Master IELTS Reading: Expert Translations & Step-by-Step Explanations

Understanding the mechanics of fear not only helps us decode human behavior but also paves the way for innovative psychological therapies. In this topic, “Fears”, we will analyze experiments conducted on rhesus monkeys to uncover the intricate link between genetics and social anxiety. The translation and detailed answer explanations provided below will serve as your “north star,” helping you confidently master complex sentence structures and academic vocabulary in this reading passage.

Reading Passage & Questions

FEARS

A. Over the years, most people acquire a repertoire of skills for coping with a range of frightening situations. Scientists are addressing this problem by identifying specific brain processes that regulate fear and its associated behaviors. Despite the availability of noninvasive imaging techniques, such information is still extremely difficult to obtain in humans. Hence, they have turned their attention to another primate, the rhesus monkey. These animals undergo many of the same physiological and psychological developmental stages that humans do, but in a more compressed time span. As they gained more insight into the nature and operation of neural circuits that modulate fear in monkeys, it should be possible to pinpoint the brain processes that cause inordinate anxiety in people and to devise new therapies to counteract it.

B. For 20 years, Ned Kalin, a psychiatrist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has studied fear in people and monkeys. He explained that monkeys have a palette of fearful, or defensive, behaviors that are controlled by different brain mechanisms. Each winter, Kalin and colleagues Steven Shelton and John Berard study a free-living colony of primates called Rhesus macaques on a 38-acre islet called Cayo Santiago on the coast of Puerto Rico. Over the years, they noticed that the monkeys responded differently to different threats.

C. Working in a lab back in Madison, Kalin and Shelton put young macaques through three tests, and saw three adaptive fearful responses: when left alone for 10 minutes, most of the monkeys started cooing to attract their mother’s attention. Being separated from mother terrifies infant primates, so this is a smart, adaptive reaction. When a human intruder entered the room and looked away from the monkey, most of the animals skulked toward the back of their cage and froze. Such freezing minimizes the chance of being detected and gives the animal time to figure out what to do. When a person stared expressionless at the monkey, the animal started a kind of “defensive aggression” reaction, with deep barking, bared teeth, and rattling the cage. Staring, Kalin notes, can be very threatening, since it can signify that a predator has located you or that another member of your species is trying to dominate you.

D. So far, so good. But why did some monkeys freeze for a few seconds, and others for minutes at a time? Why did 5 percent of the preadolescent monkeys freeze when they were stared at, while 95 percent got aggressive? To further define these types of fearful behavior, Kalin gave small amounts of drugs to the monkeys. He found that opiates inhibited the cooing for the mother, which made sense since opiates made naturally by the body are known to affect attachment behavior, but not the aggressive barking. Anti-anxiety drugs like diazepam, or valium, had little or no effect on cooing, but it did decrease barking and freezing.

E. What does all this mean for people plagued by fear and anxiety disorders? For one thing, fearful responses combine several elements; fear is not one single thing. For another, the problem is not simply having too much emotion, Kalin says, but of having the wrong one, or being unable to hit the “off” switch. “People in the past have conceptualized problems of emotions as being overly intense responses. But we find animals that are unable to turn off a specific reaction, or which express the wrong reaction”.

F. Based on earlier observations in humans, scientists knew that humans carry two versions of the gene, long and short. Some people have two long versions (L/L), but the people with one of each (S/L) are known to experience a higher incidence of social anxiety and other behaviors. Scientists from Duke University Medical Center conducted three experiments with male monkeys that had been genotyped for the S/L or L/L variants to learn how genetic variation might influence their responses to social rewards and punishments. They found that monkeys with one copy of the short gene spent less time gazing at images of the face and eyes of other monkeys, were less likely to engage in risk-taking behavior, and less likely to want to view a picture of a high-status male. “For both human and non-human primates, faces and eyes are rich sources of social information, and it’s well established that humans tend to direct visual attention to faces, especially the eye region”, Platt said. “Rhesus monkeys live in highly despotic societies, and convey social rank information by making threats and showing dominant and submissive behaviors”.

G. In a second experiment, the S/L monkeys were less willing to take risks after they were primed with the faces of high-status males. They more often chose a “safe” option of a fixed volume of juice, rather than the chance for a greater or lesser amount, the “risky” choice. Previous studies have found that inducing fear in human subjects makes them more risk-averse.

H. The final experiment was a pay-per-view set-up. The monkeys could have a juice reward paired with an image. The images were of high-status male faces, low-status male faces, or a gray square. The L/L monkeys actually had to be paid juice to view the dominant males, while the S/L monkeys gave up juice for a look at these faces.

I. Altogether, data showed that genetic variation does contribute to social reward and punishment in macaques, and thus shapes social behavior in both humans and rhesus macaques. This study confirms rhesus monkeys can serve as a model of what goes on in our brains, even in the case of social behavior.

Questions 14-18:

Reading Passage 3 contains 9 paragraphs A –I.

Which paragraphs state the following information?

Write the appropriate letters A-I in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

14. Classification of responses to fear.

15. Face of high-status males cause greater fear in the S/L monkey.

16. Facial expressions contain social information.

17. Fear is not a simple emotion.

18. Medicine does not work in some cases.

Questions 19-22:

Choose words from the passage to answer the questions 19-22.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

19. What do humans and animals differ while they share the similar physiological and psychological developmental stages?

20. What reaction did the monkey start with when they were gazed at expressionless?

21. How many preadolescent monkeys became aggressive when they were facing domination from another member of their own species?

22. According to the passage, what determines social behavior in both humans and monkeys?

Questions 23-27:

Complete the summary of the Great Eastern.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

In order to understand the brain processes that cause (23) _________ in people, and how genetic variation might influence social behavior, scientists first conducted three experiments to gain more insight into fear in monkeys. For both human and monkeys, (24) _________ can convey social information. It was found that monkeys with one copy of the short gene were less likely to look at the face of a (25) _________ and to take a risk. The monkey without a (26) _________ would sight on dominant males if they were rewarded, while the (27) _________ monkeys waived the reward.

Detailed Reading Translation

A. Over the years, most people have acquired a range of skills to cope with various frightening situations. Scientists are addressing this by identifying specific brain processes that regulate fear and its associated behaviors. Despite the availability of noninvasive imaging techniques, this information remains extremely difficult to obtain in humans. Therefore, they have turned their attention to another primate: the rhesus monkey. These animals undergo many of the same physiological and psychological developmental stages as humans, but over a more compressed time span. By gaining a better understanding of the neural circuits that modulate fear in monkeys, researchers hope to pinpoint the processes that cause inordinate anxiety in people and devise therapies to counteract it.

B. For 20 years, Ned Kalin has studied fear in both humans and monkeys. He explains that monkeys possess a “palette” of fearful or defensive behaviors controlled by different brain mechanisms. At Cayo Santiago (Puerto Rico), researchers observed that the monkeys responded differently to various types of threats.

C. In the laboratory, Kalin and Shelton conducted three tests and identified three adaptive fearful responses: when left alone, infant monkeys coo to call for their mothers. When an intruder is present but not looking at them, the monkeys skulk to the back of the cage and “freeze” to avoid detection. When stared at expressionlessly, the monkeys engage in “defensive aggression,” such as barking, baring their teeth, and rattling the cage. Staring can signal that a predator has located you or that another individual is attempting to dominate you.

D. Why do some monkeys freeze for seconds while others take minutes? Kalin used small doses of drugs to investigate. He found that opiates inhibited the cooing for the mother (due to their effect on attachment behavior) but did not affect the barking. Anti-anxiety drugs like diazepam or Valium had no effect on cooing but reduced both barking and freezing behavior.

E. What does this mean for those suffering from anxiety disorders? First, fear is a combination of several elements; it is not a single, simple emotion. The problem is not just having too much emotion, but having the wrong one, or being unable to hit the “off” switch. Many individuals are unable to turn off a specific reaction or express an inappropriate one.

F. Scientists know that humans carry two versions of a gene: long and short. People with the S/L variant (one short, one long) have a higher incidence of social anxiety. Experiments on male monkeys showed that those with the short gene spent less time gazing at other monkeys’ faces, were less likely to take risks, and were less interested in viewing images of high-status males. Faces and eyes are rich sources of social information.

G. In a second experiment, S/L monkeys were less willing to take risks after being primed with images of high-status males. They typically chose the “safe” option of a fixed amount of juice rather than opting for a risky choice.

H. The final experiment was a “pay-per-view” setup. L/L monkeys actually had to be rewarded with juice to look at dominant males, whereas S/L monkeys were willing to give up juice just to look at those faces.

I. In summary, the data shows that genetic variation contributes to social behavior in both humans and rhesus monkeys. The study confirms that rhesus monkeys can serve as a model for understanding what occurs in our own brains.

Academic Vocabulary Summary

• Noninvasive (adj): Not requiring the introduction of instruments into the body.

• Modulate (v): To exert a modifying or controlling influence on.

• Inordinate (adj): Unusually or disproportionately large; excessive.

• Counteract (v): To act against something in order to reduce its force or neutralize it.

• Intruder (n): A person who enters a place without permission.

• Skulk (v): To keep out of sight, typically with a sinister or cowardly motive.

• Conceptualize (v): To form a concept or idea of something.

• Despotic (adj): Tyrannical; exercising absolute power in a cruel way.

• Risk-averse (adj): Reluctant to take risks.

• Incidence (n): The occurrence, rate, or frequency of a disease or event.

Detailed Answer Key

Questions 14-18: Paragraph Matching

14. C: Paragraph C lists (classifies) three responses: cooing, freezing, and defensive aggression.

15. G: Paragraph G states that S/L monkeys were less willing to take risks after seeing the faces of high-status males.

16. F: Paragraph F confirms: “faces and eyes are rich sources of social information.”

17. E: Paragraph E states: “fear is not one single thing.”

18. D: Paragraph D points out that diazepam had little or no effect on cooing.

Questions 19-22: Short Answer

19. time span: Paragraph A notes that monkeys undergo similar stages to humans but in a “compressed time span.”

20. defensive aggression: Found directly in paragraph C: “the animal started a kind of ‘defensive aggression’…”

21. 95 percent: Paragraph D notes: “…while 95 percent got aggressive?”

22. genetic variation: Found in paragraph I: “…genetic variation does contribute to social reward… and thus shapes social behavior…”

Questions 23-27: Summary Completion

23. inordinate anxiety: Paragraph A: “…processes that cause inordinate anxiety in people…”

24. faces and eyes: Paragraph F: “…faces and eyes are rich sources of social information…”

25. high-status male: Paragraph F: “…less likely to want to view a picture of a high-status male.”

26. short gene: Monkeys without a “short gene” are L/L. Paragraph H states that L/L monkeys had to be paid to look at dominant males.

27. S/L: Paragraph H states that S/L monkeys waived the reward to look at those faces.

Through this detailed analysis of the “Fears” passage, we see that the most important skill is not knowing every single word, but the ability to analyze logic and locate information under time pressure. We hope this translation and breakdown have helped you understand how a standard Cambridge reading passage operates. Save these valuable academic phrases, persist in analyzing your mistakes, and turn every exercise into a solid stepping stone for your actual exam.