Yawning
Read Yawning and check the IELTS Reading answers. When Robert R. Provine began studying yawning in the 1960s, it was difficult for him to convince research students of the merits of ‘yawning science’. Although it may appear quirky to some, Provine’s decision to study yawning was a logical extension…
Passage preview
When Robert R. Provine began studying yawning in the 1960s, it was difficult for him to convince research students of the merits of ‘yawning science’. Although it may appear quirky to some, Provine’s decision to study yawning was a logical extension of his research in developmental neuroscience.
Vocabulary from this passage
9 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- a logical extension of noun phrase
A natural next step that follows sensibly from earlier work or ideas.
In the passage:
"Provine’s decision to study yawning was a logical extension of his research": reusable for describing a natural next step.
Synonyms: a natural progression from, a sensible next step from
- compensate verb
To make up for a loss or lack of something by doing or giving something else.
In the passage:
Q32 says people who yawn less do not produce long yawns "to make up for this"; the passage says producers "do not compensate".
Synonyms: make up for, balance out
- gape verb
To open the mouth or an opening wide.
In the passage:
Q34's option says "open your mouth wide to yawn"; the passage says "gaping of the jaws is an essential component".
Synonyms: open wide, stand open
Opposites: close
- muscular deterioration noun phrase
The gradual weakening and loss of strength in muscles over time.
In the passage:
Q36's option says "prevent muscle wasting"; the passage says "prevention of muscular deterioration" and the writer does not know whether yawning helps.
Synonyms: muscle wasting, muscle weakening
- positive prognosis noun phrase
A doctor's forecast that a patient is likely to get better.
In the passage:
Q36's option says "the yawning response indicates that recovery is likely"; the passage asks if it is "a positive prognosis for recovery".
Synonyms: likely recovery, good outlook
Opposites: poor prognosis
- speculated that verb phrase
Suggested an idea or explanation without having enough facts to be sure.
In the passage:
Q40 says "probably inadequate"; the passage says Provine "speculated" that choosing one function "may be an unrealistic goal".
Synonyms: suggested that, guessed that
- stifle verb
To stop something such as a yawn or a laugh from happening or showing.
In the passage:
Q28 says yawns "cannot be interrupted after they have begun"; the passage says "a reason why you cannot stifle yawns".
Synonyms: interrupt, suppress
- the merits of noun phrase
The good qualities or advantages that make something worth supporting.
In the passage:
Q38 says students were reluctant "to appreciate the value"; the passage says it was hard "to convince research students of the merits of ‘yawning science’".
Synonyms: the value of, the benefits of
Opposites: the drawbacks of
- veneer noun
A thin outer appearance that hides what something is really like.
In the passage:
Q37's option says "we yawn in spite of the development of our species"; the passage says ancient behaviour "lurks beneath the veneer of culture".
Synonyms: facade, surface
Answers with explanations
- 27. K
The summary says something **does not exist**. Look in the paragraph on Provine's early discoveries: **There are no half-yawns**. The box has **half-yawns**, which fits **do not exist** exactly.
- 28. H
**Cannot be interrupted after they have begun** matches a yawn that, **once started, progresses with the inevitability of** something. That something is a **sneeze**. The text also says "Just like a cough", but that sentence is about yawns coming in bouts, not about stopping.
- 29. D
**Rather than a stimulus-response** points to the text saying a yawn is **not a reflex**, which it describes as a rapid response to a simple stimulus. What it is instead is an **instinctive fixed-action pattern**. The reflex box is the thing the yawn is not.
- 30. J
**A typical yawn lasts about** matches **The standard yawn runs its course over about six seconds on average**. The box gives the number as digits. Three seconds is only the shortest yawn, not the typical one.
- 31. E
**A number of times in quick succession** matches yawns that **come in bouts**, and **apart** matches the **inter-yawn interval**, which is **generally about 68 seconds**. Six seconds is how long one yawn lasts, not the gap between yawns.
- 32. B
**Length and rate** are the text's duration and frequency, and **make up for this** is **compensate**. A person who yawns less would have to make up for it with **long yawns**, and the text says producers of such yawns do not compensate. Short yawns would not make up for anything.
- 33. B
Find the closed-nose yawn. People can yawn **perfectly normally** with the nose pinched shut, and Provine says breathing in and out **need not involve the nostrils**, which means you can yawn without breathing through your nose. The option saying ending a yawn requires the nostrils is the opposite.
- 34. C
In the clenched-teeth yawn you cannot open your jaws, and you feel stuck. Provine concludes that **gaping of the jaws is an essential component** of a yawn, so you must be able to **open your mouth wide**. The text says breathing through clenched teeth is worse than through the nose, so the option about it being as efficient is wrong.
- 35. D
The nose-yawn paragraph begins by saying what the variant tests: **the adequacy of the nasal airway to sustain a yawn**. In other words, can a yawn be done **only through the nose**? The answer turns out to be no, but the question is what the experiment was used to test.
- 36. C
Find the stroke patients in the paragraph on yawning and stretching. Yawning **activates** connections and causes the **paralysed limb to move**, so movement is **stimulated by yawning**. Recovery and muscle prevention are traps: the text says **It is not known** whether either is true.
- 37. B
Look at the writer's final point. Yawning is a **reminder** that **ancient and unconscious behaviour** survives **beneath the veneer of culture, rationality and language**: we still yawn even though our species has developed. Boredom and low brain activity are never mentioned.
- 38. YES
Look at the opening sentence. **Difficult for him to convince** students **of the merits of** yawning science becomes the students being **reluctant to appreciate the value** of his studies. The writer states this, so the answer is YES.
- 39. NOT GIVEN
The deciding words are **learning how to control movement**. The foetus studies only **observed a link between yawning and stretching**. The writer never says why foetuses yawn and stretch, so this is NOT GIVEN. For YES or NO the writer would need to give a purpose.
- 40. YES
**According to Provine** matches **Provine speculated that**. He thinks yawning **may have many functions** and that choosing **a single function** may be **an unrealistic goal**, so one function is probably not enough. The writer reports his view, so the answer is YES.