Solutions Upper End of Year Reading Test

Read the text divided into three parts. Match the question with a paragraph. Write the letter and the part of the text to prove your choice.

Body language

A Some people are good at interpreting body language, while others find the whole thing a mystery. Improving your ability to recognise how others really feel is a useful skill, and one you can quite quickly improve if you learn what signs to watch out for. Take facial expressions. One thing you should remember about facial expressions is that they are rarely to be trusted. That’s because we are all aware that other people try to read our true feelings and as a result, we are all pretty expert at hiding them. From childhood, we all learn how to fake a smile, for instance. To become expert at interpreting a smile, we should observe the eyes, not the mouth. If someone is really smiling, their eyes brighten, they raise their eyebrows and even tilt their head. If only the mouth is smiling then it is a sure sign that the person you are looking at is only pretending.

B As faces are dishonest, experts at reading body language look elsewhere for the best clues to how a person truly feels. The torso, comprised of our shoulders, chest and stomach, is a good indicator of how we feel. It is where we have our vital organs, so evolution has taught us to cover them up, especially when we feel threatened. Crossed arms often means ‘leave me alone’. The way we move our hands can also be revealing. Even though we are all taught how to restrain our hand movements – we learn not to point to avoid being rude, for example – it is not as easy to fake as the look on our face. As a general rule, the higher our hands, the more positive we feel, which is why fans at a concert feel an irresistible need to lift their hands. Think about it. If we hear good news, we leap up, bad news and our shoulders drop.

C Surprisingly, there is another part of the body more incapable of fibbing than any other. Over millions of years, our hands, arms and faces have learned how to pretend as well as how to communicate, but in contrast, evolution has taught our legs to do one thing, and one thing only, and that’s get ready to run at the first sign of danger. Subconsciously, we position our feet in the direction we want to go. Next time you are chatting to a boy or girl you really like, glance down at your feet, and notice how they will be pointing right at your partner. If theirs are pointing at yours, that’s good news, but if one of their feet is pointing away, or if they keep moving a foot in an outward direction, then I’m afraid they probably don’t like you as much as you might have thought.

In which paragraph does the writer mention …

how mastering the ability to deceive others with our body language begins early in life?

Read the text divided into three parts. Match the question with a paragraph. Write the letter and the part of the text to prove your choice.

Body language

A Some people are good at interpreting body language, while others find the whole thing a mystery. Improving your ability to recognise how others really feel is a useful skill, and one you can quite quickly improve if you learn what signs to watch out for. Take facial expressions. One thing you should remember about facial expressions is that they are rarely to be trusted. That’s because we are all aware that other people try to read our true feelings and as a result, we are all pretty expert at hiding them. From childhood, we all learn how to fake a smile, for instance. To become expert at interpreting a smile, we should observe the eyes, not the mouth. If someone is really smiling, their eyes brighten, they raise their eyebrows and even tilt their head. If only the mouth is smiling then it is a sure sign that the person you are looking at is only pretending.

B As faces are dishonest, experts at reading body language look elsewhere for the best clues to how a person truly feels. The torso, comprised of our shoulders, chest and stomach, is a good indicator of how we feel. It is where we have our vital organs, so evolution has taught us to cover them up, especially when we feel threatened. Crossed arms often means ‘leave me alone’. The way we move our hands can also be revealing. Even though we are all taught how to restrain our hand movements – we learn not to point to avoid being rude, for example – it is not as easy to fake as the look on our face. As a general rule, the higher our hands, the more positive we feel, which is why fans at a concert feel an irresistible need to lift their hands. Think about it. If we hear good news, we leap up, bad news and our shoulders drop.

C Surprisingly, there is another part of the body more incapable of fibbing than any other. Over millions of years, our hands, arms and faces have learned how to pretend as well as how to communicate, but in contrast, evolution has taught our legs to do one thing, and one thing only, and that’s get ready to run at the first sign of danger. Subconsciously, we position our feet in the direction we want to go. Next time you are chatting to a boy or girl you really like, glance down at your feet, and notice how they will be pointing right at your partner. If theirs are pointing at yours, that’s good news, but if one of their feet is pointing away, or if they keep moving a foot in an outward direction, then I’m afraid they probably don’t like you as much as you might have thought.

In which paragraph does the writer mention …

how our body language can show our response to what we are told?

Read the text divided into three parts. Match the question with a paragraph. Write the letter and the part of the text to prove your choice.

Body language

A Some people are good at interpreting body language, while others find the whole thing a mystery. Improving your ability to recognise how others really feel is a useful skill, and one you can quite quickly improve if you learn what signs to watch out for. Take facial expressions. One thing you should remember about facial expressions is that they are rarely to be trusted. That’s because we are all aware that other people try to read our true feelings and as a result, we are all pretty expert at hiding them. From childhood, we all learn how to fake a smile, for instance. To become expert at interpreting a smile, we should observe the eyes, not the mouth. If someone is really smiling, their eyes brighten, they raise their eyebrows and even tilt their head. If only the mouth is smiling then it is a sure sign that the person you are looking at is only pretending.

B As faces are dishonest, experts at reading body language look elsewhere for the best clues to how a person truly feels. The torso, comprised of our shoulders, chest and stomach, is a good indicator of how we feel. It is where we have our vital organs, so evolution has taught us to cover them up, especially when we feel threatened. Crossed arms often means ‘leave me alone’. The way we move our hands can also be revealing. Even though we are all taught how to restrain our hand movements – we learn not to point to avoid being rude, for example – it is not as easy to fake as the look on our face. As a general rule, the higher our hands, the more positive we feel, which is why fans at a concert feel an irresistible need to lift their hands. Think about it. If we hear good news, we leap up, bad news and our shoulders drop.

C Surprisingly, there is another part of the body more incapable of fibbing than any other. Over millions of years, our hands, arms and faces have learned how to pretend as well as how to communicate, but in contrast, evolution has taught our legs to do one thing, and one thing only, and that’s get ready to run at the first sign of danger. Subconsciously, we position our feet in the direction we want to go. Next time you are chatting to a boy or girl you really like, glance down at your feet, and notice how they will be pointing right at your partner. If theirs are pointing at yours, that’s good news, but if one of their feet is pointing away, or if they keep moving a foot in an outward direction, then I’m afraid they probably don’t like you as much as you might have thought.

In which paragraph does the writer mention …

how the ability to notice body language varies from person to person?