Reading 2
Lead-in Test training: How to approach the Reading
1 Work in pairs and answer the questions. paper
1 How do you select the music you listen to? 3 Read this short extract from a text and answer
2 Do you think you can predict a person’s taste in the questions with Yes or No.
music by looking at them or talking to them?
3 What music genres do you like? Do you have a We know that our music choices fluctuate over
favourite recording artist? time as we grow and develop. For example, when
people are very young, they may feel pressured into
Vocabulary associating with a particular kind of music. We also
choose some songs on the basis of our emotions
2 Complete the sentences with the words in the
at any one moment. However, these things are
box. Use a dictionary to check the meaning of
fairly temporary and often pass. Researchers at
any new words.
Cambridge believe that a person’s taste in musical
conduct determines empathy fine tune fluctuates genre can be reliably predicted from cognitive
implications factors, such as the way they view others, or the way
they approach problem-solving.
1 The music we hear when we are growing up often
what music we like when we are
older. 1 Do our musical tastes stay the same as we get
2 We should a survey to find out older? Yes / No
what kind of music is most popular. 2 When we are young do our friends influence our
3 He always seems to know how people are feeling. choice of music? Yes / No
He has amazing . 3 Do we sometimes choose the music we listen to
4 It’s difficult to know what the of because of the way we feel? Yes / No
the survey results are. 4 Does our choice of music stay the same whatever
5 You are good at writing music and this piece is our mood? Yes / No
really nice. Try and it and it will 5 Is our choice of music influenced by the way we
be perfect. think? Yes / No
6 The music I listen to depends on how I feel.
It’s difficult to say what I like as my mood
from one day to the next.
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Reading 2
4 Complete these sentences with Do / Don’t. Test practice: Multiple matching
1 Do / Don’t spend more than 20 minutes on each 6 Complete Questions 5–10.
reading task.
2 Do / Don’t start with Part 1 as the texts become Questions 5–10
more difficult.
3 Do / Don’t read the questions first. Look at the following statements (Questions 5–10) and
4 Do / Don’t choose the first piece of information in the list of researchers below.
the text connected to the question. Match each statement with the correct researcher(s), A–C.
5 Do / Don’t worry if you don’t understand NB You may use an option more than once.
everything.
6 Do / Don’t change your answers unless you are 5 There is a weak connection between character
sure you have got it wrong. and musical choice.
6 The research may teach us about people who
Test practice: Multiple-choice questions find interaction challenging.
5 Read the text and complete Questions 1–4. 7 This was a new link between music and an
existing theory.
Questions 1–4 8 The results of the research may be interesting to
online music providers.
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. 9 Musical choice can tell you a lot about a
person’s emotions.
1 Cambridge researchers were able to predict a 10 The way you organise your thoughts and talk to
person’s musical taste from people affects what music you like.
A their age and status.
B the friends around them. Researchers
C the way they think. A David Greenberg C Simon Baron Cohen
D the mood they are in. B Jason Rentfrow
2 The Cambridge psychologists’ study was the
first to
A consider music from different time periods. Follow-up
B look at general music preferences.
C study the rules behind music composition. 7 Complete the text with the words in the box.
D connect music to our deep emotions. emotionally everyday intense personality preferred
3 The participants in the study taste types unexpected
A came from online communities.
B contacted the organisers themselves.
C were required to take part in the research. Music has played an important part in
D were unaware of music from other countries. 1 life for as long as anyone can
4 How did the researchers avoid music that might remember. However, until a recent study, nobody had
have a special meaning for the participants? examined what determines our 2 in
A By selecting participants with a lot in music. The results of the survey were
common. 3 showing that how they respond
B By studying the participants over a period of 4 to other people is a better predictor
time. of the type of music they like than their
C By presenting participants with a wide range
5 . The psychologists conducting the
of styles.
D By using a series of tests to match research found that there were two 6
participants to certain styles. of people – ‘Empathisers’ and ‘Systemisers’. Those in
the first category 7 soft music like
country, folk and soft rock. By contrast, ‘systemisers’
favoured 8 music, such as punk and
heavy metal.
8 Work in pairs and discuss these questions.
1 Would you like to take part in a research study like
this? Why/Why not?
2 Do you think your choice of music is linked to the
way you think? Why/Why not?
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Reading 2
Can your
listen to and rate 50 musical pieces. The researchers
used library examples of music from 26 genres and
subgenres with all of the volunteers to minimise the
chances that participants would have any personal or
musical tastes national associations with the piece of music.
What they found was unexpected. According to David
offer a window
Greenberg from the Department of Psychology, although
people’s music choices change over time, this study
shows that a person’s ability to relate to others and their
into how
thinking style predicts what kind of music they like. He
went on to argue that their cognitive style – whether they
are strong on empathy or strong on systems – and how
they communicate with others can be a better predictor
you think? of what music they like than their personality. For
example, people who scored high on empathy tended to
prefer soft music (from R&B, soft rock), unpretentious
D o you like your jazz to be Norah Jones or Ornette
Coleman, your classical music to be Bach or
Stravinsky, or your rock to be Coldplay or Faith No
music (from country, folk) and contemporary music
(from electronica, Latin, acid jazz, and Euro pop). They
disliked intense music, such as punk and heavy metal.
More? The answer could give a better understanding of In contrast, people who scored high on systemising
the way you think, say researchers from the University favoured intense music. The results were the same
of Cambridge. We know that our music choices fluctuate even within a particular musical genre such as jazz:
over time as we grow and develop. For example, when Empathisers preferred chill-out jazz, while systemisers
people are very young, they may feel pressured into preferred more adventurous, sophisticated jazz.
associating with a particular kind of music. We also
choose some songs on the basis of our emotions at any The researchers also analysed the music itself and found
one moment. However, these things are fairly temporary that those who scored high on sociability preferred
and often pass. Researchers at Cambridge believe that a music that had low energy and was often used to express
person’s taste in musical genre can be reliably predicted negative emotions, such as feeling lovesick or depressed.
from cognitive factors, such as the way they view others They also preferred more emotional depth in their music.
or the way they approach problem-solving. Those who were more systematic in tests preferred music
that had high energy or positive emotions and showed a
Music is an important feature of everyday life and it is high level of depth and complexity.
nearly everywhere we go. For this reason, it has attracted
a lot of attention from psychologists. Previous studies David Greenberg, also a trained jazz saxophonist, says
have analysed how certain songs make us feel. Historical the research could have implications for the music
studies have looked at the way music is used culturally, industry. ‘A lot of money is put into algorithms to choose
such as in ceremonies to unite people. However, little what music you may want to listen to, for example on
was known about what determines our overall taste in internet music services like Spotify and Apple Music.
music until this study research was published. By knowing an individual’s thinking style, such
services might in future be able to fine tune their music
In the study of musical tastes, a team of psychologists recommendations to an individual.’
identified two groups of people: ‘Empathisers’ who like
to focus on and respond to the emotions of others, and Dr Jason Rentfrow, the senior author on the study, said
‘systemisers’ who like to analyse rules and patterns in that the line of research was significant. It highlighted
the world. They found that by categorising people into how music mirrors the self and can be an expression of
these two groups, they could more accurately predict how we’re feeling, as well as being a reflection of our
what type of music they liked. social and cognitive selves. Professor Simon Baron-
Cohen, a member of the Cambridge team, added: ‘This
The researchers conducted a long and ambitious project, new study is a fascinating extension to the ‘empathising-
with multiple studies of over 4,000 participants who were systemising’ theory of psychological individual
found mainly through social media sites. They asked differences. It took a talented PhD student and musician
social media users to take a selection of psychology- to even think to ask this question. The research may
based questionnaires; then the researchers placed the help us to understand those at the extremes, such as
results on participants’ social media profiles for others people with autism, who are strong systemisers and may
to see. At a later date, the same people were asked to experience difficulty socialising.’
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