little Red Riding Hood explains why they continue to feel relevant. But Tehrani points out that although this is often the case in Western versions, it is not always true elsewhere. In Chinese and Japanese versions, often known as The Tiger Grandmother, the villain is a woman, and in both Iran and Nigeria, the victim is a boy.
Mathias Clasen at Aarhus University in Denmark isn't surprised by Tehrani's findings. 'Habits and morals change, but the things that scare us, and the fact that we seek out entertainment that's designed to scare us - those are constant' he says. Clasen believes that scary stories teach us what it feels like to be afraid without having to experience real danger, and so build up resistance to negative emotions.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 27-31

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.

may be provided through methods used in biological research.
are the reason for their survival.
shows considerable global variation.
contains animals which transform to become humans.
were originally spoken rather than written.
have been developed without factual basis.

In fairy tales, details of the plot Subscribe

Answer: C
Supporting Statement: Some people think that fairy tales are just stories to amuse children, but their universal and enduring appeal may be due to more serious reasons. People of every culture tell each other fairy tales but the same story often takes a variety of forms in different parts of the world.
Keyword : fairy tales, enduring appeal
Keyword Location: Paragraph 1
Explanation: "The same story typically takes a variety of forms in different places of the world," the passage's first sentence states.The whole statement is "In fairy tales, aspects of the story show great global variance," which makes choice C the matching response.

Tehrani rejects the idea that the useful lessons for life in fairy tales

Answer: B
Supporting Statement: The universal appeal of these tales is frequently attributed to the idea that they contain cautionary messages: in the case of Little Red Riding Hood, to listen to your mother, and avoid talking to strangers. '
Keyword : universal appeal, cautionary messages.
Keyword Location: Paragraph 3
Explanation: In paragraph 3, "cautionary messages" refer to admonitions or life lessons, such as paying attention to your mother and staying away from strangers. This concept might be "what we find interesting" about fairy tales and the reason they have endured for so long. Tehrani's research, though, shows different. As a result, it is clear that Tehrani disagrees with the notion that fairy tales have survived because of the valuable lessons they teach about survival.

Various theories about the social significance of fairy tales

Answer: F
Supporting Statement: hat hasn't stopped anthropologists, folklorists* and other academics devising theories to explain the importance of fairy tales in human society.
Keyword : stopped anthropologist, folklorists
Keyword Location: Paragraph 4
Explanation: Paragraph 4 states different academics have developed a variety of ideas on the societal meaning of fairy tales. Tehrani asserts that, however, "We have this tremendous gap in our understanding of the history and prehistory of storytelling," which suggests that such theories are created without complete knowledge of the subject, i.e. without factual basis. The full statement is thus: Without any solid evidence, numerous interpretations concerning the societal value of fairy tales have been established.

Insights into the development of fairy tales

Answer: A
Supporting Statement: Now Tehrani has found a way to test these ideas, borrowing a technique from evolutionary biologists.
Keyword : Tehrani, ideas
Keyword Location: Paragraph 4
Explanation: In paragraph 4 Tehrani aims to learn about the "evolution" and "survival" of fairy tales using the same "phylogenetic analysis" techniques as biologists. It follows that methodologies utilized by biologists can be used to study the development or evolution of fairy tales. This is the right answer: Methods utilized in biological study may offer insights into the evolution of fairy tales.

All the fairy tales analyzed by Tehrani

Answer: E
Supporting Statement: Tehrani's analysis focused on Little Red Riding Hood in its many forms, which include another Western fairy tale known as The Wolf and the Kids. Checking for variants of these two tales and similar stories from Africa, East Asia and other regions, he ended up with 58 stories recorded from oral traditions.
Keyword : Little red riding hood, The world and the kids.
Keyword Location: Paragraph 6
Explanation: The Wolf and the Kids and Little Red Riding Hood were the two fairy tales that Tehrani focused on analyzing, and according to paragraph 6. This suggests that these fairy tales were typically told orally rather than in writing. All of the fairy tales that Tehrani examined were first told orally rather than in writing.

Questions 32-36

Complete the summary using the list of words, A-I, below.

Phylogenetic analysis of Little Red Riding Hood

Tehrani used techniques from evolutionary biology to find out if 32..... existed among 58 stories from around the world. He also wanted to know which aspects of the stories had the fewest 33..........., as he believed these aspects would be the most important ones. Contrary to other beliefs, he found that some 34. .... that were included in a story tended to change over time, and that the middle of a story seemed no more important than the other parts. He was also surprised that parts of a story which seemed to provide some sort of 35. ... were unimportant. The aspect that he found most important in a story's survival was 36........

A ending B events C warning

D links E records F variations

G horror H people I plot

Question 32)

Answer: D
Supporting Statement: To work out the evolutionary history, development and relationships among groups of organisms, biologists compare the characteristics of living species in a process called 'phylogenetic analysis'.
Keyword : phylogenetic analysis
Keyword Location: Paragraph 5
Explanation: The use of "phylogenetic analysis" by Tehrani begins at paragraph 5. The phylogenetic analysis was intended to evaluate the ties, or links, among these 58 stories since biologists use this approach to "figure out the evolutionary history, development, and relationships among groupings of creatures." Thus, D – "links" is the correct response to this question.

Question 33)

Answer: F
Supporting Statement: First he tested some assumptions about which aspects of the story alter least as it evolves, indicating their importance.
Keyword : assumptions, indicating their importance
Keyword Location: Paragraph 7
Explanation: As stated in paragraph 7 In order to determine which components of the story are most important and change the least as the plot develops, he first tested certain hypotheses. This might be translated as "he investigated some hypotheses concerning which portions of the story had fewest changes/variations, as this would identify the most significant aspects."

Question 34)

Answer: B
Supporting Statement: Folklorists believe that what happens in a story is more central to the story than the characters in it - that visiting a relative, only to be met by a scary animal in disguise, is more fundamental than whether the visitor is a little girl or three siblings, or the animal is a tiger instead of a wolf.
Keyword : folklorists, scary animal
Keyword Location: Paragraph 7
Explanation: What Tehrani discovered differs from what folklorists believe. Folklorists have the opinion that events in a narrative are more important than the people who appear in it, as mentioned in paragraph 7. This indicates that, contrary to what folklorists have claimed, he discovered that both occurrences (what actually occurs) and characters in a story change with time. Therefore, the correct response should be something similar to "incidents," which means that only option B, "events," will do.

Question 35)

Answer: C
Supporting Statement: But the really big surprise came when he looked at the cautionary elements of the story. 'Studies on hunter-gatherer folk tales suggest that these narratives include really important information about the environment and the possible dangers that may be faced there - stuff that's relevant to survival, he says. Yet in his analysis such elements were just as flexible as seemingly trivial details.
Keyword : hunter-gatherer, important information
Keyword Location: Paragraph 9
Explanation: The fact that Tehrani discovered warning components to be just as flexible as seemingly unimportant features in hunter-gatherer folk stories in paragraph 9 was a very major surprise to him. Because they are not necessarily established in the story, the elements that seem to offer cautionary, survival-relevant information may also be inconsequential or unimportant. These elements of a story have remarkably evolved with time, despite the fact that they may still caution of "potential risks" that may be encountered in the surroundings. The word "warning," C, would be the most fitting.

Question 36)

Answer: G
Supporting Statement: Yet in his analysis such elements were just as flexible as seemingly trivial details. What, then, is important enough to be reproduced from generation to generation?
Keyword : Elements, flexible
Keyword Location: Paragraph 9
Explanation: The paragraph 9 states a narrative has survived for a very long time if it is reproduced from generation to generation. The solution, which was previously believed to be warnings or cautionary information, is actually "fear" . The words blood-thirsty and nasty, which we connect with terror and anxiety, are frequently used to describe the stories that survive. In light of the related meaning of G, "horror," the correct response is obvious.

Questions 37-40

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

What method did Jamie Tehrani use to test his ideas about fairy tales?

He compared oral and written forms of the same stories.
He looked at many different forms of the same basic story.
He looked at unrelated stories from many different countries.
He contrasted the development of fairy tales with that of living creatures.

Answer: G
Supporting Statement: Checking for variants of these two tales and similar stories from Africa, East Asia and other regions, he ended up with 58 stories recorded from oral traditions.
Keyword : variants, 58 stories
Keyword Location: Paragraph 6
Explanation: Tehrani examined 58 oral versions of two fairy tales, as was described in paragraph 6. Because these stories are variations of the same core narrative, the answer is unambiguously B. A is inaccurate since he only looked at oral tales; C is incorrect as well because the tales are obviously connected; and D is not covered in the section.

When discussing Tehrani's views, Jack Zipes suggests that

Tehrani ignores key changes in the role of women.
stories which are too horrific are not always taken seriously.
Tehrani overemphasizes the importance of violence in stories.
features of stories only survive if they have a deeper significance.

Answer: D
Supporting Statement: 'Even if they're gruesome, they won't stick unless they matter, he says. He believes the perennial theme of women as victims in stories like Little Red Riding Hood explains why they continue to feel relevant.
Keyword : gruesome, perennial theme
Keyword Location: Paragraph 12
Explanation: Even if they are gory, they won't stick until they matter, Jack Zipes says in paragraph 12, which can be found by skimming the proper term. Here, the word "gruesome" means "frightful, horrible." According to Zipes, these gory details and features won't stick around for very long unless they have some value to the plot.

Why does Tehrani refer to Chinese and Japanese fairy tales?

to indicate that Jack Zipes' theory is incorrect
to suggest that crime is a global problem
to imply that all fairy tales have a similar meaning
to add more evidence for Jack Zipes' ideas

Answer: A
Supporting Statement: But Tehrani points out that although this is often the case in Western versions, it is not always true elsewhere. In Chinese and Japanese versions, often known as The Tiger Grandmother, the villain is a woman, and in both Iran and Nigeria, the victim is a boy.
Keyword : Tehrani, Chinese and Japanese
Keyword Location: Paragraph 11
Explanation: Tehrani continues to defend his theory in paragraph 11 against Jack Zipes' point of view. Although this is frequently the case in Western interpretations, Tehrani "points out that it is not always true elsewhere." In this instance, the argument centers on Jack Zipes' assertion that all fairy tales feature "the recurring motif of women as victims." Tehrani demonstrates that Chinese and Japanese fairy tales, where the lady is frequently the villain rather than the victim, do not have this concept. Tehrani therefore uses these folktales to challenge Jack Zipes' theory.

What does Mathias Clasen believe about fairy tales?

They are a safe way of learning to deal with fear.
They are a type of entertainment that some people avoid.
They reflect the changing values of our society.
They reduce our ability to deal with real-world problems.

Answer: A
Supporting Statement: Clasen believes that scary stories teach us what it feels like to be afraid without having to experience real danger, and so build up resistance to negative emotions.
Keyword : Clasen believes, negative emotions
Keyword Location: Paragraph 12
Explanation: The belief of Mathias Clasen that "scary stories teach us what it feels like to be terrified without having to encounter genuine danger" is mentioned in the final paragraph 12. In other words, fairy tales provide a secure environment for us to learn about fear (rather than experiencing real danger). As a result, the response is A.

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