IELTS reading · Reading Test 50

The Evolution of Language

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Section 1

Reading Passage 1

The Evolution of Language

Preview
Language everywhere changes over time; it has to. A central reason that necessitates modification is to allow for developments in our world to be expressed. For example, the technological revolution alone has been responsible for the addition of a plethora of words to our vocabulary: hard drive, software, modem to name just a few. The Japanese writing script katakana, which was originally introduced in the 9th century as a means by which Buddhist monks could correctly interpret Chinese pronunciations, is now most commonly used to embrace foreign words for which there is no original Japanese character; pizza or hamburger for example. Likewise the western world’s exposure to and familiarity with foreign cultures now means that words such as sushi, nam bread and kebab, for example, are used by diners on a regular basis. However, expansion of our vocabulary is just one element involved in how and why language evolves. Given the variation of dialects or regional accents present in most language systems, it is clear that an individual’s interpretation of what is actually correct and commonly used will vary quite dramatically, since this perception is based upon a combination of factors including the age, educational level and region of the country a person is from. As we go about our daily lives and interact with others from different backgrounds and experiences, the language we hear is often taken on board and incorporated into the way in which we communicate ourselves. Many phrases with American origins are now commonplace in British English for example, due to the frequency…

Questions 1–4

Reading Passage 1 has six paragraphs A-F. Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B, C, E and F from the list of headings below.

1.Paragraph B

2.Paragraph C

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Answers & explanations

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13 answers3 explanations open
  1. 1

    iii

    To find our suitable heading of this passage, we should skim the content and identify the main subject. We can find the main idea of this passage from the sentence "Given the variation of dialects …… a person is from". We can understand this sentence as following: under different expressions of language (variation of dialects or regional accents), an individual's understanding about speech (what is actually correct and commonly used) will be different. Moreover, we can take a look to following sentences and find that main issue mentioned in this this passage is that the language changes in various background/expression (or how language is influenced). So we choose answer iii – Influences on speech as answer of this question

  2. 2

    ii

    After skimming paragraph C, we can see that the sentence "Changes in language are often [...] rather than an evolution and an improvement" contains the main idea of this passage (as other sentences are almost examples of this idea). This sentence indicates about how young and older people react with changes in language. While the young aim at changes in language, the older people seems to have negative assess about this issue. So from above information, we can reason out that there is a gap in thinking of young and old people. This helps us identify ii. The Generation Gap is the suitable heading for this passage

  3. 3

    vii

    This passage mainly mentions about logicality of some people's opinion on traditional and modern usage of language. From the text, we can see that there is an example of usage that is not acceptable in traditional usage (this was considered incorrect). Following this example is information about the reason why it was not accepted. However, the last sentence indicates that the origin of this reason (initial motivations behind the rule) is questionable and is likely to be abandoned in the future. From above analysis, we can confirm that answer vii. Questioning logic is suitable heading of this paragraph

  4. 4

    viii

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  5. 5

    YES

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  6. 6

    NOT GIVEN

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  7. 7

    NOT GIVEN

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  8. 8

    NOT GIVEN

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  9. 9

    NO

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  10. 10

    NO

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  11. 11

    B

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  12. 12

    D

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  13. 13

    F

    Premium explanation

Understand why, not only what.

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