Table of Contents
Passage
A. Ingenuity, as I define it here, consists not only of ideas for new technologies like computers or drought-resistant crops but, more fundamentally, of ideas for better institutions and social arrangements, like efficient markets and competent governments.
B. How much and what kinds of ingenuity a society requires depends on a range of factors, including the society’s goals and the circumstances within which it must achieve those goals——whether it has a young population or an aging one, an abundance of natural resources or a scarcity of them, an easy climate or a punishing one, whatever the case may be.
C. How much and what kinds of ingenuity a society supplies also depends on many factors, such as the nature of human inventiveness and understanding, the rewards an economy gives to the producers of useful knowledge, and the strength of political opposition to social and institutional reforms.
D. A good supply of the right kind of ingenuity is essential, but it isn’t, of course, enough by itself. We know that the creation of wealth, for example, depends not only on an adequate supply of useful ideas but also on the availability of other, more conventional factors of production, like capital and labor. Similarly, prosperity, stability and justice usually depend on the resolution, or at least the containment, of major political struggles over wealth and power. Yet within our economics ingenuity often supplants labor, and growth in the stock of physical plant is usually accompanied by growth in the stock of ingenuity. And in our political systems, we need great ingenuity to set up institutions that successfully manage struggles over wealth and power. Clearly, our economic and political processes are intimately entangled with the production and use of ingenuity.
E. The past century’s countless incremental changes in our societies around the planet, in our technologies and our interactions with our surrounding natural environments have accumulated to create a qualitatively new world. Because these changes have accumulated slowly, It’s often hard for us to recognize how profound and sweeping they’ve. They include far larger and denser populations; much higher per capita consumption of natural resources; and far better and more widely available technologies for the movement of people, materials, and especially information.
F. In combination, these changes have sharply increased the density, intensity, and pace of our inter actions with each other; they have greatly increased the burden we place on our natural environment; and they have helped shift power from national and international institutions to individuals and subgroups, such as political special interests and ethnic factions.
G. As a result, people in all walks of life-from our political and business leaders to all of us in our day-to-day——must cope with much more complex, urgent, and often unpredictable circumstances. The management of our relationship with this new world requires immense and ever-increasing amounts of social and technical ingenuity. As we strive to maintain or increase our prosperity and improve the quality of our lives, we must make far more sophisticated decisions, and in less time, than ever before.
H. When we enhance the performance of any system, from our cars to the planet’s network of financial institutions, we tend to make it more complex. Many of the natural systems critical to our well-being, like the global climate and the oceans, are extraordinarily complex to begin with. We often can’t predict or manage the behavior of complex systems with much precision, because they are often very sensitive to the smallest of changes and perturbations, and their behavior can flip from one mode to another suddenly and dramatically. In general, as the human-made and natural systems we depend upon become more complex, and as our demands on them increase, the institutions and technologies we use to manage them must become more complex too, which further boosts our need for ingenuity.
I. The good news, though, is that the last century’s stunning changes in our societies and technologies have not just increased our need for ingenuity; they have also produced a huge increase in its supply. The growth and urbanization of human populations have combined with astonishing new communication and transportation technologies to expand interactions among people and produce larger, more integrated, and more efficient markets. These changes have, in turn, vastly accelerated the generation and delivery of useful ideas.
J. But—and this is the critical “but”——we should not jump to the conclusion that the supply of ingenuity always increases in lockstep with our ingenuity requirement: While it’s true that necessity is often the mother of invention, we can’t always rely on the right kind of ingenuity appearing when and where we need it. In many cases, the complexity and speed of operation of today’s vital economic, social, arid ecological systems exceed the human brains grasp. Very few of us have more than a rudimentary understanding of how these systems work. They remain fraught with countless “unknown unknowns,” which makes it hard to supply the ingenuity we need to solve problems associated with these systems.
K. In this book, explore a wide range of other factors that will limit our ability to supply the ingenuity required in the coming century. For example, many people believe that new communication technologies strengthen democracy and will make it easier to find solutions to our societies’ collective problems, but the story is less clear than it seems. The crush of information in our everyday lives is shortening our attention span, limiting the time we have to reflect on critical matters of public policy, and making policy arguments more superficial.
L. Modern markets and science are an important part of the story of how we supply ingenuity. Markets are critically important, because they give entrepreneurs an incentive to produce knowledge. As for science, although it seems to face no theoretical limits, at least in the foreseeable future, practical constraints often slow its progress. The cost of scientific research tends to increase as it delves deeper into nature. And science’s rate of advance depends on the characteristic of the natural phenomena it investigates, simply because some phenomena are intrinsically harder to understand than others, so the production of useful new knowledge in these areas can be very slow. Consequently, there is often a critical time lag between the recognition between a problem and the delivery of sufficient ingenuity, in the form of technologies, to solve that problem. Progress in the social sciences is especially slow, for reasons we don’t yet understand; but we desperately need better social scientific knowledge to build the sophisticated institutions today’s world demands.
Questions
Questions 27-30 Complete each sentence with the appropriate answer, A, B, C, or D
Write the correct answer in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.
27. The definition of ingenuity
28. The requirement for ingenuity
29. The creation of social wealth
30. The stability of society
A depends on many factors including climate.
B depends on the management and solution of disputes.
C is not only of technological advance, but more of institutional renovation.
D also depends on the availability of some traditional resources.
Questions 31-33 Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D Write your answers in boxes 31-33 on your answer sheet.
31. What does the author say about the incremental change of the last 100 years?
A. It has become a hot scholastic discussion among environmentalists
B. Its significance is often not noticed
C. It has reshaped the natural environments we live in
D. It benefited a much larger population than ever
32. The combination of changes has made life
A. easier
B. faster
C. slower
D. less sophisticated
33 What does the author say about the natural systems?
A. New technologies are being developed to predict change with precision.
B. Natural systems are often more sophisticated than other systems.
C. Minor alterations may cause natural systems to change dramatically.
D. Technological developments have rendered human being more independent of natural systems.
Questions 34-40 Do the following statements agree with the information given in reading passage 3? In boxes 34-40 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
34. The demand for ingenuity has been growing during the past 100 years
35. The ingenuity we have may be inappropriate for solving problems at hand
36. There are very few who can understand the complex systems of the present world
37. More information will help us to make better decisions
38. The next generation will blame the current government for their conduct
39. Science tends to develop faster in certain areas than others
40. Social science develops especially slowly because it is not as important as natural science.
Answers
Below are the answers, key words and full explanations for the IELTS Reading passage The Ingenuity Gap (Passage 3, Questions 27–40).
Questions 27–30: Matching Sentence Endings (A–D)
27. The definition of ingenuity …
Answer: C — is not only of technological advance, but more of institutional renovation.
Key words: definition of ingenuity
Explanation: “Ingenuity … consists not only of ideas for new technologies … but, more fundamentally, of ideas for better institutions and social arrangements.“
not only technologies but more fundamentally better institutions = not only technological advance, but more institutional renovation.
Answer: C
28. The requirement for ingenuity …
Answer: A — depends on many factors including climate.
Key words: requirement, depends on
Explanation: “How much and what kinds of ingenuity a society requires depends on a range of factors … an easy climate or a punishing one.“
a range of factors including climate = many factors including climate.
Answer: A
29. The creation of social wealth …
Answer: D — also depends on the availability of some traditional resources.
Key words: creation of wealth
Explanation: “the creation of wealth … depends not only on … useful ideas but also on the availability of other, more conventional factors of production, like capital and labor.“
conventional factors of production (capital, labor) = traditional resources.
Answer: D
30. The stability of society …
Answer: B — depends on the management and solution of disputes.
Key words: stability
Explanation: “prosperity, stability and justice usually depend on the resolution, or at least the containment, of major political struggles over wealth and power.“
resolution/containment of political struggles = management and solution of disputes.
Answer: B
Questions 31–33: Multiple Choice
31. What does the author say about the incremental change of the last 100 years?
Answer: B — Its significance is often not noticed.
Key words: incremental change, 100 years
Explanation: “Because these changes have accumulated slowly, it’s often hard for us to recognize how profound and sweeping they’ve been.“
hard to recognize how profound they’ve been = significance is often not noticed.
Answer: B
32. The combination of changes has made life
Answer: B — faster.
Key words: combination of changes, life
Explanation: “these changes have sharply increased the density, intensity, and pace of our interactions,” and we “must make far more sophisticated decisions, and in less time.“
increased pace / in less time = faster.
Answer: B
33. What does the author say about the natural systems?
Answer: C — Minor alterations may cause natural systems to change dramatically.
Key words: natural systems
Explanation: “they are often very sensitive to the smallest of changes and perturbations, and their behavior can flip from one mode to another suddenly and dramatically.“
very sensitive to smallest changes / flip suddenly = minor alterations cause dramatic change.
Answer: C
Questions 34–40: True / False / Not Given
34. The demand for ingenuity has been growing during the past 100 years.
Answer: TRUE
Key words: demand, growing, 100 years
Explanation: “The management of our relationship with this new world requires immense and ever-increasing amounts of social and technical ingenuity.” “Ever-increasing” = growing demand.
ever-increasing amounts of ingenuity = demand has been growing.
Answer: TRUE
35. The ingenuity we have may be inappropriate for solving problems at hand.
Answer: TRUE
Key words: inappropriate, problems at hand
Explanation: “we can’t always rely on the right kind of ingenuity appearing when and where we need it.” The wrong kind may appear = may be inappropriate.
not the right kind of ingenuity when needed = may be inappropriate.
Answer: TRUE
36. There are very few who can understand the complex systems of the present world.
Answer: TRUE
Key words: very few, understand, complex systems
Explanation: “Very few of us have more than a rudimentary understanding of how these systems work.“
very few have more than a rudimentary understanding = very few can understand.
Answer: TRUE
37. More information will help us to make better decisions.
Answer: FALSE
Key words: more information, better decisions
Explanation: “The crush of information … is shortening our attention span, limiting the time we have to reflect … and making policy arguments more superficial.” More information makes arguments superficial — the opposite of better decisions.
crush of information → superficial arguments contradicts “helps make better decisions.”
Answer: FALSE
38. The next generation will blame the current government for their conduct.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Key words: next generation, blame, government
Explanation: The passage discusses governments and institutions in the context of ingenuity, but never says anything about the next generation blaming the current government. No such information is given.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
39. Science tends to develop faster in certain areas than others.
Answer: TRUE
Key words: science, faster, certain areas
Explanation: “science’s rate of advance depends on the characteristic of the natural phenomena it investigates … some phenomena are intrinsically harder to understand than others, so the production of useful new knowledge in these areas can be very slow.” Different speeds in different areas.
rate of advance depends on the phenomena / slower in harder areas = faster in some areas than others.
Answer: TRUE
40. Social science develops especially slowly because it is not as important as natural science.
Answer: FALSE
Key words: social science, slowly, not as important
Explanation: “Progress in the social sciences is especially slow, for reasons we don’t yet understand; but we desperately need better social scientific knowledge.” The reason is unknown (not “less important”), and the passage stresses social science is badly needed — so the stated reason contradicts the passage.
slow for reasons we don’t understand / desperately needed = not because it is unimportant.
Answer: FALSE
| Answer Key (Quick Reference) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Q | Answer | Q | Answer |
| 27 | C | 34 | TRUE |
| 28 | A | 35 | TRUE |
| 29 | D | 36 | TRUE |
| 30 | B | 37 | FALSE |
| 31 | B | 38 | NOT GIVEN |
| 32 | B | 39 | TRUE |
| 33 | C | 40 | FALSE |
Cambridge IELTS 1-21 Reading test solutions
