R46: Passage 3, solved live

Now the hardest passage. Passage 3 is often an argument, with the writer's own opinion, and questions that test whether you can follow it. The passage below is original and written for practice. Give yourself 20 minutes. Then go through my thinking.

The passage

In Defence of Boredom

A Boredom has a bad reputation. Parents rush to entertain bored children, and adults reach for their phones the moment they have nothing to do. It is widely assumed that boredom is a waste of time, or even harmful. I want to argue that this view is mistaken, and that a certain amount of boredom may be good for us.

B Some psychologists claim that boredom is simply a signal that we need more stimulation. There is some truth in this. But a signal is not the same as a problem. Hunger tells us to eat; it does not mean that being hungry is a disease. In the same way, boredom may be telling us something useful: that our current activity has no meaning for us, and that we should look for something better.

C There is also evidence that boredom can encourage creativity. In one experiment, participants who first completed a deliberately dull task, such as copying numbers from a list, later produced more original ideas in a creative test than those who had not. The researchers suggested that a bored mind begins to wander, and that this wandering helps it make new connections. The study was small, and its results need to be repeated. Still, it fits with what many writers and artists have long reported about their best ideas arriving during quiet, empty moments.

D Admittedly, boredom is not always harmless. Long periods of it, especially in jobs that offer no variety, are linked to stress and poor health. Nobody is suggesting that people should be bored all the time.

E The real danger today, in my view, is not too much boredom but too little. Smartphones allow us to fill every spare second with news, games and messages. As a result, many of us may have lost the ability to sit quietly with our own thoughts. If boredom is the doorway to reflection and imagination, we may be closing that door without noticing.

Questions 27 to 31: Do the statements agree with the views of the writer? Write YES, NO or NOT GIVEN.

27. Most people believe boredom has no value.
28. Boredom is a sign that something is wrong with a person's health.
29. The writer thinks the creativity study proves boredom causes creativity.
30. Long-term boredom at work can be damaging.
31. Children today are more easily bored than in the past.

Questions 32 and 33: Choose the correct letter.

32. Why does the writer mention hunger in paragraph B?

• A. to show that boredom is a medical condition
• B. to compare boredom to a useful warning
• C. to explain why bored people eat more
• D. to criticise psychologists

33. What is the writer's main concern in paragraph E?

• A. People are bored too often.
• B. Smartphones are bad for eyesight.
• C. People rarely experience boredom now.
• D. News is often negative.

Questions 34 to 36: Match each beginning with the correct ending.

34. In the experiment, people who did a boring task first
35. The researchers believed that a wandering mind
36. According to the writer, constant phone use

• A. may stop people from thinking quietly.
• B. performed worse on all tests.
• C. came up with more original ideas.
• D. helps people form new connections.
• E. is the main cause of stress at work.

Answers with my thinking

27. YES. "It is widely assumed that boredom is a waste of time." The writer reports this as the common view. Widely assumed matches most people believe.
28. NO. The writer says "a signal is not the same as a problem" and uses hunger to show it's not a disease.
29. NO. The writer says the study "was small, and its results need to be repeated." So the writer does not think it proves anything. Careful: this is about the writer's view of the study.
30. YES. "Long periods of it, especially in jobs that offer no variety, are linked to stress and poor health."
31. NOT GIVEN. Children are mentioned in A, but there's no comparison with the past.
32. B. Hunger is a signal that tells us something useful. Boredom is compared to it.
33. C. "The real danger today... is not too much boredom but too little." Option A is the opposite.
34. C. "later produced more original ideas".
35. D. "this wandering helps it make new connections".
36. A. "lost the ability to sit quietly with our own thoughts". E is a trap. Stress at work is in D, but it's not about phones.

What this passage teaches

• Q27: the writer reports a common view. The question asks whether the statement matches the writer's description of what people believe.
• Q29: the writer's attitude to evidence. Words like small and need to be repeated show caution.
• Q33: the writer's main view often comes after in my view or in the final paragraph.
• Concession in D: Admittedly admits a weakness without changing the main argument.

Score yourself

9 or 10 is band 8 level. 7 or 8 is strong. Below 7, review R12 and R38.

Honest note

Question 27 is the kind of item where good students sometimes disagree. If you got it wrong, read the instruction again: does the statement agree with what the writer says? The writer clearly says it is "widely assumed".