Some views on the use of headphones
Read Some views on the use of headphones and check the IELTS Reading answers. To visit a typical modern office today is to walk into a room with possibly a dozen songs playing simultaneously but to hear none of them. Up to half of younger workers listen to music on their headphones, and nearly all…
Passage preview
To visit a typical modern office today is to walk into a room with possibly a dozen songs playing simultaneously but to hear none of them. Up to half of younger workers listen to music on their headphones, and nearly all of them think it makes them better at their jobs. In survey after survey, people report with confidence that music makes them happier, better at concentrating, and more productive.
Vocabulary from this passage
9 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- a by-product of noun phrase
A secondary result of an activity, produced while doing something else.
In the passage:
The desire for separation is "a by-product of a long-standing national appetite for independence" (paragraph 6).
Synonyms: a side effect of, a consequence of
- advisable adjective
Sensible and likely to bring good results; recommended.
In the passage:
Q28 says "desirability of working in silence"; the passage says "it would still be advisable that people work in silence" (paragraph 2).
Synonyms: recommended, wise
Opposites: unwise
- an appetite for noun phrase
A strong desire or liking for something.
In the passage:
Marche calls the wish for separation "a long-standing national appetite for independence" (paragraph 6).
Synonyms: a desire for, a taste for
Opposites: an aversion to
- a radical departure from noun phrase
A very big change from the usual or earlier way of doing something.
In the passage:
Q34 says headphones "changed the traditional role of music"; the passage says they are "a radical departure from music’s social purpose in history".
Synonyms: a sharp break from, a complete change from
Opposites: a continuation of
- a scarce resource noun phrase
Something valuable that exists in limited amounts and is hard to obtain.
In the passage:
"Real estate is the ultimate scarce resource" (paragraph 8): the writer says space around our minds is what headphones create.
Synonyms: a limited resource, a rare commodity
Opposites: an abundant resource
- eccentric adjective
Behaving in an unusual, odd way that differs from accepted ways.
In the passage:
Q30 calls Baldwin a "respected government researcher"; the passage says he is "an eccentric inventor and repairman" (paragraph 4).
Synonyms: unconventional, odd
Opposites: conventional
- lend strength to verb phrase
To make an argument or opinion more convincing by adding support.
In the passage:
"Lending strength to the argument for headphones at work is evidence that music relaxes our muscles" (paragraph 3).
Synonyms: support, reinforce
Opposites: undermine
- maintain that verb phrase
To state firmly that something is true, often against opposing views.
In the passage:
Scientists "maintain that listening to music hurts people’s ability to recall other things" (paragraph 2): a firm claim, not the sense of keeping something in good condition.
Synonyms: insist that, claim that
Opposites: concede that
- opportune adjective
Happening at a good time, so that it is especially useful or convenient.
In the passage:
Baldwin's headset "was an opportune invention for the Navy", which then adopted it for radio communication (paragraph 4).
Synonyms: well-timed, timely
Opposites: inopportune
Answers with explanations
- 27. NOT GIVEN
The key phrase is **easily persuaded**. The writer says young workers believe music helps and that surveys keep showing this, but never says the surveys persuade them or that they are easy to convince. For YES or NO, the writer would need to comment on how they were persuaded.
- 28. YES
The key word is **same**. The writer cites a Taiwanese study, other research and another reporter, and each points one way: music lowers performance and working in **silence** is best. **Desirability** matches **advisable**, so the studies agree.
- 29. NOT GIVEN
Look for **blood pressure**. The writer reports **evidence** that music may moderately reduce it, but never mentions **doctors** recommending headphones. For YES or NO, the writer would have to say what medical professionals advise.
- 30. NO
Look for the name **Nathaniel Baldwin**. He is **an eccentric inventor and repairman** who wrote to the Navy from his kitchen, which contradicts a **respected government researcher**. The statement is NO.
- 31. YES
**Comparable to** matches **have done what writing and literacy did for language**. The writer himself compares the effect of headphones on music with the effect of writing on language, so the statement agrees with his claim.
- 32. A
Look for **service economy**. The writer says it stresses office jobs that **require higher levels of concentration, reflection and creativity**, which is **mentally demanding** work. Younger workers appear elsewhere, but the writer never calls a service economy small or ties it to city centres.
- 33. C
The writer has just said music evolved to serve social bonding. Notation 3,500 years old and a 44,000-year-old flute show that music has mattered to people for a very long time. **But** only contrasts bones with other evidence, so he is not complaining. He is not listing forms of music or mapping places either.
- 34. D
**Traditional role in society** matches **music's social purpose in history**, and **has changed** matches **a radical departure from**. The other options are never claimed: nothing says fewer people listen, event attendance rose, or music styles became less varied.
- 35. B
**Something that can be purchased** matches **wealth can buy … personal independence**. Americans are not unique (**not alone**), people have **always** sought it so it is not recent, and nothing says it destroys social connections.
- 36. A
The writer has just argued that music makes people **relax and reflect and pause**. Lehrer says the same thing: minds **at ease** turn attention **inward**. The quotation backs the writer's own view. The book is only named, and the closing word "listening" is about listening to ourselves, not a loss of skill.
- 37. B
**Has changed the** ___ **the wearers have with public spaces** matches **change how we relate to public spaces**. The noun for how people relate to something is **relationship**.
- 38. E
**Living in the centre of cities** matches **live in urban centres**, and **less keen on living in** matches **moving from the edges of cities**. The edges of cities are the **suburbs**. The countryside is a trap: the text never mentions rural areas.
- 39. G
**Form** matches **create**, and **isolate people from fellow citizens and from their environment** matches **separating them from other people and their surroundings**. Shields that separate people are **barriers**. Obstacles block your way, which is not what the text describes.
- 40. A
**Treated with** ___ **that other people do not receive** matches **their own rules of good manners**. Other people **respect** the wearer's privacy, so the noun is **courtesy**. Disapproval does not fit, because nobody is described as objecting.