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The Nature of Genius Reading Answers: IELTS Reading Practice Test

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Updated on Jul 02, 2024, 11:57

The IELTS Reading section assesses your ability to understand and interpret written English in an academic context. It comprises 40 questions you must answer within 60 minutes, testing a range of reading skills, from skimming for the main idea to understanding details and recognising a writer’s opinions, attitudes, and purpose.

 

In this section, you will encounter three reading passages from books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. The topics are of general interest and suitable for candidates entering undergraduate or postgraduate courses or seeking professional registration. Key highlights of the reading section include its focus on various question types and the requirement to read quickly and efficiently under time pressure.

 

Key highlights of the Reading section:

 

  • You will read three passages from books, journals, magazines, and newspapers.
  • You will answer a total of 40 questions, testing a variety of reading skills.
  • You have 60 minutes to complete the section, requiring efficient time management.
  • Questions include multiple-choice, matching information, headings, features, sentence completion, and true/false/not given.
  • Skills assessed include skimming for main ideas, reading for detail, understanding inferences and implied meaning, and recognising a writer’s opinions, attitudes, and purpose.

 

By familiarising yourself with the IELTS Reading section's format and expectations, you can confidently approach it and maximise your performance on test day. 

 

Now, let's look into a passage on The Nature of Genius Reading Answers, followed by specific questions to test your comprehension and analytical skills.

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1. The Nature of Genius Reading Answers Reading Passage

You should spend approximately 20 minutes answering Questions 1 - 13 based on the Reading Passage below. This approach can help manage time effectively during a reading comprehension activity or exam. 

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2. The Nature of Genius Reading Question & Answers

Discover exciting and informative IELTS reading answers about The Nature of Genius

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1.

The Nature of Genius Reading Answers Reading Passage

General Information

  • Read Instructions: Understand each question before answering.
  • Manage Time: Spend about 20 minutes per passage.
  • Skim and Scan: Quickly get the main idea and find specific information.
  • Highlight Key Info: Underline essential words or phrases.
  • Answer All Questions: Attempt every question; no penalty for wrong answers.
  • Stay Focused: Avoid distractions and keep your attention on the task.
  • Check Spelling: Ensure correct spelling and grammar.
  • Transfer Answers Clearly: Write answers neatly on the answer sheet.
  • Don’t Dwell: Move on if stuck and return later.
  • Review: If time allows, review your answers.

 

 

 

 

 

The Nature of Genius Reading Answers Reading Passage

 


 

Paragraph A: There has always been consistent interest in brilliance and genius. The word ‘genius’ took away the Latin gens (=family) and the word ‘genius’. The term ‘genius’, comes from the early Roman cult of a godliness as the head of the family. In its earliest form, brilliance or genius was concerned with the capacity of the head of the family, the father, to preserve himself. Slowly, brilliance came to constitute a person's attribute and then an individual’s lofty characteristic obtained from his ‘brilliance’ or leading soul. Today, people still look to stars or heredity, horoscopes or ancestry in the hope of discovering the source of unusual capacity or particular characteristics.

 

Paragraph B: The idea of brilliance and of gifts has become part of our folk traditions, and attitudes are equivocal as regards them. We are jealous of the gifted and suspicious of them. In the folklore of giftedness, it is generally trust that if people are gifted in one place, they must be faulty in another, that intelligent are not practical, that genius blaze too luminously too soon and burn out, that gifted people are unconventional, that they are physical weaklings, that there’s a thin line in the middle of brilliance and insanity, that brilliance runs in families, that the gifted are so intelligent they don’t need exceptional help, that giftedness is the same as having a high IQ, that some people are more clever or musical or mathematical than others, that brilliance goes obscure and honorary, that misfortune makes men wise or that people with gifted have a authority to use them. Language has been enriched with such words as ‘intellectual’ , ‘scholar’, ‘elit’, ‘smart aleck’, ‘smarty’, ‘expert’ and for many, ‘intellectual’ is a word of defamation.

 

Paragraph C:The 19th centennial saw considerable interest in the nature of genius, and constructed not a few studies of popular genius. Maybe for us today, two of the most notable feature of most of these studies of prodigies are the frequency with which early motivation and tutoring by parents and teachers had advantageous effects on the mental, creative or musical evolution of the childrens but create great troubles of adaptation later in their lives, and the regularity with which capacity were not recognized by tutors and schools. Although, the trouble with the proof produced by these studies, engrossing as they are in gathering anecdotes and obvious exceptions and similarities, is that they are not what we would today call norm-referenced. In other words, when for example, details are compiled about early sickness, methods of rearing, schooling,etc., we must also take into account details from further ancient sources about how usual or unusual these were at the time. For example, infant death rate was high and life anticipation much shorter than today, home tutoring was usual in the family of the virtuous and rich, bullying and spanking were usual at the best independent schools and, for the most part, the report was members of the wealthy classes. It was only with the growth of paediatrics and psychology in the 20th century that studies could be carried out on a more impartial, if still not always very technological basis.

 

Paragraph D: Geniuses, whatever we describe, are but the peak which stand out via the haze of history and are obvious to the specific observer from his or her specific view point. By changing bystanders and the viewpoints and clearing away some of the haze, unique peaks will appear. Genius is a word we apply to those whom we acknowledge for their excellent attainments and who stand near the end of the continuation of human capacity which stretches out back through the humdrum and is ordinary to the incapable. There is still much veracity in Dr Samuel Johnson’s scrutiny, ‘The true genius is a mind of huge greater powers, accidently intent on to some specific direction’. We may differ with the ‘widespread’, for we are uncertain if all musicians of brilliance could have become chemists of brilliance or contrarily, but there is no mistrust the accidental resolution which tends or activates their gifts into those channels into which they have gushed their powers so profitably. Along the continuity of capacity are hundreds of thousands of gifted men and women, boys and girls.

 

Paragraph E: What we value, enjoy or be amazed at in the works of brilliance or the attainments of genius are the demonstration of skills or capacity which are alike to, but so much above, our own. But that their minds are not dissimilar from our own reveal by the fact that the ambitious findings of analysts like Kepler or Einstein become the familiar knowledge of students and the once shocking shapes and colors of a creator like Paul Klee so soon appear on the clothes we wear. This does not reduce the greatness of their achievements, which outrun our own as the sub-four-minute milers outrun our jogging.  

 

Paragraph F: To think of brilliance and the talented as having chiefly dissimilar brains is only sensible if we agree that each human mind is uniquely different. The motive of instruction is to make the US even more dissimilar from each and every one, and in the procedure of being taught we can learn from the greatest works of those more gifted than individuals. But, before we try to make our children imitate brilliance, we should note that some of the things we grasp from them may prove unpalatable. We may get jealous of their attainments and fame, but we should also acknowledge the price they may have paid in terms of persistence, adamancy, dedication, restrictions on their personal lives, the demands upon their vitality and time, and how frequent they had to display great bravery to preserve their honesty or to make their way to the top.

 

Paragraph G: Genius and giftedness are related terms which have no real substance. We may, at best, give them some exactness by describing them and placing them in a context but, anyhow we do, we should at no time mislead ourselves into thinking that gifted children or geniuses are different from the r humankind, save in the degree to which they have improved the performance of their capacity.    

2.

The Nature of Genius Reading Question & Answers

Discover exciting and informative IELTS reading answers about The Nature of Genius

Questions and Answers 1-5
  • Choose FIVE letters, A-K.
  • Write the correct letters in for the questions 1-5.
Note: Your answers may be given in any order.

 

 

Below are listed some popular beliefs about genius and giftedness.

 

Which FIVE of these beliefs are reported by the writer of the text?

 

A  Truly gifted people are talented in all areas.

B  The talents of geniuses are soon exhausted.

C  Gifted people should use their gifts.

D  A genius appears once in every generation.

E  Genius can be easily destroyed by discouragement.

F  Genius is inherited.

G  Gifted people are very hard to live with.

H  People never appreciate true genius.

I  Geniuses are natural leaders.

J  Gifted people develop their greatness through difficulties.

K  Genius will always reveal itself.


 

The Nature of Genius Reading Answers with Explanations (1-5)


 

Type of Question: Matching Features

 

These types of questions involve choosing the right features or attributes based on the given paragraph. 
 

 

How to best answer: 


 

  • First: Quickly read through the passage to get an overall understanding before attempting to match the features.
  • Look for keywords in the questions and find their synonyms or related terms in the text.
  • Pay close attention to the details around the keywords to ensure accurate matching.
  • Use the process of elimination to narrow down the possible matches.
  • Once you have matched the features, re-read the relevant sections of the text to verify your answers

 

 

 

1. B, C, F, H, J (in any order)

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph B
 

Explanation: The passage mentions suspicions surrounding gifted individuals, including the belief that their talents are soon exhausted, they should use their gifts, genius is inherited, people never appreciate true genius, and gifted people develop their greatness through difficulties. These beliefs are supported by Paragraph B.


 

2. B, C, F, H, J (in any order)

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph B

 

Explanation: This belief is reported in Paragraph B, which discusses various folk beliefs about giftedness, including the notion that the talents of geniuses are soon exhausted. This aligns with the scepticism towards the sustainability of talents mentioned in the paragraph.

 

 

3. B, C, F, H, J (in any order)

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph B
 

Explanation: Found in Paragraph B, this belief reflects the idea that genius is inherited, aligning with the passage's discussion of common folk beliefs surrounding brilliance and gifts.



 

4. B, C, F, H, J (in any order)

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph B

 

Explanation: This belief is discussed in Paragraph B, which highlights suspicions and folklore surrounding giftedness, including the notion that people never appreciate true genius.


 

5. B, C, F, H, J (in any order)

 

Reference:

 

Paragraph B

 

Explanation: This belief is mentioned in Paragraph B, where it discusses the idea that gifted people develop their greatness through difficulties, reflecting common perceptions about the journey of the gifted.

Questions and Answers 6-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
In boxes 6-13 on your answer sheet, write

  • TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
  • FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
  • NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this in the passage

 

 

6. Nineteenth-century studies of the nature of genius failed to take into account the uniqueness of the person’s upbringing.

7. Nineteenth-century studies of genius lacked both objectivity and a proper scientific approach.

8. A true genius has general powers capable of excellence in any area.

9. The skills of ordinary individuals are in essence the same as the skills of prodigies.

10. The ease with which truly great ideas are accepted and taken for granted fails to lessen their significance.

11. Giftedness and genius deserve proper scientific research into their true nature so that all talent may be retained for the human race.

12. Geniuses often pay a high price to achieve greatness.

13. To be a genius is worth the high personal cost.


 

The Nature of Genius Reading Answers with Explanations (6-13) 


 

Type of Question: True/False/Not Given 

 

These types of questions in IELTS reading involve identifying whether the sentence is  True, False, or Not Given using the given paragraph. 

 

How to best answer: 
 

  • Read the statements and paragraphs carefully to understand the context and meaning.
  • Identify keywords or key phrases in both the statements and paragraphs.
  • Look for direct matches between the statements and the content of the paragraphs.
  • Pay attention to synonyms or paraphrases that convey similar meanings.
  • Choose the paragraph that best aligns with the statement based on the information provided in the passage.


 

6. True

 

Reference:

 

From Paragraph C, "Maybe for us today, two of the most notable feature of most of these studies of prodigies…great troubles of adaptation later in their lives..."

 

Explanation: The passage discusses the limitations of nineteenth-century studies of genius, highlighting their lack of objectivity and failure to consider the uniqueness of individuals' upbringing.


 

7. True

 

Reference:

 

From Paragraph C, "Although, the trouble with the proof produced by these studies, engrossing as they are in gathering anecdotes and obvious exceptions and similarities, is that they are not what we would today call norm-referenced..."

 

Explanation: The passage states that nineteenth-century studies lacked objectivity and a proper scientific approach, implying a need for improvement in research methodologies.


 

8. False

 

Reference:

 

From Paragraph D, “We may differ with the ‘widespread’, for we are uncertain if all musicians of brilliance …..  into which they have gushed their powers so profitably."

 

Explanation: The passage discusses uncertainty regarding whether all individuals of brilliance in one field could excel in another, suggesting that a true genius may not have general powers capable of excellence in any area.


 

9. True

 

Reference:

 

From Paragraph E, "What we value, enjoy or be amazed at in the works of brilliance or the attainments of genius are the demonstration of skills or capacity which are alike to, but so much above, our own."


Explanation: The passage mentions that the skills demonstrated by individuals of brilliance or genius are similar to those of ordinary individuals but elevated to a higher level.

 

 

10. True

 

Reference:

 

From Paragraph E, “This does not reduce the greatness of their achievements, which outrun our own as the sub-four-minute milers outrun our jogging."

 

Explanation: The passage asserts that the acceptance and integration of truly great ideas do not diminish their significance, indicating the lasting impact of such ideas.

 

 

11. Not Given

 

Reference:

 

Not Given

 

Explanation: The passage does not provide information regarding the necessity for proper scientific research into the nature of giftedness and genius.

 

 

12. True

 

Reference:

 

From Paragraph F, “This does not reduce the greatness of their achievements, which outrun our own as the sub-four-minute milers outrun our jogging."


Explanation: The passage discusses the high personal cost geniuses often pay to achieve greatness, including persistence, dedication, and restrictions on personal lives.


 

13. Not Given

 

Reference:

 

Not Given
 

Explanation:  The passage does not explicitly address whether being a genius is worth the high personal cost.

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FAQs

Q. How many passages are typically included in the IELTS Reading test?

Ans. The IELTS Reading test usually presents three passages, each followed by its set of questions. These passages gauge candidates' comprehension skills across various topics and writing styles, ensuring a comprehensive evaluation of their reading abilities.

Q. How is the IELTS Reading test scored?

Ans. The IELTS Reading test employs a straightforward scoring system. Candidates earn one point for each correct answer without penalty for incorrect responses. This scoring method emphasises accuracy and encourages thoroughness in answering all questions.

Q. What are some effective reading strategies for the IELTS Reading test?

Ans. Effective strategies for the IELTS Reading test encompass skimming passages for main ideas, scanning for specific details, managing time efficiently, understanding diverse question types, and practising with authentic test materials. These tactics optimise comprehension and enable candidates to navigate the test effectively.