Study on Gender in Physics - IELTS Listening Answers & Explanations
From Cambridge IELTS 11 Academic Listening Test 1 · Part 3 · Questions 21–30
Audio
Questions
Questions 21–30 Multiple Choice (One Answer)
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
Study on Gender in Physics
Answers & Explanations Summary
| # | Answer | Evidence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q21 | C | They weren’t actually majoring in physics – they were majoring in what’s known as the STEM disciplines. That’s science, technology, engineering and … | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript mentioned that the students studied STEM disciplines, which include science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, not just physics. Answer Explanation: The answer choice 'C' refers to students majoring in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, which aligns with the information provided in the excerpt. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'C' because the students mentioned in the transcript were studying a range of subjects within the STEM disciplines, not just physics. |
| Q22 | B | Yeah. But what the researchers wanted to find out was basically what they could do about the relatively low level of the women’s results. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript shows that the researchers were interested in finding ways to help improve the low results of women in physics. Answer Explanation: The answer suggests that the study aimed to find ways to improve women's performance in physics. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'B' because the researchers were focused on addressing the relatively low level of women's results in physics, indicating a goal to improve their performance rather than studying the selection patterns of women in physics or comparing gender ratios in college physics studies. |
| Q23 | B | But actually they were wrong … No one was making any assumption about the female students at all. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that the female physics students were wrong in thinking that the male students had low expectations of them. Answer Explanation: The answer implies that the female physics students were mistaken to believe that the male students expected them to perform poorly. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is B because the excerpt clarifies that no assumptions were being made about the female students by the male students regarding their performance in physics. Therefore, the female students' belief that the male students expected them to do badly was incorrect. |
| Q24 | C | Values-affirmation – they had to write an essay focusing on things that were significant to them, not particularly to do with the subject they were studying, but more general things like music or people who mattered to them. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that students were asked to write about things that were important to them personally, such as music or people they cared about, rather than specific topics related to their studies. Answer Explanation: The answer C, 'something that was important to them personally,' aligns with the idea that students were prompted to focus on personal values and significant aspects of their lives. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is C because the excerpt clearly states that students were required to write about things that held personal significance to them, not necessarily related to the subject they were studying. This directly corresponds to option C, which emphasizes personal importance. |
| Q25 | A | And putting these thoughts into words can relax them and help them overcome the psychological factors that lead to poor performance. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript suggests that expressing thoughts through words can help people feel less stressed and deal with the mental issues impacting their performance. Answer Explanation: The answer suggests that the aim of the writing exercise was to reduce stress. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is A because the excerpt talks about how putting thoughts into words can help individuals relax and overcome psychological factors affecting their performance. This aligns with the idea of reducing stress, making choice A the most suitable answer. |
| Q26 | B | But what the researchers in the study hadn’t expected was that this one activity raised the women’s physics grades from the C to the B range. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about a study where an activity unexpectedly improved the grades of women in physics from average grades (C) to better grades (B). Answer Explanation: The answer chosen (B) relates to how this activity had a positive impact on the physics results for women by raising their grades. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer (B) aligns with the information in the excerpt, which highlights that the unexpected outcome of the activity was an improvement in women's physics grades. This surprising positive impact on the grades of women supports why option B, mentioning the positive effect on women's physics results, is the correct choice. |
| Q27 | C | And had they been told why they were doing the writing? That might have affected the results. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript mentions that if the students were given information about why they were doing the writing, it might have impacted the results. Answer Explanation: The answer choice C suggests that the information the students were given could have affected the results. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is C because the excerpt implies that providing information to the students about the purpose of the writing task could have influenced their responses. This aligns with option C, which focuses on the information given to the students as a potential factor affecting the results. |
| Q28 | A | Or even, half do the same writing task as in the original research and half do a factual writing task. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript mentions that half of the participants will do the same writing task as in the original research, and the other half will do a different factual writing task. Answer Explanation: The answer states that Greg and Lisa will compare the effects of two different writing tasks in their project. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is A because the excerpt confirms that Greg and Lisa are indeed planning to compare the effects of two different writing tasks, one being the same as in the original research and the other being a different factual writing task. |
| Q29 | B | That’s what I expected, but actually the men and the women got the same results whether they were working in teams or on their own. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that the results for both men and women were the same, regardless of whether they worked in teams or individually. Answer Explanation: The answer states that class teamwork activities had no effect on the performance of men or women. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'B' because the excerpt clearly mentions that men and women achieved similar results whether they worked in teams or on their own. This aligns with the statement in answer choice 'B' that teamwork activities had no effect on their performance. |
| Q30 | A | We could have a look at the timetable for the science classes … or perhaps we should just make an appointment to see one of the science professors. That’d be better. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about two options for Lisa and Greg: checking the timetable for science classes or making an appointment to meet a science professor. Answer Explanation: The answer suggests that Lisa and Greg will talk to a professor. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is A because in the excerpt, one option discussed is to make an appointment to see a science professor, which aligns with the choice A 'talk to a professor'. |
Transcript
LISA: OK, Greg, so I finally managed to read the article you mentioned – the one about the study on gender in physics.
GREG: About the study of college students done by Akira Miyake and his team? Yeah. I was interested that the researchers were actually a mix of psychologists and physicists. That’s an unusual combination.
LISA: Yeah. I got a little confused at first about which students the study was based on. They weren’t actually majoring in physics – they were majoring in what’s known as the STEM disciplines. That’s science, technology, engineering and …
GREG: … and math. Yes, but they were all doing physics courses as part of their studies.
LISA: That’s correct. So as I understood it, Miyake and co started from the fact that women are underrepresented in introductory physics courses at college, and also that on average, the women who do enrol on these courses perform more poorly than the men. No one really knows why this is the case.
GREG: Yeah. But what the researchers wanted to find out was basically what they could do about the relatively low level of the women’s results. But in order to find a solution they needed to find out more about the nature of the problem.
LISA: Right – now let’s see if I can remember … it was that in the physics class, the female students thought the male students all assumed that women weren’t any good at physics … was that it? And they thought that the men expected them to get poor results in their tests.
GREG: That’s what the women thought, and that made them nervous, so they did get poor results. But actually they were wrong … No one was making any assumption about the female students at all.
LISA: Anyway, what Miyake’s team did was quite simple – getting the students to do some writing before they went into the physics class. What did they call it?
GREG: Values-affirmation – they had to write an essay focusing on things that were significant to them, not particularly to do with the subject they were studying, but more general things like music or people who mattered to them.
LISA: Right. So the idea of doing the writing is that this gets the students thinking in a positive way.
GREG: And putting these thoughts into words can relax them and help them overcome the psychological factors that lead to poor performance. Yeah. But what the researchers in the study hadn’t expected was that this one activity raised the women’s physics grades from the C to the B range.
LISA: A huge change. Pity it wasn’t to an A, but still! No, but it does suggest that the women were seriously underperforming beforehand, in comparison with the men.
GREG: Yes. Mind you, Miyake’s article left out a lot of details. Like, did the students to the writing just once, or several times? And had they been told why they were doing the writing? That might have affected the results.
LISA: You mean, if they know the researchers thought it might help them to improve, then they’d just try to fulfil that expectation?
GREG: Exactly.
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GREG: So anyway, I thought for our project we could do a similar study, but investigate whether it really was the writing activity that had that result.
LISA: OK. So we could ask them to do a writing task about something completely different … something more factual? Like a general knowledge topic.
GREG: Maybe … or we could have half the students doing a writing task and half doing something else, like an oral task.
LISA: Or even, half do the same writing task as in the original research and half do a factual writing task. Then we’d see if it really is the topic that made the difference, or something else.
GREG: That’s it. Good. So at our meeting with the supervisor on Monday we can tell him we’ve decided on our project. We should have our aims ready by then. I suppose we need to read the original study – the article’s just a summary.
LISA: And these was another article I read, by Smolinsky. It was about her research on how women and men perform in mixed teams in class, compared with single-sex teams and on their own.
GREG: Let me guess … the women were better at teamwork.
LISA: That’s what I expected, but actually the men and the women got the same results whether they were working in teams or on their own. But I guess it’s not that relevant to us.
GREG: What worries me anyway is how we’re going to get everything done in the time.
LISA: We’ll be OK now we know what we’re doing. Though I’m not clear how we assess whether the students in our experiment actually make any progress or not …
GREG: No. We may need some advice on that. The main thing’s to make sure we have the right size sample, not too big or too small.
LISA: That shouldn’t be difficult. Right, what do we need to do next? We could have a look at the timetable for the science classes … or perhaps we should just make an appointment to see one of the science professors. That’d be better.
GREG: Great. And we could even get to observe one of the classes.
LISA: What for?
GREG: Well … OK maybe let’s just go with your idea. Right, well …