C1 English Reading Test: Are We Becoming Dumber? — Exercise 1

Question 1

What does the writer's opening example mainly illustrate?

Accepted Answer

Convenience can be accompanied by concern about losing a practised ability.

Answer

Navigation apps are less reliable than human memory.

Answer

Modern cities are becoming harder to navigate without technology.

Answer

People remember routes better when they learn street names.

Question 2

Why does the writer mention earlier criticism of writing, books, calculators and television?

Accepted Answer

To show that fears of mental decline often accompany changes in cognitive habits.

Answer

To prove that concerns about technology are always irrational.

Answer

To argue that older technologies improved every kind of intelligence.

Answer

To demonstrate that modern digital tools are fundamentally less harmful.

Question 3

What is suggested by describing nostalgia as 'an unreliable laboratory'?

Accepted Answer

Personal memories do not provide objective evidence about past attention and intelligence.

Answer

Scientific experiments cannot accurately compare different generations.

Answer

Older people deliberately exaggerate their ability to concentrate.

Answer

Technology companies use nostalgia to make new products appear necessary.

Question 4

What is the main point of the paragraph comparing knowledge to a ship's crew?

Accepted Answer

Depending on external knowledge can be efficient, but access must not be mistaken for comprehension.

Answer

Collective knowledge is useful only when every member has a specialist role.

Answer

The internet has made individual expertise unnecessary in complex organisations.

Answer

People think more clearly when they work in groups rather than alone.

Question 5

What does the writer mean by saying someone may be 'practising interruption with remarkable discipline'?

Accepted Answer

Frequent distraction can become a strongly reinforced habit.

Answer

Digital users consciously train themselves to change tasks efficiently.

Answer

People who check messages regularly have unusually strong self-control.

Answer

Modern work requires interruptions to be managed according to a schedule.

Question 6

According to the writer, when does efficiency become dangerous?

Accepted Answer

When removing effort also removes the need to exercise judgement.

Answer

When routine tasks are completed faster than people expect.

Answer

When tools produce results that are difficult to calculate manually.

Answer

When users lack enough technical knowledge to operate software.

Question 7

Which idea is NOT supported by the text?

Accepted Answer

Human intelligence is inevitably declining because machines perform more cognitive tasks.

Answer

Different technologies can weaken some habits while supporting other abilities.

Answer

The capacity for deep attention may remain even when it is rarely practised.

Answer

Using intelligent tools actively can sometimes improve reasoning.

Related lessons