IELTS Academic Cambridge 8 Test 1, Reading Passage 3 - Check Solutions

Check Telepathy reading answers below.

1. E	5. sender	9. (outright) fraud	13. lack of consistency
2. B	6. picture/image	10. computers	14. big/ large enough
3. A	7. receiver	11. human involvement
4. F	8. sensory leakage	12. meta - analysis

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• IELTS reading matching sentence endings
• IELTS reading table completion
• IELTS reading summary completion

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Read the most important reading passage given below and answer all the questions (1 - 14). 

Telepathy

Reading Passage 1

A. Can human beings communicate by thought alone? For more than a century the issue of telepathy has divided the scientific community, and even today it still sparks bitter controversy among top academics. 

B. Since the 1970s, parapsychologists at leading universities and research institutes around the world have risked the derision of sceptical colleagues by putting the various claims for telepathy to the test in dozens of rigorous scientific studies. The results and their implications are dividing even the researchers who uncovered them.

C. Some researchers say the results constitute compelling evidence that telepathy is genuine. Other parapsychologists believe the field is on the brink of collapse, having tried to produce definitive scientific proof and failed. Sceptics and advocates alike do concur on one issue, however: that the most impressive evidence so far has come from the so-called 'ganzfeld' experiments, a German term that means 'whole field'. Reports of telepathic experiences had by people during meditation led parapsychologists to suspect that telepathy might involve 'signals' passing between people that were so faint that they were usually swamped by normal brain activity. In this case, such signals might be more easily detected by those experiencing meditation-like tranquillity in a relaxing 'whole field' of light, sound and warmth.

D. The ganzfeld experiment tries to recreate these conditions with participants sitting in soft reclining chairs in a sealed room, listening to relaxing sounds while their eyes are covered with special filters letting in only soft pink light. In early ganzfeld experiments, the telepathy test involved identification of a picture chosen from a random selection of four taken from a large image bank. The idea was that a person acting as a 'sender' would attempt to beam the image over to the 'receiver' relaxing in the sealed room.

E. Once the session was over, this person was asked to identify which of the four images had been used. Random guessing would give a hit-rate of 25 per cent; if telepathy is real, however, the hit-rate would be higher. In 1982, the results from the first ganzfeld studies were analysed by one of its pioneers, the American parapsychologist Charles Honorton. They pointed to typical hit-rates of better than 30 per cent - a small effect, but one which statistical tests suggested could not be put down to chance.

F. The implication was that the ganzfeld method had revealed real evidence for telepathy. But there was a crucial flaw in this argument - one routinely overlooked in more conventional areas of science. Just because chance had been ruled out as an explanation did not prove telepathy must exist; there were many other ways of getting positive results. These ranged from 'sensory leakage' - where clues about the pictures accidentally reach the receiver - to outright fraud. In response, the researchers issued a review of all the ganzfeld studies done up to 1985 to show that 80 per cent had found statistically significant evidence. However, they also agreed that there were still too many problems in the experiments which could lead to positive results, and they drew up a list demanding new standards for future research.

G. After this, many researchers switched to autoganzfeld tests - an automated variant of the technique which used computers to perform many of the key tasks such as the random selection of images. By minimising human involvement, the idea was to minimise the risk of flawed results. In 1987, results from hundreds of autoganzfeld tests were studied by Honorton in a 'meta-analysis', a statistical technique for finding the overall results from a set of studies. Though less compelling than before, the outcome was still impressive.

H. Yet some parapsychologists remain disturbed by the lack of consistency between individual ganzfeld studies. Defenders of telepathy point out that demanding impressive evidence from every study ignores one basic statistical fact: it takes large samples to detect small effects. If, as current results suggest, telepathy produces hit-rates only marginally above the 25 per cent expected by chance, it's unlikely to be detected by a typical ganzfeld study involving around 40 people: the group is just not big enough. Only when many studies are combined in a meta-analysis will the faint signal of telepathy really become apparent. And that is what researchers do seem to be finding.

I. What they are certainly not finding, however, is any change in attitude of mainstream scientists: most still totally reject the very idea of telepathy. The problem stems at least in part from the lack of any plausible mechanism for telepathy.

J. Various theories have been put forward, many focusing on esoteric ideas from theoretical physics. They include 'quantum entanglement', in which events affecting one group of atoms instantly affect another group, no matter how far apart they may be. While physicists have demonstrated entanglement with specially prepared atoms, no-one knows if it also exists between atoms making up human minds. Answering such questions would transform parapsychology. This has prompted some researchers to argue that the future lies not in collecting more evidence for telepathy, but in probing possible mechanisms. Some work has begun already, with researchers trying to identify people who are particularly successful in autoganzfeld trials. Early results show that creative and artistic people do much better than average: in one study at the University of Edinburgh, musicians achieved a hit-rate of 56 per cent. Perhaps more tests like these will eventually give the researchers the evidence they are seeking and strengthen the case for the existence of telepathy.

Questions 1-5

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A–G, below.

Write the correct letter, A-G, as your answer to each question. 

1. The telepathy issue has split the scientific community for 

2. Some researchers express the outcomes are compelling proof that 

3. Reports of telepathy experiences that people have 

4. The telepathy test involved recognizing an image selected from four random selections taken

5. The person acting as a 'sender' will try to illuminate the image of the 'receiver' resting

1. telepathy is real
2. for later research
3. from a large image bank
4. more than a century
5. a reliable method for telepathy
6. had during meditation
7. in a locked room

Questions 6 - 10

Complete the table below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the reading passage for each answer.

Year	Events
6______________	The results of the first ganzfeld study were examined by one of its pioneers, the American psychiatrist 7 _________.
1985	The researchers published a review of all ganzfeld studies conducted up to 8 ___________, with 80 percent finding statistically important proof.
9 _____________	Honordon analyzed the results of hundreds of autoganzfeld experiments with a 10 ______________, a statistical method used to determine the overall results from a group of studies.

Questions 11 - 14

Complete the summary below.

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Defenders of 11 _____________ ignore a fundamental statistical fact that demands compelling proof in every analysis,... It is unlikely to be detected by a routine 12 ___________ analysis involving 40 people, the team is not good enough. However, researchers certainly did not find any difference in the attitude of the top 13 __________, most still completely reject the concept of ​​telepathy. Answering questions like these will change 14 ___________________. 

Answers with Explanations

(Note: The text in italics is from the reading passage and shows the location from where the answer is taken or inferred. The text in the regular font explains the answer in detail.)

1. D. more than a century

Explanation: Paragraph 1 - The telepathy issue has split the scientific community for more than a century, and even today it provokes bitter controversy among leading academics.

2. A. telepathy is real

Explanation: Paragraph 3 - Some researchers express the outcomes are compelling proof that telepathy is real. 

3. F. had during meditation

Explanation: Paragraph 3 - Reports of telepathy experiences that people have had during meditation have led paranoid medical experts to suspect that telepathy 'signals' were transmitted to people who were unconscious to the point of normal brain function.

4. C. from a large image bank

Explanation: Paragraph 4  - In the earlier ganzfeld experiments, the telepathy test involved recognizing an image selected from four random selections taken from a large image bank

5. G. a locked room

Explanation: Paragraph 4 - The concept is that the person acting as a 'sender' will try to illuminate the image of the 'receiver' resting in a locked room.

6. 1982

7. Charles Honerton 

Explanation: Paragraph 5 - In 1982, the results of the first ganzfeld study were examined by one of its pioneers, the American psychiatrist Charles Honerton.

8. 1985

Explanation: Paragraph 5 - In response, the researchers published a review of all ganzfeld studies conducted up to 1985, with 80 percent finding statistically important proof.

9. 1987

10. meta-analysis

Explanation: Paragraph 6 - In 1987, Honordon analyzed the results of hundreds of autoganzfeld experiments with a 'meta-analysis', a statistical method used to determine the overall results from a group of studies.

11. telepathy

Explanation: Paragraph 7 - Defenders of telepathy ignore a fundamental statistical fact that demands compelling proof in every analysis, big samples are needed to detect small effects.

12. ganzfeld

Explanation: Paragraph 7 - As the current results indicate, if telepathy accidentally develops success rates above the expected 25 percent, it is unlikely to be detected by a routine ganzfeld analysis involving 40 people, the team is not good enough. 

13. scientists

Explanation: Paragraph 8 - However, they certainly did not find any difference in the attitude of the top scientists, most still completely reject the concept of ​​telepathy. 

14. Paranoia medicine

Explanation: Paragraph 9 - Answering questions like these will change paranoia medicine. This prompted some researchers to argue that the future lies not in gathering additional proof for telepathy, but in exploring possible mechanisms. 

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