🔥The communication of science: Đề thi thật IELTS READING (IELTS Reading Recent Actual Test) - Làm bài online format computer-based, kèm giải thích từ vựng

READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27–40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 on pages 10 and 11.

The communication of science

Science plays an increasingly significant role in people's lives, making the communication by journalists in the popular media of scientific developments more important than ever. Yet such communication is fraught with challenges that can easily distort discussions and lead to unnecessary confusion.

Some problems stem from the esoteric nature of current research and the associated difficulty of coming up with sufficiently faithful terminology. Abstraction and complexity are not signs that a given scientific direction is wrong but are instead a tribute to the success of human ingenuity in meeting the challenges that nature presents. They can, however, make communication more difficult.

But many of the biggest challenges for scientific reporting arise because, in areas of evolving research, scientists tend to be specialists and often only partly realise the significance of any particular advance or development. Since that partial understanding applies to most of the scientific developments that directly affect people's lives, such as cancer research and diet studies, learning how to overcome it is critical to stimulating a more informed scientific debate among the broader public.

Ambiguous word choices

Ambiguous word choices are the source of some misunderstandings. Scientists often employ common terminology, to which they then assign a specific meaning that is impossible to fathom without a precise definition. Take Einstein's famous theory of relativity. The term 'relativity' here is intrinsically misleading. Many interpret the theory to mean that everything is relative and there are no absolutes. Yet, although the measurements any observer makes depend on his particular coordinates and reference frame, according to Einstein's theory, the physical phenomena he measures, in fact, have an invariant description that transcends the observer's particular coordinates. The physical phenomena are not relative. Even Einstein admitted that the term 'relativity' was probably misleading.

But not all communication problems stem solely from poor word choices. Some are inherent in the intrinsically complex nature of much of modern science. Science sometimes transcends this limitation: remarkably, chemists were able to detail the precise chemical processes involved in the destruction of the ozone layer, making the evidence that chlorofluorocarbon gases (Freon, for example) were destroying the ozone layer successfully conveyed to the public.

How journalists report scientific developments on vital issues of the day that are less well understood, or in which the connection is less direct, is a more complicated question. Global warming patterns are a case in point. Even if we understand some effects of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it is difficult to predict the precise chain of events that a marked increase in carbon dioxide will cause. The distillation of results presented to the public in such cases should reflect at least some of the subtleties of the most current developments. Balanced reporting, of course, usually helps public understanding.>> Form đăng kí giải đề thi thật IELTS 4 kĩ năng kèm bài giải bộ đề 100 đề PART 2 IELTS SPEAKING quý đang thi (update hàng tuần) từ IELTS TUTOR

Journalists should seek to offer balance by providing opposing or competitive views on any controversial issue. But almost all newly discovered results will have some supporters and some opponents, and only time and more evidence will sort out the true story. However, a real problem in the global warming debate was that the story was reported in the press in a way that suggested some scientists believed it was a legitimate issue and some didn’t, even long after the bulk of the scientific community had recognized the seriousness of the problem.

Statistical understanding and solutions

A better understanding by the general public of the mathematical significance of results would help to clarify many scientific discussions. Statistical analysis can show whether particular results are significant or could occur simply by chance. A few years ago, the Harvard University faculty was tortured by empty debates over the relative intrinsic differences in the scientific abilities of men and women. One of the more amusing aspects of the discussion was that those who believed in the differences and those who didn’t used the same evidence in their opposing arguments about gender-specific scientific ability. How could that be? The answer is that the data did show gender differences, but no statistically significant differences in inherent scientific ability based on gender.

There are steps we can take to improve public understanding of scientific developments.

1. The first would be to inculcate greater understanding and acceptance of indirect scientific evidence not directly observable by human scientists. The information from an unmanned space mission is no less legitimate than the information from one in which people are on board.
2. Second, we might need different standards for evaluating science with urgent policy implications as opposed to research with a purely theoretical value.
3. Third, it would be better if scientists were more prepared to discuss the mathematical significance of their results, and if the public didn’t treat maths as quite so scary: statistics, which tell us the uncertainty in a measurement, give us the tools to evaluate new developments fully.

But fourth, and most important, people have to recognise that science can be complex. If we accept only straightforward stories, the description will necessarily be distorted. When advances are subtle or complicated, scientists should be willing to go the extra distance to give proper explanations, and the public should be more patient about the truth.

Even so, some difficulties are unavoidable. Most developments reflect work in progress, so the story is complex because no one yet knows the big picture. Although the more involved story might not have the same Immediate appeal, the truth in the end will always be far more interesting.

Questions 27-30

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.

27. Why does the writer say we particularly need to pay attention to the communication of science?
A Scientific developments are affecting everyone more and more.
B There is too little discussion of scientific research nowadays.
C There are now so many scientific research projects.
D Scientists need wider public support.

28. In the second paragraph, the writer says it may be difficult to choose the appropriate terminology to describe scientific developments because:
A research findings can be interpreted very differently.
B the nature of modern science is inherently complicated.
C scientists are the only people who can understand their research.
D the public is so critical of the findings of scientists.

29. The writer refers to the term "relativity" as an example of:
A Einstein’s deliberate deception of the public.
B a scientific word used to describe a physical phenomenon.
C the use of a generally used word to describe a scientific concept.
D the absolute nature of scientific theories.

30. What example does the writer cite as a successful scientific explanation of a complicated issue?
A The results of diet studies.
B The developments in cancer research.
C The explanation of the theory of relativity.
D The destruction of the ozone layer.

Questions 31-34

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 31-34 on your answer sheet, write:

• YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer.
• NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer.
• NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.

31. Reporting of different viewpoints on global warming tends to lead to a fuller appreciation of the issues.
32. The media’s attempt to present both sides of the global warming issue went on for too long.
33. Explaining the mathematical significance of experimental results would confuse the public.
34. In the Harvard debate, it would have been better to pay more attention to the discoveries made by male and female scientists.

Questions 35-40

Complete the summary using the list of words A-J below.
Write the correct letter, A-J, in boxes 35-40 on your answer sheet.

Several possible changes could reduce 35 [_____] in the reporting of science. The public needs to recognise that scientific evidence does not need to be 36 [_____] by people to be valid. The way theoretical research is judged may be different from the way research with practical 37 [_____]. Scientists should be more 38 [_____] about the mathematical significance of their findings, and the public should learn to be more comfortable with numerical 39 [_____]. Most importantly, scientists, journalists, and the public must accept that science and science reporting is necessarily 40 [_____].

Options:

A complicated
B observable
C data
D proposals
E immediate
F misunderstandings
G open
H distorted
I implications
J miscalculations

1. Communication

• Meaning: Truyền đạt, giao tiếp
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Why does the writer say we particularly need to pay attention to the communication of science?"

2. Terminology

• Meaning: Thuật ngữ
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "It may be difficult to choose the appropriate terminology to describe scientific developments."

3. Scientific developments

• Meaning: Những phát triển trong lĩnh vực khoa học
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Scientific developments are affecting everyone more and more."

4. Deliberate

• Meaning: Cố ý, có tính toán
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Einstein's deliberate deception of the public."

5. Phenomenon

• Meaning: Hiện tượng
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "A scientific word used to describe a physical phenomenon."

6. Numerical

• Meaning: Liên quan đến con số
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "The public should learn to be more comfortable with numerical data."

7. Miscalculations

• Meaning: Sự tính toán sai
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Distorted reporting can lead to miscalculations in science communication."

8. Implications

• Meaning: Hệ quả, ý nghĩa ẩn
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "The way theoretical research is judged may be different from the way research with practical implications."

9. Distorted

• Meaning: Bị bóp méo, xuyên tạc
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Several possible changes could reduce distortion in the reporting of science."

10. Observable

• Meaning: Có thể quan sát được
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Scientific evidence does not need to be observable by people to be valid."

11. Complicated

• Meaning: Phức tạp
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Science and science reporting is necessarily complicated."

12. Fuller appreciation

• Meaning: Sự hiểu biết đầy đủ hơn
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Reporting of different viewpoints on global warming tends to lead to a fuller appreciation of the issues."

13. Global warming

• Meaning: Sự nóng lên toàn cầu
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "The media’s attempt to present both sides of the global warming issue."

14. Mathematical significance

• Meaning: Ý nghĩa toán học
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Scientists should be more open about the mathematical significance of their findings."

15. Practical implications

• Meaning: Ứng dụng thực tiễn
• IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "The way theoretical research is judged may be different from research with practical implications."

• 27 A
• 28 B
• 29 C
• 30 D
• 31 No
• 32 Yes
• 33 Not
• given
• 34 Not
• given
• 35 F
• 36 B
• 37 I
• 38 G
• 39 C
• 40 A