IELTS PREDICTION TEST

Ahead of its time
A chance discovery in New Zealand has challenged the country’s recorded history
One October afternoon, a young New Zealander, Sam Tobin, called his dogs and went for a walk down to the nearby Ruamahanga River. Having been very high for days, the river had at last fallen, and Tobin was eager to see what changes the floods had brought. The family farm borders the river and a four-metre-high flood bank testifies to its natural tendency to flood.
Tobin stepped out onto a broad shoulder of river sand, where he noticed what he initially took to be a whitish rock, lit by the sun. Then, getting closer, he realised it was a bone. Such a thing was not uncommon in these parts – he had often come across bone fragments, or even whole skeletons, of cows and sheep. But as he scraped aside the stones he realised it was a human bone, something quite new in his experience. As he picked it up, he saw it was a skull, discoloured with age.
Tobin replaced the skull and hurried home to tell his mother what the river had delivered to their doorstep. It would prove to be a spectacular find, setting in motion an investigation by some of the country’s most respected specialists, and ultimately challenging our most firmly held assertions about the human settlement of New Zealand.
The police were immediately called, but despite a thorough search could find nothing that might shed light on the identity of the Ruamahanga skull, or the circumstances of its sudden appearance. The skull was then taken north to be examined by forensic pathologist Dr Ferris, at Auckland Hospital. Despite being hampered by its damaged and incomplete condition – the jawbone and lower left portion of the cranium were missing – Dr Ferris determined that the skull was that of a female. He then consulted with a colleague, Dr Koelmeyer, who believed that the deterioration of the bone placed the time of death ‘before living memory’ and, most significantly as it would turn out, the skull appeared to be European in origin.
Wellington-based forensic anthropologist Dr Watt also examined the skull, and suggested it belonged to a 40-45 year-old. He believed that it could be the remains of an old farm burial, but was not certain, and proposed the use of radiocarbon dating to make sure it wasn’t a recent death. As a result, the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) in Lower Hutt was contacted, and provided with a sample of bone that had originated in the top of the skull. In a little over three weeks the seemingly astonishing results from the GNS laboratory came back. Cutting through the bewildering complexity of the scientific analysis was a single line reading: conventional radiocarbon age approximately 296 years. This was staggering, for the skull was about 200 years older than Dr Koelmeyer had believed.
Of course, a skull of this age wasn’t particularly unusual in New Zealand. The Maori people have been living in the country for at least 800 years and scientists frequently come across human remains of considerable age. The fascinating question, however, was how a skull of this race, let alone this gender, had reached these remote islands in the South Pacific at such a time, long before the arrival of the explorer Captain Cook in 1769, and perhaps even before the very first European landfall – the fleeting visit of the Dutch explorer Tasman in 1642 – neither of whom had women among their crews.
The first known European women in the Pacific came with a doomed colonising venture which sailed from Peru in 1595 under the command of Spanish captain Mendana. However, it is unlikely the Ruamahanga skull originated from this expedition because no evidence of Mendana’s ships has ever been found in New Zealand, while a team of archaeologists working in the Solomon Islands in 1970 did discover the remains of European vessels dating from the 16th century.
Two centuries were to pass before the first recorded European females arrived in New Zealand, both having escaped from prison in Australia. Kathleen Hagerty and Charlotte Edgar are known to have reached the country in 1806. How then do we account for the Ruamahanga skull, which appears to be about 100 years older than that? It is impossible to say with certainty, but the most likely explanation is that a Spanish or Portuguese trading-hip was washed onto these wild shores as a result of a shipwreck and a woman got ashore. Implausible, perhaps, but the Ruamahanga skull, today resting in the Wellington Museum, could be the kind of concrete evidence that demands such a drastic re-evaluation of history.

1. The Ruamahanga River often floods.
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Đáp án: TRUE
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Dẫn chứng: “…a four-metre-high flood bank testifies to its natural tendency to flood.”
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<li>
Giải thích: Một bờ đê ngăn lũ cao 4 mét là bằng chứng cho thấy con sông này có xu hướng tự nhiên là hay bị lũ lụt.
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2. When Tobin first found the object in the river, he mistook it for something else.
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Đáp án: TRUE
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Dẫn chứng: “…he noticed what he initially took to be a whitish rock…”
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Giải thích: Lúc đầu Sam Tobin đã nhầm hộp sọ là một viên đá trắng.
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</ul>
3. Tobin could not decide what part of the body the bone came from.
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Đáp án: FALSE
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Dẫn chứng: “As he picked it up, he saw it was a skull, discoloured with age.”
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Giải thích: Câu hỏi nói Tobin không thể quyết định mảnh xương từ bộ phận nào, nhưng bài đọc khẳng định ngay khi cầm lên anh đã nhận ra đó là một hộp sọ.
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4. Tobin’s mother was surprised that the skull caused debate among specialists.
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Đáp án: NOT GIVEN
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Dẫn chứng: “…hurried home to tell his mother what the river had delivered to their doorstep.”
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Giải thích: Bài đọc chỉ nói Sam về nhà kể cho mẹ nghe về khám phá, không đề cập đến cảm xúc “ngạc nhiên” của bà trước những tranh luận của các chuyên gia sau này.
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</ul>

Questions 1–4

5 . Đáp án: POLICE
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Dẫn chứng: “The police were immediately called, but despite a thorough search could find nothing…”
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Giải thích: Sau khi Sam kể cho gia đình, cảnh sát là lực lượng đầu tiên tham gia vào việc tìm kiếm và cố gắng giải thích sự xuất hiện của hộp sọ.
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</ul>
6. Đáp án: EUROPEAN
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Dẫn chứng: “…the skull appeared to be European in origin.”
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Giải thích: Bác sĩ Koelmeyer, sau khi tham vấn, đã đưa ra nhận định quan trọng rằng hộp sọ này có đặc điểm nhân chủng học của người Châu Âu.
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</ul>
7 . Đáp án: Radiocarbon dating
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Dẫn chứng: “…proposed the use of radiocarbon dating to make sure it wasn’t a recent death.”
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Giải thích: Tiến sĩ Watt đã đề xuất sử dụng phương pháp đo carbon phóng xạ để xác định chính xác thời điểm tử vong và đảm bảo đây không phải là một vụ án gần đây.
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</ul>
8. Đáp án: SAMPLE
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Dẫn chứng: “…provided with a sample of bone that had originated in the top of the skull.”
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Giải thích: Một mẫu xương (sample) lấy từ phần đỉnh hộp sọ đã được gửi tới Viện Khoa học Địa chất và Hạt nhân (GNS) để phân tích.
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</ul>
9. Đáp án: 296
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Dẫn chứng: “…conventional radiocarbon age approximately 296 years.”
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Giải thích: Kết quả từ phòng thí nghiệm GNS xác định tuổi của hộp sọ là xấp xỉ 296 năm, một con số gây kinh ngạc vì nó lâu đời hơn rất nhiều so với các giả định trước đó.
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</ul>

Questions 5–9

10 Đáp án: RACE
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Dẫn chứng: “The fascinating question, however, was how a skull of this race, let alone this gender, had reached these remote islands…”
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Hộp sọ gây ngạc nhiên không chỉ bởi giới tính nữ mà còn bởi chủng tộc (race) của nó, vì nó có niên đại trước khi người Châu Âu định cư tại New Zealand.
</li>
</ul>
11  Đáp án: ARCHAEOLOGISTS
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Dẫn chứng: “…while a team of archaeologists working in the Solomon Islands in 1970 did discover the remains of European vessels dating from the 16th century.”
</li>
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Giải thích: Mặc dù không thấy bằng chứng của đoàn thám hiểm Mendana tại NZ, nhưng các nhà khảo cổ (archaeologists) đã tìm thấy dấu vết tàu Châu Âu thế kỷ 16 tại quần đảo Solomon.
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</ul>
12  Đáp án: AUSTRALIA
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Dẫn chứng: “Two centuries were to pass before the first recorded European females arrived in New Zealand, both having escaped from prison in Australia.”
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Những phụ nữ Châu Âu đầu tiên chính thức được ghi nhận đến NZ vào năm 1806, xuất thân là những tù nhân trốn thoát từ Úc (Australia).
</li>
</ul>
13  Đáp án: SHIPWRECK
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<li>
Dẫn chứng: “…the most likely explanation is that a Spanish or Portuguese trading-ship was washed onto these wild shores as a result of a shipwreck and a woman got ashore.”
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Giải thích khả thi nhất cho sự hiện diện của hộp sọ này là kết quả từ một vụ đắm tàu (shipwreck) của Tây Ban Nha hoặc Bồ Đào Nha, giúp một người phụ nữ may mắn sống sót dạt vào bờ.
</li>
</ul>

Questions 10–13

PASSAGE 1

How do plants talk to each other?
Research shows that plants communicate and interact with each other in surprisingly subtle and sophisticated ways.
{The widespread rejection of an idea}
In 1983, plant scientists Jack Schultz and Ian Baldwin reported that healthy young maple trees increased their defense systems when exposed to maples that had been damaged by plant-eating (herbivorous) insects. The injured trees, they suggested, were alerting neighbors to the presence of a predator by releasing chemical signals into the air. But the plant research community did not accept this. The results were difficult to replicate, critics pointed out. Many also questioned how a trait could be evolutionarily stable if it benefited neighboring plants but not the plant releasing the signal. By the late 1980s, most ecologists felt that Schultz and Baldwin’s ideas had been discredited.
{Evidence leading to renewed belief in a theory}
A decade later, however, a number of more carefully designed experiments began to yield convincing indications to the contrary. In 2000, evolutionary ecologist Richard Karban showed that wild tobacco plants became resistant to herbivores when grown in close proximity to sagebrush plants whose leaves had been damaged by cutting. This change appeared to be in response to chemicals – known as volatile organic compounds or VOCs – released by the sagebrush plants. Other researchers soon reported similar VOC-induced defense responses in several other plants, including lima bean, broad bean, barley, and corn. And in 2006, Karban showed that VOCs released by damaged sagebrush induce herbivore resistance in plants growing at distances of up to 60 cm, well within the range of sagebrush neighbors in nature.
{A suggested benefit to the sender of plant communication}
But the question still remains: ‘Why should a plant waste valuable resources on a function which has no obvious advantage for it?’ One hypothesis is that external communication channels are merely an extension of within-plant signaling. In sagebrush, lima bean, and poplar, VOCs released from damaged parts of a plant induce resistance in intact sections of the same plant, suggesting that each individual plant uses the signals to coordinate its own physiological responses to protect itself. Karban agrees, saying, ‘The interplant signaling we see may be a result of plants co-opting that process.’ Alternatively, VOC-based signaling between plants may have been favored because it enhances the ‘extended fitness’ of the sender by aiding related plants of the same species: a strategy known as kin selection.
{Sending messages underground}
Over the past few years, a team led by Ariel Novoplansky of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel seems to have found proof that distress signals can be passed through the plants’ roots. They planted garden pea plants in rows and subjected the first in each row to conditions similar to those experienced in a drought. They then evaluated the response by measuring the microscopic holes on leaves, known as pores, which react when there is a shortage of water. After fifteen minutes, the stressed plant was seen to be closing its pores, followed by all of its neighbors, one by one. Importantly, in a control setup where root contact between neighboring plants was blocked, pores stayed open. Meanwhile, David Johnson’s team at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland have been studying the labyrinths of hair-like fungi that occur around the roots of most plants. These fungi are involved in an important two-way relationship: in exchange for sugars, they provide plants with much-needed phosphorus and nitrogen. Research in which broad bean plants were infested with aphids – small herbivorous insects – revealed that these networks also served as a channel for warning neighboring plants of the infestation.
{One species accelerating growth in another}
Monica Gagliano of the University of Western Australia believes that plants may even use sounds to alert their neighbors. In one study, she demonstrated that chili plant seedlings grown next to fennel plants developed more quickly than seedlings grown with other chili plants. Gagliano and her colleagues suspect the chili plants were compensating for the presence of the fennel, which is known to release chemicals that inhibit the growth of other plants. Remarkably, however, when plant communication pathways – airborne volatiles, root contact, and common fungal networks – were blocked, the results begged for an alternative explanation. ‘We think this other channel of communication might be acoustic,’ said Gagliano. But behavioral ecologist Carel ten Cate of the University of Leiden in the Netherlands points out that taking advantage of such benefits would require sensory mechanisms yet to be described in plants. Despite widespread skepticism, Gagliano has received some encouragement. Richard Karban, for example, is cautiously enthusiastic. ‘Whether or not the explanation she favors is the right one,’ he says, ‘I think that she’s gotten results that, as a field, we need to come to grips with.’
{Potential advantages for farmers}
Researchers believe that knowledge of this phenomenon could eventually be applied to agriculture, and lead to the cultivation of hardier crops. But all agree that there is still much work to be done. ‘Applying our limited knowledge [of plant-communication mechanisms] to agriculture is a big jump,’ says Johnson, ‘but it is definitely on the horizon.’ Nevertheless, one message has emerged loud and clear from those studying this new realm of botanical interaction: despite not possessing eyes, ears, or a nervous system, plants are anything but uncommunicative. ‘During my PhD [in the late 1980s], all this stuff was considered very weird,’ recalls Ariel Novoplansky. ‘Today, there is no doubt that we now recognise that plants are capable of some very sophisticated exchanges of information with other plants. This idea is not strange anymore.’

<h3 data-start="144" data-end="189">14. The widespread rejection of an idea</h3>
Vị trí: Đoạn 14, phần cuối đoạn.
Dẫn chứng: “But the plant research community did not accept this… By the late 1980s, most ecologists felt that Schultz and Baldwin’s ideas had been discredited.”
Giải thích: Đoạn này nói rõ cộng đồng khoa học không chấp nhận giả thuyết ban đầu. Ý tưởng bị cho là không thể lặp lại và thiếu tính tiến hóa. Vì vậy heading phù hợp là sự bác bỏ rộng rãi một ý tưởng.
<h3 data-start="621" data-end="677">15. Evidence leading to renewed belief in a theory</h3>
Vị trí: Đoạn 15, toàn đoạn.
Dẫn chứng: “A decade later… carefully designed experiments began to yield convincing indications…” “In 2000… Karban showed that…”
Giải thích: Sau 10 năm, các thí nghiệm được thiết kế cẩn thận hơn đã đưa ra bằng chứng thuyết phục, khôi phục lại niềm tin vào lý thuyết giao tiếp giữa các cây.
<h3 data-start="1028" data-end="1094">16. A suggested benefit to the sender of plant communication</h3>
Vị trí: Đoạn 16, phần giữa và cuối đoạn.
Dẫn chứng: “external communication channels are merely an extension of within-plant signaling” “enhances the ‘extended fitness’ of the sender… a strategy known as kin selection.”
Giải thích: Đoạn này giải thích vì sao cây gửi tín hiệu có thể có lợi cho chính nó – hoặc là mở rộng cơ chế tự bảo vệ nội tại, hoặc giúp các cây họ hàng (kin selection). Đây chính là lợi ích dành cho “người gửi”.
<h3 data-start="1557" data-end="1595">17. Sending messages underground</h3>
Vị trí: Đoạn 17, câu đầu và phần giữa đoạn.
Dẫn chứng: “distress signals can be passed through the plants’ roots.” “networks of hair-like fungi… served as a channel for warning neighboring plants.”
Giải thích: Đoạn này tập trung vào việc truyền tín hiệu qua rễ và mạng lưới nấm dưới đất → đúng với tiêu đề gửi thông điệp dưới lòng đất.
<h3 data-start="1961" data-end="2013">18. One species accelerating growth in another</h3>
Vị trí: Đoạn 18, phần đầu đoạn.
Dẫn chứng: “chili plant seedlings grown next to fennel plants developed more quickly than seedlings grown with other chili plants.”
Giải thích: Một loài (fennel) ảnh hưởng làm loài khác (chili) phát triển nhanh hơn → đúng tiêu đề về một loài thúc đẩy sự phát triển của loài khác.
<h3 data-start="2353" data-end="2395">19. Potential advantages for farmers</h3>
Vị trí: Đoạn 19, câu đầu đoạn.
Dẫn chứng: “knowledge of this phenomenon could eventually be applied to agriculture, and lead to the cultivation of hardier crops.”
Giải thích: Đoạn cuối nói về ứng dụng vào nông nghiệp và tạo ra cây trồng khỏe hơn → lợi ích tiềm năng cho nông dân.

Questions 14–19

<h3 data-start="2729" data-end="2744">20. roots</h3>
Vị trí: Đoạn 17, câu đầu.
Dẫn chứng: “distress signals can be passed through the plants’ roots.”
Giải thích: Novoplansky chứng minh cây truyền tín hiệu qua rễ → điền “roots”.
<hr data-start="2942" data-end="2945" />
<h3 data-start="2947" data-end="2964">21. drought</h3>
Vị trí: Đoạn 17, phần đầu đoạn.
Dẫn chứng: “conditions similar to those experienced in a drought.”
Giải thích: Nhóm nghiên cứu tạo điều kiện giống hạn hán → đáp án “drought”.
<hr data-start="3162" data-end="3165" />
<h3 data-start="3167" data-end="3182">22. fungi</h3>
Vị trí: Đoạn 17, phần giữa đoạn.
Dẫn chứng: “labyrinths of hair-like fungi that occur around the roots…”
Giải thích: Johnson nghiên cứu mạng lưới nấm nối các cây dưới đất → điền “fungi”.
<hr data-start="3392" data-end="3395" />
<h3 data-start="3397" data-end="3413">23. aphids</h3>
Vị trí: Đoạn 17, câu gần cuối đoạn.
Dẫn chứng: “broad bean plants were infested with aphids…”
Giải thích: Thí nghiệm dùng côn trùng ăn lá gọi là aphids → đáp án “aphids”.

Questions 20–23

<h3 data-start="3638" data-end="3663">24. C (David Johnson)</h3>
Vị trí: Đoạn 19, câu thứ hai.
Dẫn chứng: “Applying our limited knowledge… to agriculture is a big jump… but it is definitely on the horizon,” says Johnson.
Giải thích: Johnson nói việc áp dụng nghiên cứu vào nông nghiệp là có thể trong tương lai → giúp cải thiện nguồn lương thực.
<hr data-start="3967" data-end="3970" />
<h3 data-start="3972" data-end="3998">25. A (Richard Karban)</h3>
Vị trí: Đoạn 16, phần giữa đoạn.
Dẫn chứng: “external communication channels are merely an extension of within-plant signaling.” “Karban agrees…”
Giải thích: Karban cho rằng giao tiếp giữa cây có thể là hệ quả của cơ chế tự bảo vệ nội tại → đúng với nội dung câu hỏi.
<hr data-start="4291" data-end="4294" />
<h3 data-start="4296" data-end="4325">26. B (Ariel Novoplansky)</h3>
Vị trí: Đoạn 19, phần cuối đoạn.
Dẫn chứng: “During my PhD… this stuff was considered very weird… Today… not strange anymore.”
Giải thích: Novoplansky nói thái độ khoa học đã thay đổi rõ rệt qua thời gian → đúng với statement.

Questions 24–26

PASSAGE 2

Charles Darwin, the brilliant anthropologist and creator of the theory of evolution, is not normally associated with the modern business world. Nevertheless, Darwinian evolutionary theory is the foundation of a new wave of ideas about human behavior in general and particularly the way people behave in the workplace; these ideas have given the title of evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary psychology revolves around the notion that our brains, like our bodies, have an inherited evolutionary design that has scarcely changed for 10,000 years. As respected evolutionary psychology experts Leda Cosmides and John Tooby comment, ‘our modern skulls house a Stone Age mind.’ The US biologist Edward О Wilson sees evolutionary psychology as being a discipline which is based on both socio-biology, which is the study of the biological basis of social behavior, and psychology, which is the systematic study of human behavior.
Nigel Nicholson, an organisational psychologist from the London Business School, is a strong supporter of evolutionary psychology and on this subject has published Managing the Human Animal. His book takes the reader on a journey from the Stone Age plains of the savannah to the modern office, and includes a discussion of Darwinism and behavioural psychology together with a dissection of dysfunctional organisational behavior. It is an effective approach explaining why people behave as they do, particularly at work. Evolutionary psychology is increasingly being cited in management circles, where managers are trying to understand puzzling aspects of human behaviour and by doing so improve the workplace. Nicholson believes that evolutionary psychology can help managers understand what goes wrong in organisational life and what they can do about it.
Nicholson maintains that evolutionary psychology dismisses the long-held assumption that our minds are like blank pages just waiting for culture and experience to write on them and shape our nature. He points out that sophisticated research shows the brain actually houses a store of knowledge when we are born, and now genetic research is establishing there are certain genes that account for abilities, tastes and tendencies. The stored knowledge in the human brain has not changed much since the Stone Age. As Tooby and Cosmides stress, there have not been enough generations for a brain that is well adapted to our post-industrial life to evolve through natural selection.
The evolutionary psychology version of human nature revolves around some key elements which we have inherited from our hunter-gatherer minds. One key element is emotion. Emotion was originally essential to keep early man alive and safe from predators. Emotion was, and continues to be our radar, guiding us throughout today’s techno defined business world. Despite this, the business world emphasises rational not emotional behaviour, and does not admit the importance of emotion. We still use the emotional part of our minds to make sense other people’s behaviour and to create an impression, so we can often be taken in by appearances. This mental predisposition actually works best in small communities (the tribe), not in much larger environments filled with people we barely know (the modern workplace). Our minds naturally try to re-create our ancestral communities with networks of no more than 150 people, where there are clear hierarchies and leaders. As a consequence, it takes very little to trigger people’s innate distrust of others because our safety in antiquity depended on supporting our near family and friends whom we valued more than other people.
So what advice does Nicholson have for the corporate world? He thinks that by knowing the reasons for people’s behaviour it is possible to mould corporate environments into places that have more chance of working efficiently and being pleasant places to work in. Nicholson admits that not everybody in the business word agrees with his belief in the effectiveness of evolutionary psychology in the workplace. One group that resist the theory of evolutionary psychology is young MBA graduates who are just beginning their careers and feel that evolutionary psychology will make their lives at work more difficult. Older and wiser executives point out that they still tend to cling to the idea of a magic formula to bring people into line with corporate strategy. But that is back-to-front thinking according to Nicholson, who contends that we should be reinventing our business structures, not our fundamental human nature.
At the end of his book, Nicholson gives his forecast of what will and will not change in the business world. He believes that most people will still prefer more traditional forms of work and throughout their lives will continue to aim at lifelong status advancement. He also maintains that the line between work and home will be less defined, but that people will prefer traditional working patterns if working from home leaves them isolated from their work community. He doubts that the high-tech ideas of virtual companies will ever be very successful because people will still want to meet each other face-to-face. Nicholson describes his ideal organisation in the future: it would be decentralized, with small sub-units: the staff would be from diverse backgrounds and be allowed a high degree of self-determination. New endeavours and creativity would replace systems and rationality. Nicholson acknowledges that there is a long way to go in terms of the translation of his ideas of evolutionary psychology into practical propositions, but he is confident more and more people will come round to his way of thinking.

27. The writer’s purpose in the first paragraph is to
<ul data-path-to-node="3">
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Đáp án: explain the theory of evolutionary psychology.
</li>
<li>
Dẫn chứng: “Evolutionary psychology revolves around the notion that our brains, like our bodies, have an inherited evolutionary design that has scarcely changed for 10,000 years.”
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Đoạn đầu tiên giới thiệu định nghĩa và nền tảng của tâm lý học tiến hóa, giải thích rằng bộ não con người sở hữu những thiết kế di truyền từ thời kỳ đồ đá.
</li>
</ul>
28. In the third paragraph which view about evolutionary psychology matches Nicholson’s opinion?
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Đáp án: We inherit ideas and characteristics from our ancestors.
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Dẫn chứng: “Nicholson maintains that evolutionary psychology dismisses the long-held assumption that our minds are like blank pages… research shows the brain actually houses a store of knowledge when we are born…”
</li>
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Giải thích: Nicholson bác bỏ quan niệm “tờ giấy trắng” và khẳng định con người sinh ra đã có sẵn một kho tàng kiến thức và xu hướng di truyền từ tổ tiên.
</li>
</ul>
29. The writer discusses the key element of emotion in order to
<ul data-path-to-node="7">
<li>
Đáp án: explain attitudes and actions at work.
</li>
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Dẫn chứng: “We still use the emotional part of our minds to make sense [of] other people’s behaviour… This mental predisposition actually works best in small communities (the tribe), not in much larger environments… (the modern workplace).”
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Giải thích: Tác giả phân tích cảm xúc như một bản năng di truyền để giải thích lý do tại sao con người có những thái độ và hành động cụ thể (như sự ngờ vực hoặc nhu cầu về thứ bậc) trong môi trường làm việc hiện đại.
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</ul>
30. Which of the following does Nicholson predict will happen in the business world?
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Đáp án: Social interaction will remain important to workers.
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Dẫn chứng: “He doubts that the high-tech ideas of virtual companies will ever be very successful because people will still want to meet each other face-to-face.”
</li>
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Giải thích: Nicholson dự đoán rằng tương tác trực tiếp xã hội vẫn rất quan trọng; ông nghi ngờ sự thành công của các công ty ảo vì con người luôn có nhu cầu gặp gỡ trực tiếp.
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</ul>
31. Which of the following is the most suitable title for Reading Passage 3?
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Đáp án: Understanding the origins of workplace behavior.
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Dẫn chứng: Toàn bộ bài đọc tập trung vào việc dùng tâm lý học tiến hóa để giải thích “why people behave as they do, particularly at work.”
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Giải thích: Xuyên suốt văn bản là sự kết nối giữa nguồn gốc tiến hóa (thời kỳ săn bắn hái lượm) và các hành vi trong văn phòng hiện đại.
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</ul>

Questions 27–31

<h3 data-path-to-node="3">Câu 32: Nicholson makes a persuasive argument in his book.</h3>
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Đáp án: YES
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Vị trí thông tin: Đoạn 2, dòng 3-5: “…published Managing the Human Animal. His book takes the reader on a journey… It is an effective approach explaining why people behave as they do…”
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Giải thích: Trong bài, tác giả nhận xét cuốn sách của Nicholson là một “effective approach” (cách tiếp cận hiệu quả). Từ “effective” đồng nghĩa với “persuasive” (có sức thuyết phục) trong ngữ cảnh này. Vì bài đọc xác nhận lập luận của ông ấy hiệu quả, đáp án là YES.
</li>
</ul>
<h3 data-path-to-node="5">Câu 33: Tooby and Cosmides believe natural selection through the generations has prepared our minds well for the modern workplace.</h3>
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Đáp án: NO
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Vị trí thông tin: Đoạn 3, 3 dòng cuối: “As Tooby and Cosmides stress, there have not been enough generations for a brain that is well adapted to our post-industrial life to evolve through natural selection.”
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Giải thích: Câu hỏi nói rằng Tooby và Cosmides tin là chọn lọc tự nhiên đã chuẩn bị “tốt” (well prepared) cho bộ não chúng ta với môi trường làm việc hiện đại. Tuy nhiên, bài đọc khẳng định ngược lại: chưa có đủ thời gian (số thế hệ) để bộ não thích nghi tốt với cuộc sống hậu công nghiệp. Thông tin bị mâu thuẫn trực tiếp, nên đáp án là NO.
</li>
</ul>
<h3 data-path-to-node="7">Câu 34: Our reliance on technology causes emotional problems in the workplace.</h3>
<ul data-path-to-node="8">
<li>
Đáp án: NOT GIVEN
</li>
<li>
Vị trí thông tin: Đoạn 4 đề cập đến “emotion” (cảm xúc), “predators” (thú săn mồi), và “techno defined business world” (thế giới kinh doanh định nghĩa bởi công nghệ).
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Bài đọc có nói cảm xúc là cái “radar” giúp chúng ta định hướng trong thế giới công nghệ hiện nay. Tuy nhiên, không có thông tin nào khẳng định việc “phụ thuộc vào công nghệ” (reliance on technology) là nguyên nhân gây ra “các vấn đề về cảm xúc” (emotional problems). Bài chỉ nói thế giới kinh doanh coi trọng lý trí hơn cảm xúc, chứ không nói công nghệ gây ra bệnh tâm lý/cảm xúc. Vì vậy, đáp án là NOT GIVEN.
</li>
</ul>
<h3 data-path-to-node="9">Câu 35: People today are more trusting than they used to be.</h3>
<ul data-path-to-node="10">
<li>
Đáp án: NOT GIVEN
</li>
<li>
Vị trí thông tin: Đoạn 4, dòng 10-12: “As a consequence, it takes very little to trigger people’s innate distrust of others because our safety in antiquity depended on supporting our near family…”
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Bài đọc nói rằng con người có sự “nghi ngờ bẩm sinh” (innate distrust) đối với người lạ do di truyền từ tổ tiên. Tuy nhiên, bài không hề so sánh mức độ tin tưởng của con người “ngày nay” so với “ngày xưa” (more trusting than they used to be). Chúng ta chỉ biết bản chất là hay nghi ngờ, còn việc mức độ đó tăng hay giảm theo thời gian thì không được nhắc tới. Đáp án là NOT GIVEN.
</li>
</ul>

Questions 32–35

<h4 data-path-to-node="3">Câu 36: …we can change {H. business environments}</h4>
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Vị trí thông tin: Đoạn 5, câu 2: “He thinks that by knowing the reasons for people’s behaviour it is possible to mould corporate environments into places…”
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Giải thích: Trong bài dùng từ “corporate environments” (môi trường doanh nghiệp). Từ này đồng nghĩa với phương án H. business environments. Nicholson tin rằng hiểu được hành vi sẽ giúp chúng ta nhào nặn/thay đổi môi trường làm việc tốt hơn.
</li>
</ul>
<h4 data-path-to-node="5">Câu 37: …unwelcome to {B. MBA graduates}</h4>
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Vị trí thông tin: Đoạn 5, câu 4: “One group that resist the theory of evolutionary psychology is young MBA graduates…”
</li>
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Giải thích: Từ “unwelcome” (không được chào đón/phản đối) trong đoạn tóm tắt tương ứng với từ “resist” (kháng cự/phản đối) trong bài đọc. Nhóm đối tượng được nhắc đích danh là các học viên cao học quản trị kinh doanh. Do đó, đáp án là B.
</li>
</ul>
<h4 data-path-to-node="7">Câu 38: …believe that there is a {E. magic formula}</h4>
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Vị trí thông tin: Đoạn 5, câu 5: “Older and wiser executives point out that they still tend to cling to the idea of a magic formula to bring people into line…”
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Các nhà điều hành (executives) kỳ cựu thường có xu hướng bám lấy (cling to) ý tưởng về một “công thức kỳ diệu” để bắt nhân viên tuân thủ chiến lược công ty. Cụm từ này khớp hoàn toàn với phương án E.
</li>
</ul>
<h4 data-path-to-node="9">Câu 39: …engaging in {G. back-to-front thinking}</h4>
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<li>
Vị trí thông tin: Đoạn 5, câu 6: “But that is back-to-front thinking according to Nicholson…”
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Nicholson nhận định cách tư duy của các nhà điều hành (muốn dùng công thức để thay đổi con người) là kiểu tư duy “ngược đời” hoặc “từ sau ra trước”. Đáp án là G.
</li>
</ul>
<h4 data-path-to-node="11">Câu 40: …should not try to change {I. human nature}</h4>
<ul data-path-to-node="12">
<li>
Vị trí thông tin: Đoạn 5, câu 6 (vế cuối): “…who contends that we should be reinventing our business structures, not our fundamental human nature.”
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Nicholson cho rằng chúng ta nên cải tổ cấu trúc kinh doanh chứ không phải thay đổi “bản chất con người”. Từ “fundamental human nature” trong bài khớp với phương án I.
</li>
</ul>

Nicholson’s advice to the corporate world
Nicholson believes that if we know why people act the way they do, we can change {H. business environments} so employees will work more efficiently. Nicholson’s ideas are unwelcome to {B. MBA graduates} but some executives are more open to what evolutionary psychology says. However, these executives still believe that there is a {E. magic formula} that will make employees act according to the company’s practices. According to Nicholson, these senior executives are engaging in {G. back-to-front thinking} and we should not try to change {I. human nature} but instead we should change our business structures.

Reading Test 37

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