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- IELTS reading matching sentence endings
- IELTS reading table completion
- IELTS reading summary completion
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IELTS reading passage – Telepathy
Telepathy
Can humans communicate by thought alone? The telepathy issue has split the scientific community for more than a century, and even today it provokes bitter controversy among leading academics.
Since the 1970s, parapsychologists at top universities and research institutes around the world have ridiculed sceptical colleagues by testing different claims for telepathy in dozens of severe scientific analyses. The outcomes and their implications divide even the researchers who discovered them.
Some researchers express the outcomes are compelling proof that telepathy is real. Other paranormal medical experts believe that the field is on the verge of collapse as attempts to create solid scientific evidence have failed. Sceptics and lawyers alike agree, however, that the most compelling evidence so far comes from the concept field’, a German term meaning ‘whole field’. Reports of telepathy experiences that people have had during meditation have led paranoid medical experts to suspect that telepathy ‘signals’ were transmitted to people who were unconscious to the point of normal brain function. In this state, such signals can be efficiently seen by those who experience meditation as a soothing ‘whole field’ of light, sound, and warmth.
The ganzfeld experiment attempts to recreate these conditions with participants seated in soft reclining chairs in a locked room, hearing soothing sounds while their eyes are covered by special filters that allow only soft pink light. In the earlier ganzfeld experiments, the telepathy test involved recognizing an image selected from four random selections taken from a large image bank. The concept is that the person acting as a ‘sender’ will try to illuminate the image of the ‘receiver’ resting in a locked room.
When the session was over, he was asked to determine which of the four pictures was used. Random guessing will offer a 25 percent hit rate, and if the telepathy is real, the hit rate will be increased. In 1982, the results of the first ganzfeld study were examined by one of its pioneers, the American psychiatrist Charles Honerton. They suggested a small effect of more than 30 percent on regular success rates, but the statistical tests could not reduce the chance of something being recommended. The implication is that the ganzfeld technique disclosed the true proof of telepathy. But there was one significant flaw in this argument, which one usually does not notice in the usual areas of science. Rejecting the opportunity as an explanation did not prove that telepathy should exist, and there were many other methods to obtain positive results. These range from ‘sensory leakage’ to complete fraud until the clues about the images accidentally reach the recipient. In response, the researchers published a review of all ganzfeld studies conducted up to 1985, with 80 percent finding statistically important proof. Yet, they acknowledged that there are still many issues with testing that could lead to positive outcomes, and they developed a list of new standards for later research.
After this, many researchers changed to autoganzfeld experiments, which were used by computers to perform many important tasks, like a random selection of pictures. The concept was to reduce the danger of defective outcomes by minimizing human involvement. In 1987, Honordon analyzed the results of hundreds of autoganzfeld experiments with a ‘meta-analysis’, a statistical method used to determine the overall results from a group of studies. Although less compelling than before, the effect was still satisfying.
However, some paranoid medical professionals are confused by the lack of consistency between individual ganzfeld studies. Defenders of telepathy ignore a fundamental statistical fact that demands compelling proof in every analysis, big samples are needed to detect small effects. As the current results indicate, if telepathy accidentally develops success rates above the expected 25 percent, it is unlikely to be detected by a routine ganzfeld analysis involving 40 people, the team is not good enough. The faint signal of telepathy is really clear only if multiple studies are integrated with the meta-analysis. That seems to be what the researchers found.
However, they certainly did not find any difference in the attitude of the top scientists, most still completely reject the concept of telepathy. This issue is partly due to the shortage of a reliable method for telepathy.
Different theories have been put forward, with many concentrating on esoteric concepts from theoretical physics. They have ‘quantum entanglement, in which events that affect one group of atoms immediately affect another group, no matter how far away they are. Although physicists have proven the problem with specially made atoms, no one knows whether it exists between the atoms that make up human minds. Answering questions like these will change paranoia medicine. This prompted some researchers to argue that the future lies not in gathering additional proof for telepathy, but in exploring possible mechanisms. While researchers are trying to recognize particularly successful ones in the autoganzfeld tests, some work has already started. In a study at the University of Edinburgh, preliminary results show that those with creativity and artistry perform better than average, with musicians achieving a 56 percent success rate. Maybe many such experiments will finally give researchers the proof they are looking for and strengthen the case for the presence of telepathy.
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Telepathy IELTS reading questions
Question (1-5)
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A–G, below.
Write the correct letter, A-G, as your answer to each question.
1. The telepathy issue has split the scientific community for
2. Some researchers express the outcomes are compelling proof that
3. Reports of telepathy experiences that people have
4. The telepathy test involved recognizing an image selected from four random selections taken
5. The person acting as a ‘sender’ will try to illuminate the image of the ‘receiver’ resting
- telepathy is real
- for later research
- from a large image bank
- more than a century
- a reliable method for telepathy
- had during meditation
- in a locked room
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Question (6 – 10)
Complete the table below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the reading passage for each answer.
| Year | Events |
| 6______________ | The results of the first ganzfeld study were examined by one of its pioneers, the American psychiatrist 7 _________. |
| 1985 | The researchers published a review of all ganzfeld studies conducted up to 8 ___________, with 80 percent finding statistically important proof. |
| 9 _____________ | Honordon analyzed the results of hundreds of autoganzfeld experiments with a 10 ______________, a statistical method used to determine the overall results from a group of studies. |
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Question (11 – 14)
Complete the summary below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Defenders of 11 _____________ ignore a fundamental statistical fact that demands compelling proof in every analysis,… It is unlikely to be detected by a routine 12 ___________ analysis involving 40 people, the team is not good enough. However, researchers certainly did not find any difference in the attitude of the top 13 __________, most still completely reject the concept of telepathy. Answering questions like these will change 14 ___________________.
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Telepathy IELTS reading answers
1. D. more than a century
2. A. telepathy is real
3. F. had during meditation
4. C. from a large image bank
5. G. a locked room
6. 1982
7. Charles Honerton
8. 1985
9. 1987
10. meta-analysis
11. telepathy
12. ganzfeld
13. scientists
14. Paranoia medicine
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