THE GREAT SURVIVOR - IELTS Reading Answers & Explanations
From Expert on Cambridge IELTS 09 Academic Reading Test 3 · Part 2 · Questions 14–26
Reading Passage
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 on the following pages.
THE GREAT SURVIVOR
TV has coped well with technological change. Other media can learn from it.
A Newspapers are dying; the music industry is still yelping about iTunes; book publishers think they are next. Yet one bit of old media seems to be doing rather well. In the final quarter of 2009 the average American spent almost 37 hours a week watching television. Earlier this year 116m of them saw the Super Bowl – a record for a single programme. Far from being cowed by new media, TV is colonising it. Shows like "American Idol" and "Britain's Got Talent" draw huge audiences partly because people are constantly messaging and tweeting about them, and discussing them on Facebook.
B Advertising wobbled during the recession, shaking the free-to-air broadcasters that depend on it. But cable and satellite TV breezed through. Pay-television subscriptions grew by more than 2m in America last year. The explosive growth of cable and satellite TV in India explains how that country has gone from two channels in the early 1990s to more than 600 today. Pay-TV bosses scarcely acknowledge the existence of viewers who do not subscribe to multichannel TV, talking only of people who have "yet to choose" a provider. This is not merely bluster. As our special report this week explains, once people start paying for greater television choice, they rarely stop.
C It helps that TV is an inherently lazy form of entertainment. The much-repeated prediction that people will cancel their pay-TV subscriptions and piece together an evening's worth of entertainment from free broadcasts and the Internet "assumes that people are willing to work three times harder to get the same thing", observes Mike Fries of Liberty Global, a cable giant. Laziness also mitigates the threat from piracy. Although many programmes are no more than three or four mouse clicks away, that still sounds too much like work for most of us. And television-watching is a more sociable activity than it may appear. People like to watch programmes when everybody else is watching them. Give them devices that allow them to record and play back programmes easily, and they will still watch live TV at least four-fifths of the time.
D Yet these natural advantages alone are not enough to ensure television's survival. The internet threatens TV just as much as it does other media businesses, and for similar reasons. It competes for advertising, offering firms a more measurable and precise way of reaching consumers. Technology also threatens to fracture television into individual programmes, just as it has ruinously broken music albums into individual tracks. TV has endured because it has responded better to such threats than other media businesses.
E One of the lessons from TV is to accept change and get ahead of it. Broadcasters' initial response to the appearance of programmes online was similar to the music industry's reaction to file-sharing: call in the lawyers. But television firms soon banded together to develop alternatives to piracy. Websites like Hulu, a joint venture of the American broadcasters ABC, Fox and NBC, have drawn eyeballs away from illicit sources. Gradually it has become clear that these websites pose a threat to the TV business in themselves, and that they are not bringing in as much advertising money as might be expected (which is similar to the problem faced by the newspaper business). So television is changing tack again.
F With impressive speed, TV firms are now building online subscription – video services. The trendiest model is authentication: prove that you subscribe to pay-television and you can watch all the channels that you have paid for on any device. Such "TV Everywhere" services are beginning to appear in America and Canada. It is likely that Hulu will become a "freemium" service – mostly free, but with some shows hidden behind a paywall. The move from an ad-supported model to a mixture of subscriptions and advertising is tricky, but logical. It shows that it is not enough to embrace technological change. Businesses must also work out how to build digital offerings that do not cause their analogue ones to collapse.
G Television has domesticated other disruptive technologies. Ten years ago digital video recorders like TiVo promised to transform the way people watched TV. The devices made it easy to record programmes and play them back, zooming through ads. The TV networks responded by running advertisements that work at high speed. Cable and satellite companies built cheap digital video recorders into set-top boxes and charged viewers extra for them. In effect, money flowed back to the television business. In Britain those boxes will soon be deployed to deliver targeted advertising, enabling the living-room television to compete with the internet.
H Other outfits are learning from TV. Record labels sound terribly innovative when they talk about bundling music together with broadband subscriptions. Yet this model comes from television. For the past few years, ESPN, a sports giant, has been showing games on its website. The cost is buried in monthly broadband bills. Hulu-style joint ventures are all the rage in media, too. Magazine publishers have set up Next Issue Media, which is trying to shape the evolution of digital devices to suit their needs. The Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem aims to do the same for films.
I That box might appear to be sitting in the corner of the living room, not doing much. In fact, it is constantly evolving. If there is one media business with a chance of completing the perilous journey to the digital future looking as healthy as it did when it set off, it is television.
Questions
Questions 14–20 Matching Headings
Reading Passage 2 has nine paragraphs, A-I.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-I from the list of heading below.
Write the correct number, i-xi.
i. How people subscribe TV channel
ii. Changes in services offered by TV firms
iii. A good example for other businesses
iv. A kind of media that never failed
v. Comparison between TV and internet
vi. How TV business survived despite advertising declination
vii. The advantages of indolence
viii. Valuable experience gained from TV business
ix. Superiority over other media businesses in competition
x. Benefits from the adoption of threatening technology
xi. Successful operation of an old media business
Questions 21–26 True / False / Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 2?
write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
FALSE if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
Answers & Explanations Summary
| # | Answer | Evidence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q14 | xi | Yet one bit of old media seems to be doing rather well | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage states that while other traditional media forms are failing, one specific type of older media—television—is performing strongly and succeeding. Answer Explanation: The answer means that heading xi matches Paragraph A because this paragraph describes how an older form of media, television, is running successfully and doing very well. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is xi because Paragraph A contrasts struggling traditional media like newspapers and music with television, which is described as "one bit of old media" that is "doing rather well." The paragraph gives evidence of this successful operation by noting record viewer numbers (such as 116 million viewers for the Super Bowl) and pointing out that TV is actually taking over and using new media platforms to attract massive audiences. Therefore, heading xi ("Successful operation of an old media business") accurately summarizes Paragraph A. |
| Q15 | vi | Advertising wobbled during the recession, shaking the free-to-air broadcasters that depend on it. But cable and satellite TV breezed through. Pay-television subscriptions grew by more than 2m in America last year | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that even though money from commercials weakened during tough economic times and caused trouble for free channels, cable and satellite television managed easily and actually gained millions of new paid subscribers. Answer Explanation: The answer "vi" means that Paragraph B discusses how the television industry continued to do well even when money from advertisements went down. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is vi because Paragraph B begins by describing how advertising decreased during the economic recession, which hurt traditional free broadcast channels. However, the television industry survived and continued to grow through cable and satellite pay-television subscriptions, which gained millions of new paying customers. Keywords like "advertising wobbled" correspond directly to "advertising declination," while phrases like "breezed through" and "subscriptions grew" explain how TV survived. |
| Q16 | ix | TV has endured because it has responded better to such threats than other media businesses | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that television has survived and stayed strong because it reacted to digital threats more effectively than other media industries did. Answer Explanation: The answer heading "ix" means being better than other media companies when facing challenges and competition. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is ix because Paragraph D focuses on how the internet challenges all media businesses, but television handles these challenges more successfully than its rivals. The paragraph points out that the internet competes with TV for advertising and risks splitting television shows apart, similar to how it damaged music albums. Finally, the author explicitly states that TV survived because it "responded better to such threats than other media businesses," which directly matches the idea of "superiority over other media businesses in competition." |
| Q17 | viii | One of the lessons from TV is to accept change and get ahead of it | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that an important thing to learn from the television industry is to welcome new developments and take action before problems get worse. Answer Explanation: The answer "viii" means that Paragraph E discusses the useful lessons or knowledge that people can learn from how television handled new challenges. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is viii because Paragraph E focuses directly on what can be learned from the television industry's approach to digital disruption. The paragraph opens with the statement that "One of the lessons from TV is to accept change and get ahead of it." Here, the word "lessons" matches the phrase "valuable experience gained" in the heading. |
| Q18 | ii | The move from an ad-supported model to a mixture of subscriptions and advertising is tricky, but logical | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that television companies are changing how they deliver their content by shifting from just showing ads to offering new combinations of paid subscriptions and commercials. Answer Explanation: The answer "ii" means that paragraph F discusses how television companies are updating and changing the kinds of services they provide to viewers. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is ii because Paragraph F focuses on how television companies are introducing new formats and models for their content. The paragraph describes how these companies are creating "online subscription – video services" and "TV Everywhere" features, shifting from purely advertising-based programming to mixed models with online paywalls and subscriptions. In the heading, "Changes in services offered by TV firms" matches the passage's description of "TV firms" making "The move from an ad-supported model to a mixture of subscriptions and advertising". |
| Q19 | x | Television has domesticated other disruptive technologies Cable and satellite companies built cheap digital video recorders into set-top boxes and charged viewers extra for them. In effect, money flowed back to the television business |
Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that TV learned to control dangerous new technologies. TV companies added recording devices to their own equipment and made viewers pay extra fees, bringing money back into the TV industry. Answer Explanation: The answer "x" means that television companies gained advantages and earned money by taking in and using new technology that previously seemed dangerous to their business. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is heading x because Paragraph G talks about how television managed "disruptive technologies" (threatening technologies) such as digital video recorders (like TiVo), which allowed users to skip commercials. Instead of being destroyed, TV companies adopted this technology by putting recorders inside their own cable boxes and charging customers more money. As a result, "money flowed back to the television business," which shows the clear profit and "benefits" gained from adopting the technology. |
| Q20 | iii | Other outfits are learning from TV | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage clearly states that other organizations and businesses are studying television and following its ideas. Answer Explanation: The answer 'iii' means that television serves as a model or guide that other companies can follow and copy. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'iii' because Paragraph H discusses how various media industries, such as music record labels, magazine publishers, and film studios, are copying strategies that were originally developed by television. The opening sentence directly states that other companies ("outfits") are "learning from TV", showing that television serves as "a good example for other businesses". |
| Q21 | FALSE | Newspapers are dying; the music industry is still yelping about iTunes; book publishers think they are next. Yet one bit of old media seems to be doing rather well | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that although newspapers, music, and book publishing are having serious trouble, television is still performing very well. Answer Explanation: The answer FALSE means that the statement is wrong because television is actually doing well, not losing popularity or failing like other forms of media. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is FALSE because the passage explicitly contrasts television with other struggling media. While newspapers are "dying," the music business is complaining, and book publishers worry about their future, the text states that television ("one bit of old media") is actually "doing rather well." Therefore, the TV business is not declining like those other industries. |
| Q22 | TRUE | As our special report this week explains, once people start paying for greater television choice, they rarely stop | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that after people begin paying money to have more TV channels to choose from, they almost never cancel or stop their payments. Answer Explanation: The answer is TRUE because it matches the statement that people hardly ever quit or cancel their subscriptions after choosing to pay for television channels. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is TRUE because the passage confirms this behavior in Paragraph B. It states that when customers begin to pay for more television options, "they rarely stop." Here, "reluctant to withdraw" matches "rarely stop," and making "decisions on television choice" corresponds to when people "start paying for greater television choice." |
| Q23 | NOT GIVEN | The much-repeated prediction that people will cancel their pay-TV subscriptions and piece together an evening's worth of entertainment from free broadcasts and the Internet "assumes that people are willing to work three times harder to get the same thing", observes Mike Fries of Liberty Global, a cable giant | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that many people guess or predict that viewers will stop paying for television and watch things on the internet instead, but an industry expert points out that this guess wrongly assumes people want to put in extra effort to find their entertainment. Answer Explanation: The answer "NOT GIVEN" means that the text does not say for sure whether television viewers will actually cancel their paid television services to watch shows on the internet instead. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is NOT GIVEN because the passage mentions this idea only as a "prediction" that other people often make, rather than a confirmed fact or a direct claim by the writer. The passage quotes an expert who doubts this prediction because it would require viewers to work much harder to find shows, but the text never clearly tells us whether television audiences will actually cancel their paid services to switch to internet programs. Because the writer's final claim on this outcome is not clearly stated, the information is not given. |
| Q24 | FALSE | The internet threatens TV just as much as it does other media businesses, and for similar reasons TV has endured because it has responded better to such threats than other media businesses |
Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage clearly states that the internet poses an equal level of danger to TV as it does to other media types. It also explains that television survived because it handled and fought back against these challenges better, not because the challenges were smaller. Answer Explanation: The answer is FALSE because the statement directly contradicts the facts given in the text. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is FALSE because the author explains that the internet and new technology threaten television "just as much as" other media industries. The statement claims that new technology does not threaten TV as much as it threatens others, which is incorrect. Furthermore, television survived not because the danger was smaller, but because it "endured" (survived) by reacting and adapting better to these threats than other media did. |
| Q25 | TRUE | Websites like Hulu, a joint venture of the American broadcasters ABC, Fox and NBC, have drawn eyeballs away from illicit sources. Gradually it has become clear that these websites pose a threat to the TV business in themselves, and that they are not bringing in as much advertising money as might be expected (which is similar to the problem faced by the newspaper business) | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage means that services like Hulu helped stop illegal watching, but they are now creating new problems and are not making as much money from advertisements as TV companies originally hoped. Answer Explanation: The answer "TRUE" means the statement matches what the author says in the text. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is TRUE because the passage clearly states that websites such as Hulu are not earning as much advertising money as people hoped. In paragraph E, the text explains that "these websites pose a threat to the TV business" and "are not bringing in as much advertising money as might be expected". Therefore, they have not produced the expected financial gains or profits for television companies. |
| Q26 | FALSE | Record labels sound terribly innovative when they talk about bundling music together with broadband subscriptions. Yet this model comes from television | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage states that music companies seem very creative when they package music with internet plans, but this exact business idea actually came from television first. Answer Explanation: The answer "FALSE" means that the statement is incorrect and goes against what the text says. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is FALSE because the passage explains that combining content with broadband subscriptions is not an original idea from music companies. In paragraph H, the author states that while "record labels" seem very new and creative when they offer music packages with broadband, "this model comes from television" (such as ESPN including sports costs in monthly internet bills). Therefore, record labels were not the first to use this idea; they copied it from the TV industry. |