# When conversations flow: answers and explanations

The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS, Test 3, Reading Passage 3

Source: Passage, questions and answer key from The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS, Test 3, Reading Passage 3. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 27 | YES | We spend a large part of our daily life talking with other people |
| 28 | YES | processing fluency - the ease with which people process information - influences people's judgments across a broad range of social dimensions |
| 29 | NO | a speaker is judged to be more knowledgeable when they answer questions instantly |
| 30 | NOT GIVEN | This idea was tested by researchers using video observations. |
| 31 | NOT GIVEN | people who do not talk very easily may be incorrectly understood as being less agreeable than those who have no difficulty keeping up a conversation |
| 32 | NO | the ever-increasing number of online conversations may be disrupted by misinterpretations and anxiety that are produced by insuperable delays in the Internet connection |
| 33 | behavior | Many studies have shown how people attempt to synchronize with their partners, by coordinating their behavior. |
| 34 | turn-taking | so that they can enable turn-taking to occur |
| 35 | interruptions | A lack of flow is characterized by interruptions |
| 36 | belong | The need to belong has been identified as one of the most basic of human motivations |
| 37 | distress levels | even short disruptions in conversational flow can lead to a sharp rise in distress levels |
| 38 | rejection | a silence is generally taken as a sign of rejection. |
| 39 | agreement | Participants who watched the fluent conversation rated agreement to be higher than participants watching the conversation that was disrupted by a silence |
| 40 | content | regardless of the content of the conversation. |

## Why these answers are right

**27. YES.** The statement says conversation takes up a lot of our time. The writer opens paragraph A by saying we spend a large part of our daily life talking with other people, which agrees with the statement, so the answer is YES.

**28. YES.** This claims people judge information by how easily they take it in. Paragraph B says processing fluency, the ease with which people process information, influences their judgments, and easily processed things seem more true, so the writer agrees and it is YES.

**29. NO.** The statement links a fast answer with seeming to lack knowledge. Paragraph B says the opposite: a speaker is judged more knowledgeable when they answer questions instantly, and hesitation damages that image, so the writer's view contradicts it and the answer is NO.

The why and the trap for questions 30 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/when-conversations-flow/answers).

[Practice When conversations flow](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/when-conversations-flow)