How to be Happy
Read How to be Happy and check the IELTS Reading answers. A psychiatrist Tony Fernando was walking down the street when he saw a group of young homeless men sitting on the footpath. As Fernando handed out gifts of food, he tried to video the men’s reactions in his mind, recording how their gratitud…
Passage preview
A psychiatrist Tony Fernando was walking down the street when he saw a group of young homeless men sitting on the footpath. As Fernando handed out gifts of food, he tried to video the men’s reactions in his mind, recording how their gratitude lifted him in return. ‘I felt warm, content, meaningful,’ he says. Fernando believes the brain can be trained to make us happy and that his ‘video method’ is one way to achieve this. In fact, a growing body of scientific research internationally is showing how we can learn happiness in the same way we can learn to play the piano. In the soft tissue that forms the brain, there are approximately ten trillion synapses connecting roughly a hundred billion neurons. Active synapses become more sensitive; less active synapses die, but new ones grow quickly. This is relatively new thinking – just 30 years ago, neuroscientists believed that adult brain cells couldn’t regenerate. One of the pioneers in this field is University of Wisconsin professor Richard Davidson. He studied Buddhist monks using brain scans in his research facility, and found that those trained in meditation had higher levels of activity in the left prefrontal cortex – the area associated with happiness. Davidson believes that the trained brain is physically different from the untrained one.
Vocabulary from this passage
10 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- a growing body of noun phrase
An increasing amount of evidence, research or opinion on a subject.
In the passage:
"a growing body of scientific research internationally is showing": a reusable way to introduce evidence in Writing.
Synonyms: an increasing amount of, mounting
- a hunger for noun phrase
A strong wish or need for something, or strong interest in it.
In the passage:
Q21 says groups are "becoming more interested"; Clements says "We’re detecting a hunger for it from different organisations and professions".
Synonyms: interested in, a craving for
- a long way from adjective phrase
Very far from being true, complete or achieved.
In the passage:
"this is a long way from confirming that the brain itself is developing": Montgomery warns that scans do not prove the theory (Q22, Q23).
Synonyms: far from, nowhere near
Opposites: close to
- cite a study verb phrase
To mention a particular piece of research as evidence for your point.
In the passage:
"He cites a study, for example, which showed": the usual way to bring in research as support.
Synonyms: refer to a study, quote research
- less inclined to adjective phrase
Less likely or less willing to do something.
In the passage:
"people who were happier were less inclined to show sympathy": a hedged way to say less likely to, useful in Writing (Q20).
Synonyms: reluctant to, less willing to
Opposites: more inclined to
- pathway noun
A route or method that leads to a particular result.
In the passage:
Q18 says "a variety of ways"; the passage says "people who used several pathways to happiness achieved the best results".
Synonyms: ways, route
- pilot verb
To test a new idea or scheme on a small scale before using it widely.
In the passage:
"going to pilot an online ‘well-being game’ in several workplaces": pilot here means to trial a scheme, not to fly a plane.
Synonyms: trial, test out
- preliminary results noun phrase
First findings that come early in a study and may change later.
In the passage:
"Preliminary results on the outcomes found that children had sustained increases in well-being": early findings, not yet final.
Synonyms: early findings, initial results
Opposites: final results
- relentless adjective
Continuing without stopping or becoming weaker, often in a tiring way.
In the passage:
"greets our relentless search for the secrets to happiness with a tired sigh": Consedine finds the endless pursuit tiring.
Synonyms: unrelenting, persistent
Opposites: occasional
- stimulate verb
To make something start working or become more active.
In the passage:
Q24 says "to initiate brain activity"; the passage says "they stimulate the brain with electricity".
Synonyms: initiate, trigger
Opposites: suppress
Answers with explanations
- 14. B
Look for **two scientists** using one technique. The paragraph about Hanson says he uses **exactly the same** imaginary **‘video method’** as **Tony Fernando**, which is the fact the item describes. The first paragraph introduces Fernando's method, but only one person uses it there.
- 15. A
**Scientific opinion … has changed over a given time period** becomes **relatively new thinking – just 30 years ago, neuroscientists believed** something that is no longer accepted. This is the only place where an old belief about the brain is set against today's view.
- 16. A
**An estimate** is signalled by **approximately** and **roughly**, and the brain components are **synapses** and **neurons**. Other paragraphs give numbers (14 schools, 173 people), but those are exact counts and are not parts of the brain.
- 17. C
**Educational courses** are the **mindfulness programmes in 14 schools**. Judi Clements gives the **reason** with **because**: children are told to pay attention but not taught how to. That explains why the courses were set up.
- 18. E
**A variety of ways** matches **several pathways**, and **than focus on just one** matches **than concentrate on the single pathway**. This is the conclusion of Carsten Grimm's study. Clements is in the same paragraph, but she only lists the five pathways.
- 19. C
**Personal achievements** becomes **the things you have accomplished**, and **negative experiences** becomes the **self-criticism and worries** mentioned just before. Rick Hanson says resting the mind on the positive reshapes the brain. Fernando uses the same method, but his example is about gratitude for giving food.
- 20. F
The **favourable characteristic** is sympathy: happy people are **less inclined to show sympathy** because they are **strongly motivated to stay happy**, which is the reason not to display it. The study is cited by Nathan Consedine.
- 21. D
**A range of groups** becomes **different organisations and professions**, and **becoming more interested in learning techniques** becomes **detecting a hunger for it**. It is Judi Clements who says this. Carsten Grimm, who appears later in the paragraph, only describes his own study.
- 22. animals
**Only relates to** matches **based on studies from animals**, and **have not been proved** matches **haven't yet got the technology to prove it**. The gap needs **animals**. Humans are where the theory is still unproven, so they don't fit.
- 23. blood
The summary's **scans do show … more ___ reaching parts of the brain** matches **MRI scans … indicate an increased flow of … to different areas of the brain**. What flows is **blood**.
- 24. electricity
**Use … to initiate brain activity** becomes **stimulate the brain with**, and **similar to natural processes** becomes **copies … firings that happen normally**. The thing used is **electricity**.
- 25. weather
**Compared to** becomes **in the same way that**, and **change human behaviour** becomes **a regulating effect on human activity**. The comparison is with **weather**. Don't write adrenaline: it is an example of a hormone, not what hormones are compared to.
- 26. fear
**Understand … better** becomes **more is known about**, and more positive stimuli becomes **‘happiness’ hormones**. The better-understood stimulus is **fear**. The source phrase is longer (**prolonged periods of fear**), but only one word is allowed.