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Reading answers with explanations

IELTS · Part 3 · Cambridge 19 — Test 4

The Unselfish Gene: Reading answers

Answers to questions 27–40 (14 in all), each with why it is right.

Sit it first, then check

Read the whole passage and answer in the exam interface, timed as on the day.

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The passage opens

A psychologist gives his view on how humans became self-centred There has long been a general assumption that human beings are essentially selfish.We're apparently ruthless, with strong impulses to compete against each other for resources and to accumulate power and possessions.If we are kind to one another, it's usually because we have ulterior motives.If we are good, it's only because we have managed to control and transcend our innate selfishness and brutality. This bleak view of human nature is closely associated with the science writer Richard Dawkins, whose 1976 book "The Selfish Gene" became popular because it fitted so well with - and helped to justify - the competitive and…

Answers 27–40

  1. 27

    What is the writer doing in the first paragraph?

    C: describing a commonly held belief about people's behaviour Multiple choice

  2. 28

    What point is made about Richard Dawkins' book The Selfish Gene?

    C: It presented a view that was in line with the attitudes of its time. Multiple choice

  3. 29

    What does the writer suggest about the prehistoric era in the fourth paragraph?

    B: Supplies of natural resources were probably relatively plentiful. Multiple choice

  4. 30

    The writer refers to Bruce Knauft's work as support for the idea that

    A: selfishness is a relatively recent development in human societies. Multiple choice

  5. 31

    egalitarianism Note completion

  6. 32

    status Note completion

  7. 33

    hunting Note completion

  8. 34

    domineering Note completion

  9. 35

    autonomy Note completion

  10. 36

    Some anthropologists are mistaken about the point when the number of societies such as the “!Kung” began to decline.

    NOT GIVEN Yes / No / Not Given

  11. 37

    Humans who developed warlike traits in prehistory would have had an advantage over those who did not.

    NO Yes / No / Not Given

  12. 38

    Being peaceful and cooperative is a natural way for people to behave.

    YES Yes / No / Not Given

  13. 39

    Negative traits are more apparent in some modern cultures than in others.

    NOT GIVEN Yes / No / Not Given

  14. 40

    Animal research has failed to reveal a link between changes in the environment and the emergence of aggressive tendencies.

    NO Yes / No / Not Given

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