Reading Academic Texts

Respuesta correcta: B) To find out whether tree cover is related to lower city temperatures

• A) To compare the climates of eleven countriesThe study concerns cities rather than countries, and the comparison is internal to each city.
• B) To find out whether tree cover is related to lower city temperaturesThe first sentence states the research question directly, and the second sentence describes the method used to answer it.
• C) To measure how many trees were planted in eleven citiesCounting planted trees is not mentioned; the study uses canopy cover recorded from satellite images.
• D) To argue that cities should plant more treesA recommendation to plant trees would belong to a discussion section, and the text does not make that claim.

Respuesta correcta: B) The groups are equivalent before the treatment begins

• A) The results were assigned to the groups afterwardsNothing in the sentence concerns results or any later stage of the study.
• B) The groups are equivalent before the treatment beginsRandom allocation is used precisely so that the two groups start comparable, which is what the design requires.
• C) The participants chose their own groupChoosing one's own group is self-selection, which random assignment deliberately avoids.
• D) The researchers decided the groups by convenienceConvenience placement is what random assignment exists to replace.

Respuesta correcta: C) That the study was planned formally and follows ethical requirements

• A) That the participants were representative of the whole countryRepresentativeness depends on how participants were selected, which this section does not address.
• B) That the study was repeated in another countryNo repetition in another country appears anywhere in the passage.
• C) That the study was planned formally and follows ethical requirementsAdvance planning, ethical approval and written consent are the three markers of a properly governed study.
• D) That the results were completely reliableEthical approval does not certify results; reliability is argued with evidence elsewhere in the text.

Respuesta correcta: A) The explanation is offered as a likely interpretation rather than a proved fact

• A) The explanation is offered as a likely interpretation rather than a proved fact'Suggests' is a hedging verb that presents an inference the author believes is well founded but not demonstrated.
• B) The author is certain that the interpretation is correctA claim of certainty would require stronger wording, and the author deliberately avoided it.
• C) The author doubts that the effect was ever measuredThe effect is acknowledged as real before its cause is questioned, so the author is not doubting the measurement.
• D) The author is quoting another researcher without naming themNo attribution to another researcher appears in this sentence.

Respuesta correcta: D) The difference cannot be distinguished from no difference

• A) The difference is exactly zeroAn interval including zero does not prove the difference is precisely nothing, only that it cannot be ruled out.
• B) The study failed to measure anythingThe measurement exists and is reported; what is uncertain is the interpretation of the gap.
• C) The result has been fully confirmedConfirmation would require an interval excluding zero, which is not the case here.
• D) The difference cannot be distinguished from no differenceWhen the interval spans zero, the data are consistent with no real difference between the groups.

Respuesta correcta: D) The reported analysis covers less data than the study collected

• A) The study collected no data at allFifteen months of usable data remain, so the study did collect a substantial amount.
• B) The equipment failure invalidates the remaining dataA failure that removes data is a limitation, not a reason to discard what was recorded successfully.
• C) The analysis was extended to cover the missing monthsThe text states that the analysis uses the remaining fifteen months and no estimate of the missing ones.
• D) The reported analysis covers less data than the study collectedThe reader should notice that three months of collected data were excluded, which narrows what the results cover.

Respuesta correcta: C) The second sentence shows the limits of the first by identifying buildings it does not affect

• A) The second sentence provides evidence that ventilation causes illnessNo link between ventilation and illness appears in the text.
• B) The second sentence describes how the regulation was enforcedThe sentence concerns buildings predating the regulation and describes nothing about enforcement.
• C) The second sentence shows the limits of the first by identifying buildings it does not affectA general rule followed by an exception clarifies the rule's reach, which is what 'however' signals here.
• D) The second sentence contradicts the regulationOlder schools are unaffected rather than opposed, so there is no contradiction.

Respuesta correcta: C) Broader in coverage but thinner in measurement at each site

• A) Strictly a repetition of the earlier surveyThe text describes a different design rather than the same survey repeated.
• B) Narrower in coverage and equal in measurementThe coverage is wider, not narrower, and the measurements per site are lower rather than equal.
• C) Broader in coverage but thinner in measurement at each siteDoubling the number of sites while reducing measurements per site produces greater breadth with less depth.
• D) More thorough in every respect than the previous surveyMore sites is not more thorough, since each site is measured less completely.

Respuesta correcta: A) It identifies a limitation that could have influenced the results

• A) It identifies a limitation that could have influenced the resultsBy naming what was not measured and its possible effect, the authors disclose a limitation of their own method.
• B) It reports a finding that the classification was correctThe possible effect on classification means the outcome is uncertain, not confirmed.
• C) It explains how the soil depth was measuredThe passage states that soil depth was not measured at all.
• D) It recommends that future studies measure soil depthA suggestion for future research would belong in a recommendations section and is not made here.

Respuesta correcta: B) The schools that withdrew may differ from those that stayed, affecting the comparison

• A) The first term produced no data of any kindData were collected and are reported for the schools that continued.
• B) The schools that withdrew may differ from those that stayed, affecting the comparisonWithdrawal is rarely random, so the remaining schools may form a different group from the original sample.
• C) The results cannot be published at allPartial results with a clear explanation are publishable, and the authors report them separately.
• D) The study now has more schools than it began withWithdrawal reduces rather than increases the number of schools in the study.

Respuesta correcta: B) Between the size of a correlation and the strength of a causal claim

• A) Between morning and evening study sessionsNothing in the text refers to the time of day when studying takes place.
• B) Between the size of a correlation and the strength of a causal claimA strong statistical association can exist without establishing that one variable produces the other.
• C) Between two different kinds of testThe passage concerns one type of test and makes no comparison between kinds.
• D) Between adults and childrenNo ages are mentioned anywhere in the text.

Respuesta correcta: D) The section is largely a restatement, with interpretation confined to its end

• A) The section introduces brand new evidenceNo new evidence is introduced; the point of the observation is repetition.
• B) The section contains the study's limitationsLimitations would be identified explicitly, and the passage attributes nothing of the kind to this section.
• C) The section explains the sampling methodSampling belongs to the method section and is not what this description concerns.
• D) The section is largely a restatement, with interpretation confined to its endDescribing the section tells the reader where interpretation is actually located and that most of it repeats earlier material.

Respuesta correcta: D) It obscures the fact that the evidence base is small

• A) It indicates that the number of studies is very largeListing four studies immediately afterwards shows the number is modest rather than large.
• B) It shows that the author has not read the studiesThe reference list indicates the author knows the literature, so the vagueness is stylistic.
• C) It establishes that the evidence is of high qualityQuality is argued elsewhere in the paper and is not established by a quantifier.
• D) It obscures the fact that the evidence base is smallA vague quantifier invites the reader to imagine more evidence than the sentence that follows actually provides.

Respuesta correcta: A) The two groups improved almost equally, so no effect of the intervention was demonstrated

• A) The two groups improved almost equally, so no effect of the intervention was demonstratedA one point difference that is not statistically significant does not distinguish the groups from each other.
• B) The intervention was highly effectiveEffectiveness would require a difference large and reliable enough to be distinguished from chance.
• C) The control group improved because of the interventionThe control group received no intervention, so the text cannot attribute its improvement to one.
• D) The study was too short to produce any resultThe data exist and were analysed; what is inconclusive is the difference between the groups.

Respuesta correcta: B) The authors draw on a range of source types rather than only academic articles

• A) The sources are all recent publicationsNo publication dates appear in the description, so nothing supports a claim about recency.
• B) The authors draw on a range of source types rather than only academic articlesBooks, articles and reports all appear in the list, so the source base is varied.
• C) Most of the sources are academic articlesBooks outnumber articles eleven to six, so articles are not the majority.
• D) The authors avoided using organisational reportsThree reports from organisations are included, which is the opposite of avoiding them.

Respuesta correcta: C) Its performance depends on the data used to test it

• A) A 30 per cent increase is the correct figure to reportReporting the larger figure would ignore the evidence that the model performed weakly elsewhere.
• B) The model cannot be used in any regionOne poor performance in a second region does not establish that the model is unusable everywhere.
• C) Its performance depends on the data used to test itA large change in predicted effect across datasets indicates that the model is not robust outside its original context.
• D) The second dataset must contain an errorQuestioning the dataset would be a conclusion the text does not support and would not be a reasonable inference.

Respuesta correcta: C) Adequacy of sample size is a matter of judgement within a field, not a simple calculation

• A) The sample size can be calculated to settle the disagreementIf a calculation settled it, no disagreement between experts would occur.
• B) The journal rejects papers with disputed sample sizesThe editor asked for clarification, which is not the same as rejecting the paper.
• C) Adequacy of sample size is a matter of judgement within a field, not a simple calculationTwo expert readers disagreeing without either being demonstrably wrong shows that the criterion is interpretive.
• D) One reviewer must be wrong about the sampleThe disagreement itself cannot establish that either reviewer is mistaken.

Respuesta correcta: D) The size of an effect and whether it can be shown to be reliable

• A) The type of variable and the type of dataBoth items concern how variables are measured rather than the distinction the passage draws.
• B) The sample size and the population sizeThe passage describes a difference in means and does not compare sample and population.
• C) The mean and the medianNo mention of medians appears in the text.
• D) The size of an effect and whether it can be shown to be reliableThe final sentence explicitly separates the magnitude of a difference from whether statistical testing can rule out chance.

Respuesta correcta: A) The discussion develops meaning and the conclusion keeps the summary compact

• A) The discussion develops meaning and the conclusion keeps the summary compactSections have distinct functions: a discussion interprets, while a conclusion restates what should be remembered.
• B) The authors disagree with themselves between the two sectionsA difference of function is not evidence of inconsistency between the authors.
• C) The conclusion adds new findings that the discussion omittedNo new findings are introduced in the conclusion by the passage's description.
• D) The discussion was written first and the conclusion copied itNothing suggests that one section was produced by copying the other.

Respuesta correcta: A) The results may not generalise beyond that province or those schools

• A) The results may not generalise beyond that province or those schoolsA single province and schools delivering their own programme limit how far the findings can be extended.
• B) The study cannot be trusted at allA limitation narrows the reach of a conclusion; it does not invalidate the whole study.
• C) The teaching method does not workThe text does not report whether the method succeeded or failed.
• D) Four schools are too few for any analysis to be possibleFour schools is a small but workable sample, and the problem is generalisability rather than feasibility.