Myths about public speaking Reading Answers

We have provided the Myths about public speaking reading answers’ practice test and answers with explanations. Myths about Public Speaking Reading Passage contains four paragraphs; it has 14 questions which comprise three types of questions: Matching heading, Yes No Not given, and short answer questions. 

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Table of contents:

• Solution for Myths about public speaking
• Myths about public speaking IELTS Reading Practice Test
• Passage
• Questions
• Answers with Explanations

Solution for Myths about public speaking

We have given the Myths about public speaking reading answers in the table given below for your reference.

 Answer Table

1. B	5. C	9. NOT GIVEN	13. 60%
2. C	6. NO	10. YES	14. POOR LISTENING HABITS
3. A	7. YES	11. NO
4. D	8. NOT GIVEN	12. STIMULATION

Myths about public speaking IELTS Reading Practice Test - Exam Review

Myths about public speaking Reading Answers are given here, which will improve your reading comprehension and problem-solving skills. To solve the questions, read each paragraph thoroughly, look for the keywords, and understand the concept of the whole passage. With the necessary strategies and tricks, you can easily excel in your IELTS reading module.

Passage

We have provided a Myths about public speaking reading passage. Read carefully and answer the questions in 20-22 minutes.

Myths about public speaking

Our fears of public speaking result not only from what we do not know or understand about public communication but also from misconceptions and myths about public encounters. These misconceptions and myths persist among professional people as well as the general public. Let us examine these persistent myths about public communication, which, like our ignorance and misunderstandings of the fundamental assumptions and requirements of public speaking, exacerbate our fears and prevent our development as competent public persons.

A)  Perhaps the most dogged and persistent myth about public communication is that it is a "special" activity reserved for unusual occasions. After all, how often do you make a public speech? There are only a few special occasions during the year when even an outgoing professional person will step behind a podium to give a public speech, and many professional people can count on one hand the number of public speeches given in a career Surely, then, public communication is a rare activity reserved for especially important occasions.

This argument, of course, ignores the true nature of public communication and the nature of the occasions in which it occurs. When we engage with people we do not know well to solve problems, share understanding and perspectives, advocate points of view, or seek stimulation, we are engaged in public speaking. Public communication is a familiar, daily activity that occurs in the streets, in restaurants, in boardrooms, courtrooms, parks, offices, factories, and meetings.

Is public speaking an unusual activity reserved for special occasions and restricted to the lectern or the platform? Hardly. Rather it is and should be developed as, an everyday activity occurring in any location where people come together

B)  A related misconception about public communication is the belief that the public speaker is a specially gifted individual with innate abilities and God-given propensities. While most professional people would reject the idea that public speakers are born, not made, they nevertheless often feel that the effective public communicator has developed unusual personal talents to a remarkable degree. At the heart of this misconception like the myth of public speaking as a "special" activity—is an overly narrow view of what a public person is and does.

Development as an effective public communicator begins with the understanding that you need not be a nationally-known, speak-for-pay, professional platform speaker to be a competent public person. A public speaker is an ordinary person who confronts the necessity of being a public person and uses common abilities to meet the fundamental assumptions and requirements of daily public encounters.

C)  A less widespread but serious misconception of public speaking is reflected in the belief that public speeches are "made for the ages". A public speech is something viewed as a historical event that will be part of a continuing and generally available public record. Some public speeches are faithfully recorded, transcribed, reproduced, and made part of broadly available historical records. Those instances are rare compared to the thousands of unrecorded public speeches made every day.

Public communication is usually situation-specific and ephemeral. Most audiences do well if they remember as much as 40 percent of what a speaker says immediately after the speaker concludes; even less is retained as time goes by. This fact is both reassuring and challenging to the public communicator. On the one hand, it suggests that there is room for human error in making public pronouncements; on the other hand, it challenges the public speaker to be as informed as possible and to strive to defeat the poor listening habits of most public audiences.

D)  Finally, professional people perhaps more than other groups often subscribe to the misconception that public communication must be an exact science and that if it is done properly it will succeed. The troublesome corollary to this reasoning is that if public communication fails, it is because it was improperly prepared or executed. This argument blithely ignores the vagaries of human interaction. Public speakers achieve their goals through their listeners, and the only truly predictable aspect of human listeners is their unpredictability. Further, public messages may succeed despite inadequate preparation and dreadful delivery.

Professional people often mismanage their fears of public communication. Once we understand what public encounters assume and demand, once we unburden ourselves of the myths that handicap our growth as public persons, we can properly begin to develop as competent public communicators.

Questions

Questions 1-5

The reading passage “Myths About Public Speaking” has four sections A-D. 
In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet write the appropriate letter A, B, C, or D to show in which section you can find a discussion of the following points. 

You may use any letter more than once.

1. A person’s ability to be a public speaker.

2. Whether public speeches are remembered for a long time.

3. A definition of public speaking.

4. The relationship of preparation to success in public speaking.

5. Retention rates as a challenge to public speakers.

Questions 6-11

In boxes 6-11 on your answer sheet write,

YES                  if the statement agrees with the writer
NO                    if the statement does not agree with the writer
NOT GIVEN      if there is no information about this in the passage

6. Very few people can become good public speakers.

7. Public communication is an ordinary daily activity.

8. Public speaking can be learned at specially designated schools

9. Most good public speakers lead happy and productive lives.

10. It is impossible to predict how a speech will be received

11. There is little place for public speaking in the life of the ordinary person.

Questions 12-14

USE information from the reading passage in the following sentences. 
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER. 
Write your answers in boxes 12-14 on your sheet

The writer defines public speaking as any activity where people jointly explore problems, knowledge, attitudes, and opinions, or look for 12._______________.

At the end of most public speeches, most audiences immediately forget about 13.__________ of what they have just heard.

Because most public speeches are short-lived, the speaker should work to counteract the 14.___________________of the listeners.

Answers for Myths about public speaking with Explanations

Myths about public speaking Reading Answers with explanation are given below for your understanding and knowledge.

(Note: The text in Bold mentions the location and referring lines written in the reading passage. The lines in italics show the explanatory lines for the correct answer.)

 1. Answer: B

Explanation: The initial lines of paragraph B states that A related misconception about public communication is the belief that the public speaker is a specially gifted individual with innate abilities and God-given propensities. These lines suggest that a person possessing public speaking is especially gifted with innate abilities and God-given propensities. Thus, a person’s ability to be a public speaker is mentioned in paragraph B, so, the answer is B.

2. Answer: C

Explanation: Paragraph C states that A less widespread but serious misconception of public speaking is reflected in the belief that public speeches are “made for the ages”. These lines indicate a serious error in public speaking is reflected in the belief that public speeches are made for the ages (remembered for a long time). Thus, we can find a reference for the statement, whether public speeches are remembered for a long time can be found in paragraph C. Hence the answer is C.

3. Answer: A

Explanation: The 6th line of paragraph A defines public speaking, that is, Public communication as a familiar, daily activity that occurs in the streets, in restaurants, in boardrooms, courtrooms, parks, offices, factories, and meetings. These lines indicate the definition of public speaking. Therefore, the answer is A.

4. Answer: D

Explanation: The 2nd line of paragraph D explains that The troublesome corollary to this reasoning is that if public communication fails, it is because it was improperly prepared or executed. We can deduce from these lines that a difficult proposition is that if public communication fails, it is because of improper preparation or execution. Thus, we can find references for the relationship of preparation to success in public speaking, so, the answer is D.

5. Answer: C

Explanation: The 5th and 6th line of paragraph C states that Public communication is usually situation-specific and ephemeral. Most audiences do well if they remember as much as 40 percent of what a speaker says immediately after the speaker concludes; even less is retained as time goes by. These lines suggest that at the end of public speeches, most of the audience immediately forget about 60% of what they have just heard. Thus the answer is C.

6. Answer: No

Explanation: The last line of paragraph A describes, “Is public speaking an unusual activity reserved for special occasions and restricted to the lectern or the platform? Hardly. Rather it is, and should be developed as, an everyday activity occurring in any location where people come together.” We can understand that a question is being asked whether public speaking is reserved for only special occasions and is restricted to the platform. Which, the author replies saying hardly, rather public speaking is and should be promoted as an everyday activity in different places where people come together. As a result, anyone willing to address the gathering can become a public speaker. Thus, the statement contradicts the information. Hence the answer is No. 

7. Answer: Yes

Explanation: The last line of paragraph A narrates that If public speaking an unusual activity reserved for special occasions and restricted to the lectern or the platform? Hardly. Rather it is, and should be developed as, an everyday activity occurring in any location where people come together. These lines reveal that public speaking should not be an unusual activity and that everyone should consider it an ordinary daily activity. Thus, the statement agrees with the information. So the answer is Yes.

8. Answer: Not given

Explanation: Paragraph B reveals the fact that public communication is the belief that the public speaker is a specially gifted individual with innate abilities and God-given propensities. These lines suggest that public speaking is an innate ability and God-given propensity. However, there’s no reference to the fact that public speaking can be learned at specially designated schools. Due to this, the answer is Not Given.

9. Answer: Not given 

Explanation: Paragraph B suggests that public communication is the belief that the public speaker is specially gifted individual with innate abilities and God-given propensities. These lines indicate a person’s ability to be a public speaker. However, there’s no reference to the fact that most public speakers lead happy and productive lives. Thus, the answer is Not Given. 

10. Answer: Yes

Explanation: The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th line of paragraph D depicts that the troublesome corollary to this reasoning is that if public communication fails, it is because it was improperly prepared or executed. This argument blithely ignores the vagaries of human interaction. Public speakers achieve their goals through their listeners, and the only truly predictable aspect of human listeners is their unpredictability. These lines suggest the difficult proposition that if public speaking fails, it's because it was prepared or delivered improperly and this argument ignores the unexpected change of human interaction. Public communicators achieve their goals through their audiences and the only predictable factor of the audience is their uncertainty. Thus, it is impossible to predict how a speech will be received by the audience. Therefore, the statement agrees with the information, so, the answer is Yes.

11. Answer: No 

Explanation: The 6th line of paragraph A justifies that public communication is a familiar, daily activity that occurs in the streets, in restaurants, in boardrooms, courtrooms, parks, offices, factories, and meetings. These lines define public speaking as a familiar, daily activity that occurs everywhere. As a result, public speaking can be found anywhere in the life of an ordinary person. Thus, the statement disagrees with the fact, so, the answer is No. 

12. Answer: Stimulation

Explanation: The 5th line of paragraph A represents that When we engage with people we do not know well to solve problems, share understanding and perspectives, advocate points of view, or seek stimulation, we are engaged in public speaking. These lines suggest that when a person connects with other people, they don’t know how to solve problems, share understanding or perspectives, advocate opinions or seek encouragement. Thus, the writer defines public speaking as an activity where people jointly explore problems, knowledge, and opinions, or look for stimulation. Thus, the answer is stimulation.

13. Answer: 60%

Explanation: The 5th and 6th line of paragraph C proves that public communication is usually situation-specific and ephemeral. Most audiences do well if they remember as much as 40 percent of what a speaker says immediately after the speaker concludes; even less is retained as time goes by. We can deduce from these lines that public communication lasts not for a very long time. However, most of the audience do well if they remember as much as 40% of what the speaker says, i.e., at the end of most public speeches, most of the audience (about 60%) immediately forget what they just heard from the speaker. Thus, the answer is 60%.

14. Answer: poor listening habits

Explanation: The 8th line in paragraph C notifies that it challenges the public speaker to be as informed as possible and to strive to defeat the poor listening habits of most public audiences. These lines indicate that most public speeches are short-lived and the public speaker is required to be as informed as possible and strive to defeat the poor listening habits of the audience, i.e., the speaker should work to counteract the poor listening habits of the listeners. Thus, the answer is poor listening habits.

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