WHY SOME SHAPES ARE MORE PLEASING TO THE EYE THAN OTHERS - IELTS Reading Answers & Explanations
From Expert on Cambridge IELTS 10 Academic Reading Test 4 · Part 2 · Questions 14–27
Reading Passage
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-27 which are based on READING PASSAGE 2 below.
WHY SOME SHAPES ARE MORE PLEASING TO THE EYE THAN OTHERS
A The ancient Egyptian pyramids, the Parthenon of Athens, Mona Lisa's face and the head of George Clooney all have one thing in common. Their attractiveness is said to be based on the "golden ratio"; which is supposed to be the most aesthetically pleasing shape to the human eye. The golden ratio, also known as the divine proportion, produces a shape similar to a widescreen television or a cinema screen and describes a rectangle with a length roughly one and half times its width. The proportion is said to pervade art, architecture and nature.
B The modernist architect Le Corbusier used the golden ratio for conferring harmonious proportions on everything from door handles to high-rise buildings, whereas the surrealist painter Salvadore Dali deliberately incorporated the rule into his painting Sacrament of the Last Supper. Now a theoretical mathematician has come up with what he believes is a possible reason why the human eye finds shapes in these proportions so particularly appealing. It comes down to how easy it is for the eye and the brain to scan such an image for important details, based on our evolutionary history.
C Professor Adrian Bejan of Duke University in North Carolina said that the golden ratio - which was first identified mathematically by Euclid in 3rd Century BC – just happens to be the most efficient shape for visual scanning, which could explain why it is behind so many works of art and architectural wonders. "When you look at what so many people have been drawing and building, you see these proportions everywhere. It is well known that the eyes take in information more efficiently when they scan side-to-side, as opposed to up and down," Professor Bejan said.
D "Scanning left to right is five times faster than scanning up and down and that is largely due to the left or right eye taking over when the opposite eye gives up. When you scan vertically, it's like having just one eye. The eyes are also an arranged on a horizontal axis, which happens to fit in with the landscape," he said. Professor Bejan has applied a mathematically-based law he devised in 1996 to describe how designs in nature, from the flow of water in river deltas to the branching airways in a set of lungs, are geared towards ever-increasing efficiency of movement, such as the faster flow of water, air, blood or even individuals in a crowd.
E Vision is also subject to increased efficiency based on the faster flow of information from the eye to the brain. And the visual scene that is easiest to scan is one where the horizontal axis is wider than the vertical, Professor Bejan said. This is true for a gazelle scanning the African horizon for predators, or early human hunter gatherers searching their territory for food. "Animal vision should be configured in a way that seeing and scanning should be the fastest and the easiest. And when the proportions allow this to be done, it should be a source of pleasure because of its past evolutionary associations with finding food or a mate," Professor Bejan said.
F According to the theoretical study published in the International Journal of Design and Nature and Eco-dynamics, the most efficient proportions for the human eyes to scan is a rectangular shape where the horizontal is about one and a half times the vertical, which Professor Bejan said approximates to the golden ratio. "It is a consequence of the fact that our perceived world is roughly a horizontal tableau. Our supply of images reflects the orientation of the landscape. Danger comes to the animal from the sides and from behind, not from above, and not from below," Professor Bejan said.
G Perceiving the world through a rectangular box has led to this particular shape becoming aesthetically pleasing and being subconsciously incorporated into works of art. It may also explain why some faces that approximate more closely than other faces are viewed as being the most attractive. A recent study by scientists at the University of Toronto found that female faces were judged the most attractive if the vertical distance between the eyes and the mouth was approximately 36 percent of the face's length, and the horizontal distance between the eyes was approximately 46 percent of the facial width. This was also the proportions of the average face.
Questions
Questions 14–21 Matching Information
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-G.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
Questions 22–24 True / False / Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information given in READING PASSAGE 2?
Write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
Questions 25–27 Short Answers
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Answers & Explanations Summary
| # | Answer | Evidence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q14 | C | Professor Adrian Bejan of Duke University in North Carolina said that the golden ratio - which was first identified mathematically by Euclid in 3rd Century BC – just happens to be the most efficient shape for visual scanning, which could explain why it is behind so many works of art and architectural wonders | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage states that a mathematician named Euclid was the first person to discover and describe the golden ratio using math back in the 3rd century BC. Answer Explanation: The answer C means that paragraph C contains information about when and by whom the golden ratio was first discovered. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is C because paragraph C mentions that the golden ratio was "first identified mathematically by Euclid in 3rd Century BC". Here, the words "first identified" match the phrase "earliest finding" from the question. |
| Q15 | D | Scanning left to right is five times faster than scanning up and down and that is largely due to the left or right eye taking over when the opposite eye gives up | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that our eyes move five times quicker when looking side to side than when looking up and down because both eyes can work together smoothly across a horizontal line. Answer Explanation: The answer is D because paragraph D gives an exact, detailed comparison showing how much faster and better our eyes scan sideways compared to scanning up and down. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is D because it gives a specific comparison between horizontal and vertical eye scanning. The text clearly states that looking from left to right (horizontal) is 'five times faster' than looking up and down (vertical). Key words to notice are 'Scanning left to right' (scanning horizontally), 'scanning up and down' (scanning vertically), and 'five times faster' (the specific comparison of efficiency). |
| Q16 | F | Our supply of images reflects the orientation of the landscape. Danger comes to the animal from the sides and from behind, not from above, and not from below | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that how living creatures see images depends on how the surrounding land is laid out, especially because threats and dangers approach animals from the sides and behind rather than from top or bottom. Answer Explanation: The answer "F" means that Paragraph F contains the information explaining how the environment or scenery around animals shapes the way they see the world. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is F because it explains that the way we see images matches the horizontal layout of the land around us. In this paragraph, Professor Bejan states that "the orientation of the landscape" determines how images are perceived because "danger comes to the animal from the sides and from behind", rather than from above or below. Important keywords to notice are "landscape" (matching "landscape of surroundings"), "animal" (matching "animals"), and "perceived world" / "supply of images" (matching "perceive the world"). |
| Q17 | A | The ancient Egyptian pyramids, the Parthenon of Athens, Mona Lisa's face and the head of George Clooney all have one thing in common. Their attractiveness is said to be based on the "golden ratio"; which is supposed to be the most aesthetically pleasing shape to the human eye | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that very old structures like the pyramids and the Parthenon, along with famous art like the Mona Lisa, share the same special shape (the golden ratio) that makes them attractive to look at. Answer Explanation: The answer "A" means that Paragraph A is the section of the text that mentions what famous old buildings and artworks share in common. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is Paragraph A because it talks about ancient buildings (such as the "ancient Egyptian pyramids" and the "Parthenon of Athens") and classic art (such as the "Mona Lisa"). The text clearly states that they "all have one thing in common": their beauty or attractiveness relies on the "golden ratio", which is considered the most pleasing shape. |
| Q18 | G | A recent study by scientists at the University of Toronto found that female faces were judged the most attractive if the vertical distance between the eyes and the mouth was approximately 36 percent of the face's length, and the horizontal distance between the eyes was approximately 46 percent of the facial width | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that researchers discovered that women's faces look the most beautiful when the space between the eyes and mouth, and the space between the eyes, follow specific measurements. Answer Explanation: The answer "G" means that paragraph G is the section of the text that talks about how specific proportions determine which female faces are seen as the prettiest. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is G because this paragraph explicitly discusses a scientific study examining the proportions of attractive faces. It describes how researchers evaluated facial measurements to determine which faces people liked best. In this paragraph, the phrase "female faces" corresponds directly to "women faces", and "judged the most attractive" matches the concept of "identify the most attractive". |
| Q19 | D | Professor Bejan has applied a mathematically-based law he devised in 1996 to describe how designs in nature, from the flow of water in river deltas to the branching airways in a set of lungs, are geared towards ever-increasing efficiency of movement, such as the faster flow of water, air, blood or even individuals in a crowd | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that Professor Bejan used a rule based on mathematics to show how shapes and structures found in nature work in the most efficient way. Answer Explanation: The answer "D" means that Paragraph D has the information explaining how patterns in nature follow mathematical rules. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is D because it discusses how a scientist used a math rule to explain natural patterns. Specifically, the text states that Professor Bejan used a "mathematically-based law" (matching "mathematic regulations") to explain "designs in nature" (matching "natural designs"), including river systems and lung airways. |
| Q20 | E | And when the proportions allow this to be done, it should be a source of pleasure because of its past evolutionary associations with finding food or a mate," Professor Bejan said | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that when the shape of a view allows animals to scan easily, it feels good because in the past, scanning this way helped them find food and find a partner to have babies with. Answer Explanation: The answer is paragraph E, which talks about how animals scanning horizontally connects to looking for food and finding a partner to reproduce. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is E because paragraph E explains that animal vision works best and fastest when scanning horizontally across a wider scene. Professor Bejan explicitly points out that this kind of visual scanning brings pleasure because of evolutionary history connected to "finding food or a mate". Here, "a mate" corresponds to reproduction, and "finding food" matches food searching. |
| Q21 | B | The modernist architect Le Corbusier used the golden ratio for conferring harmonious proportions on everything from door handles to high-rise buildings, whereas the surrealist painter Salvadore Dali deliberately incorporated the rule into his painting Sacrament of the Last Supper | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that a modern architect (Le Corbusier) used the golden ratio on both small and large objects, while a modern painter (Salvador Dali) intentionally used it in a famous painting. Answer Explanation: The answer B means that paragraph B has information showing how modern artists used the golden ratio in different ways. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is B because paragraph B mentions specific 20th-century creators and how they applied this rule. It gives two clear examples: the "modernist architect" Le Corbusier, who used it for objects ranging from "door handles to high-rise buildings," and the "surrealist painter" Salvador Dali, who used it in his artwork "Sacrament of the Last Supper." These details directly match the phrase "examples of different uses by modern artists." |
| Q22 | TRUE | The golden ratio, also known as the divine proportion, produces a shape similar to a widescreen television or a cinema screen and describes a rectangle with a length roughly one and half times its width | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that the divine proportion makes a rectangular shape like a TV screen, where the length is about one and a half times the width. Answer Explanation: The answer "TRUE" means the statement matches the facts given in the text. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is TRUE because Paragraph A mentions that the "divine proportion" (another name for the golden ratio) forms a rectangle where one dimension is about one and a half times the other dimension (length roughly one and a half times its width). Therefore, the statement accurately reflects the dimensions described in the text. |
| Q23 | NOT GIVEN | Now a theoretical mathematician has come up with what he believes is a possible reason why the human eye finds shapes in these proportions so particularly appealing | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage says that one mathematician proposed an idea for why our eyes like these shapes, but it does not mention if mathematicians are confident or hopeful about finding the exact answer. Answer Explanation: The answer NOT GIVEN means that the text does not say whether mathematicians feel hopeful or confident about discovering the exact reason humans like these shapes. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is NOT GIVEN because the passage only mentions that one theoretical mathematician suggested a possible reason why people like these shapes. It never discusses the feelings or attitudes of mathematicians in general, nor does it state that they are "optimistic" (feeling hopeful) about finding the exact reason. |
| Q24 | TRUE | Professor Adrian Bejan of Duke University in North Carolina said that the golden ratio - which was first identified mathematically by Euclid in 3rd Century BC – just happens to be the most efficient shape for visual scanning, which could explain why it is behind so many works of art and architectural wonders. "When you look at what so many people have been drawing and building, you see these proportions everywhere | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage states that the golden ratio is the best and easiest shape for human eyes to look across and scan, which explains why it is found in so many drawings and buildings. Answer Explanation: The answer "TRUE" means that the statement accurately matches what is written in the reading text. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is TRUE because Paragraph C clearly states that the "golden ratio" is the "most efficient shape for visual scanning." It adds that this explains why this shape appears in so many works of art and buildings, noting that people can see these proportions everywhere in what humans have been "drawing and building." Because the statement directly agrees with the information in the text, it is TRUE. |
| Q25 | 3rd Century BC | Professor Adrian Bejan of Duke University in North Carolina said that the golden ratio - which was first identified mathematically by Euclid in 3rd Century BC – just happens to be the most efficient shape for visual scanning, which could explain why it is behind so many works of art and architectural wonders | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage states that a man named Euclid first mathematically discovered or recognized the golden ratio during the 3rd Century BC. Answer Explanation: The answer means the time period known as the 3rd Century BC. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is "3rd Century BC" because Paragraph C directly discusses when the golden ratio was first discovered mathematically. It states that the golden ratio was "first identified mathematically by Euclid in 3rd Century BC". In this sentence, "first identified mathematically" means the same thing as the question's phrase "first found in mathematical terms". |
| Q26 | 1996 | Professor Bejan has applied a mathematically-based law he devised in 1996 to describe how designs in nature | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that in 1996, Professor Bejan came up with a math rule to explain how shapes and systems in nature work. Answer Explanation: The answer means the year 1996. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 1996 because paragraph D clearly states that Professor Bejan created (devised) this mathematical rule in 1996 to describe and explain patterns and shapes found in nature. |
| Q27 | 36 percent | A recent study by scientists at the University of Toronto found that female faces were judged the most attractive if the vertical distance between the eyes and the mouth was approximately 36 percent of the face's length | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that researchers tested which faces people liked best, and they discovered that faces look most attractive when the distance between the eyes and the mouth is around 36 percent of the total length of the face. Answer Explanation: The answer means that the space between the eyes and the mouth should make up 36 percent of the whole face's length. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is "36 percent" because paragraph G discusses a study about face beauty. It directly states that faces were considered the most attractive when the vertical space from the eyes to the mouth was about "36 percent" of the face length. |