Sorry - who are you?
Read Sorry - who are you? and check the IELTS Reading answers. It was Jacob Hodes’s first day at college. He can still recall spending an enjoyable afternoon being shown around campus by a second-year student named Daniel Byrne, who happened to be from his home town. Jacob then spent the rest of th…
Passage preview
It was Jacob Hodes’s first day at college. He can still recall spending an enjoyable afternoon being shown around campus by a second-year student named Daniel Byrne, who happened to be from his home town. Jacob then spent the rest of the year ignoring him. “I never saw him again,” he says. “Well, I’m sure I walked past him plenty of times, but I just didn’t see him.” This behaviour wasn’t intentional. Jacob just couldn’t recollect what his fellow student looked like. He had had the same trouble all his life. Friends and relatives would greet him and he would have no idea who they were.
Vocabulary from this passage
9 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- get around verb phrase
To find a way to avoid or deal with a problem.
In the passage:
Q6 says "developed ways to deal with their problem"; the passage says "strategies that allow them to get around their difficulty" (paragraph 5).
Synonyms: deal with, overcome
- not convinced adjective phrase
Not fully believing that something is true or will be effective.
In the passage:
Q13 says "doubts that the training will work"; the passage says Thomas Gruter "is not convinced it will work" (paragraph 8).
Synonyms: doubts, sceptical
Opposites: certain
- not that uncommon adjective phrase
Fairly common; found more often than people expect.
In the passage:
Q2: "the condition is not that uncommon" describes how common it is, but says nothing about it growing (paragraph 2).
Synonyms: fairly common, quite frequent
Opposites: rare
- out of context adverb phrase
In a place or situation where someone or something is not usually seen.
In the passage:
"Unless they see a familiar person out of context" explains when the coping strategies fail (paragraph 5).
Synonyms: in isolation, in an unfamiliar setting
Opposites: in context
- recollect verb
To remember something, especially after making an effort to do so.
In the passage:
"Jacob just couldn’t recollect what his fellow student looked like" (paragraph 1).
Synonyms: recall, remember
Opposites: forget
- risk factor noun phrase
Something that increases the chance of developing a particular illness or problem.
In the passage:
Q11: "being unable to see through this eye ... is a major risk factor for prosopagnosia" (paragraph 7).
Synonyms: cause of danger, predisposing factor
- some degree of noun phrase
A limited amount of something, not a large amount.
In the passage:
"Have some degree of face blindness" shows the survey figure covers mild cases too (paragraph 3).
Synonyms: a certain amount of, a measure of
Opposites: no trace of
- subject noun
A person who takes part in an experiment or study.
In the passage:
Not the topic of a text: "other subjects" and "some subjects" are the people being tested (paragraphs 6 and 8, Q13).
Synonyms: participant, volunteer
- took everyone by surprise verb phrase
To happen unexpectedly, so that the person is not prepared for it.
In the passage:
"The results of the surveys took everyone by surprise" shows how the writer reacts to the high figures (paragraph 3).
Synonyms: catch off guard, astonish
Answers with explanations
- 1. FALSE
Look for Jacob's problem in the first paragraph. The statement says that **before college** he could recognise people he knew well, but the passage says he had **the same trouble all his life**, and **friends and relatives** greeted him while he had **no idea who they were**. The two cannot both be true, so the statement is FALSE.
- 2. NOT GIVEN
The deciding word is **growing**. The text says how common the condition is: **not that uncommon**, **up to 2 per cent**, and the surveys **took everyone by surprise**. It never says the number of cases is rising or that researchers see it getting worse. For TRUE, the text would need something like "more people are affected every year", so the answer is NOT GIVEN.
- 2-3: spirit
2: The deciding word is **growing**. The text says how common the condition is: **not that uncommon**, **up to 2 per cent**, and the surveys **took everyone by surprise**. It never says the number of cases is rising or that researchers see it getting worse. For TRUE, the text would need something like "more people are affected every year", so the answer is NOT GIVEN.
3: The deciding words are **harder ... in babies than in young children**. The passage says developmental prosopagnosia is **present from birth or develops very early in life**, but it never compares how difficult it is to identify in babies and in older children. There is nothing to support TRUE or contradict it, so the answer is NOT GIVEN.
- 3. NOT GIVEN
The deciding words are **harder ... in babies than in young children**. The passage says developmental prosopagnosia is **present from birth or develops very early in life**, but it never compares how difficult it is to identify in babies and in older children. There is nothing to support TRUE or contradict it, so the answer is NOT GIVEN.
- 3-4: B
3: The deciding words are **harder ... in babies than in young children**. The passage says developmental prosopagnosia is **present from birth or develops very early in life**, but it never compares how difficult it is to identify in babies and in older children. There is nothing to support TRUE or contradict it, so the answer is NOT GIVEN.
4: Look for the **German** team in the paragraph about the two surveys. The question's **seems to support** matches the passage's **similarly reported**: the German figure of **2.5 per cent** is close to the Harvard and UCL figure of **up to 2 per cent**. The two studies agree, so the statement is TRUE.
- 4. TRUE
Look for the **German** team in the paragraph about the two surveys. The question's **seems to support** matches the passage's **similarly reported**: the German figure of **2.5 per cent** is close to the Harvard and UCL figure of **up to 2 per cent**. The two studies agree, so the statement is TRUE.
- 5. FALSE
The deciding words are **In general ... aware**. Brad Duchaine says prosopagnosics know they have trouble recognising people, but they **often don’t realise** that other people are **better** at it. The statement says they are aware of this difference, which is the opposite, so it is FALSE.
- 6. TRUE
Look for the paragraph about hair and clothing. **In most cases** matches **the majority of**, and **developed ways to deal with their problem** matches **possess strategies that allow them to get around their difficulty**. The statement says the same thing in other words, so it is TRUE.
- 7. NOT GIVEN
The deciding words are **to treat different kinds of brain injury**. Neuroscientists hope the study will show **how the brain deals with information**, which is about understanding the brain, not treating it. Brain injury appears only as the cause of the earliest cases. The text never links the research to treatment, so the answer is NOT GIVEN.
- 8. animals
Look for the paragraph that lists how prosopagnosics differ. The note's **commonly seen ... and objects** matches **ordinary everyday objects and ... animals which would normally be familiar**. Both words in the note are things seen often, so the gap needs the second item in that list: **animals**.
- 9. emotion
Stay in the same paragraph. **Someone else's face** in the note is **another’s face** in the passage. Some prosopagnosics can still identify what is **conveyed** on that face: the **emotion**.
- 10. gene
The note names **Martina Gruter**, so look at her German team's study. **Just one** matches **a single**, and "may be caused by" matches "could be responsible". The thing that could be responsible is a **gene**.
- 11. left
Now look for **Brad Duchaine**. He accepts that face blindness could be inherited, but the note is about his other idea: babies whose eye **lens is not clear**. The risk is greatest when it is **the left one**, so the gap before "eye" is **left**.
- 12. laboratory
Find **Joseph DeGutis**. His training worked **during tests carried out in the laboratory**, and the patient also found faces easier **in everyday life**, which the note calls **the outside world**. The place that contrasts with everyday life is the **laboratory**.
- 13. cheating
The note names **Thomas Gruter**, who is **not convinced** the training will work. He says **cheating is a possibility during tests**, and gives the example of a woman who memorised the distance between nose and upper lip. That is something done **by some subjects**, so the answer is **cheating**, not "training".