IELTS Reading: yes, no, not given

Read the following passage about 'uni-tasking' and 'multi-tasking'.

The human brain evolved to focus on one thing at a time. This enabled our ancestors to hunt animals, to create tools, and to protect their clan from predators or invading neighbours. In parallel, an attentional filter evolved to help us to stay on task, letting through only information that was important enough to deserve disrupting our train of thought.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the twenty-first century: The plethora of information and the technologies that serve our brain changed the way we use it. Increasingly, we demand that our attentional system try to focus on several things at once. Uni-tasking is getting harder and harder to do. The information age now buries us in data coming at us from every which way. We are bombarded with more information than at any time in history - the equivalent of 175 newspapers a day, five times as much information as we took in thirty years ago.

If we want to be more productive and creative, and to have more energy, the science suggests that we should tame the multi-tasking and immerse ourselves in a single task for sustained periods, say 30 to 50 minutes.

According to the author, are the following statements correct?
Answer YES, NO or NOT GIVEN.

1) The human brain is set up to perform many tasks at once.
2) The information age is characterised by our exposure to an abundance of data.
3) Multi-tasking may reduce human performance.

Comments

[Ahmed]

1-F
2-T
3-NG

[REBECCA]

NO
YES
NOT GIVEN

[hung]

no
many tasks at once >< focus on one thing at a time
yes
our exposure to an abundance of data ~ buries us in data
not given
they are talking about how to be more productive and creative , not multi-task effect.

[Karim]

1.NO
2.YES
3.NO

[rain]

1. No
2. Yes
3. Yes

Thank you for sharing this lovely passage Simon. I agree with that 100%.
(( I m afraid most of the time multitasking is detrimental to our psychlogical health, in the log term it does affect our ability to concentrate. It makes ppl hyperactive and anxious without any good reason. ))

[Christine]

NO
YES
NOT GIVEN

[Jing]

No
Yes
NG

[Ali]

1. No
2. Yes
3. Not given

[selena]

1.NO
2.YES
3.NOT GIVEN

[chu]

1) NO; 2) YES; 3) NOT GIVEN

[Vinod]

1. No
2. Yes
3. Not Given

[Bikram]

1. NO
2. Yes
3. Not-given

[Robin]

No
Yes
Not give

[Raman]

No
Yes
Not given

[David]

No
Not given
Yes

[paul]

NO, YES, NG

[Thang]

1. No
2. Yes
3. Not given

[Liliana]

1. No
2. Yes
3. Yes

[Quang Duc Dao]

Here is my answer:
1. NO
2. YES
3. NOT GIVEN

[hellcha]

Hi Simon,

Here is my answer
1. No
2. Not Given
3. Yes

I am interested in this article, so could you tell me where you got this? Thanks

[Simon]

CORRECT ANSWERS FROM SIMON:

1. NO
(perform many tasks at once = opposite of = focus on one thing at a time)

2. YES
(exposure to an abundance of data = buries us in data coming at us from every which way)

3. YES
(Multi-taking may reduce human performance = If we want to be more productive... the science suggests that we should tame the multi-tasking)

...

PS. Sorry if you didn't manage to comment yesterday. It seems that there was a problem with the commenting system.

[Charrieré]

1)F
2)T
3)NG

[Reza.tr]

Hi Simon,

Is "Multi-taking" same with "Multi-tasking"

[ThaoDong]

1) NO
2) YES
3) NOT GIVEN

[Nuri]

Yes
Not given
Does not say

[Mahir]

1.No
2.Yes
3.Yes

[Mohsen]

No
Yes
NG

[Yu]

No
Yes
Not Given

[zahid]

i like

[svetulya]

False, true, not given

[shoaib]

tell me any body the meaning of buries

[Simon]

Reza,

Thanks for pointing that out. It was a typo.

[Quynh Bui]

1.No
2.Yes
3.Not given

[Dong Nguyen]

i see but the last question makes me confused. because i seems no information for reducing human performance.

[Toxic]

Simon is exactly right, the correct answers are
No,
YES
YES

[Le Kim Anh]

Answer:
1. No.
Key words: set up ---> evolved
The human brain evolved to focus on one thing at a time

2. Yes.
key words:
data coming at us from every which way ------>our exposure to an abundance of data

3. Not given

[Zu]

1) NO
set up to perform many tasks at once = evolved to focus on one thing at a time

2) YES
EXPOSURE TO AN ABUNDANCE OF DATA= Bombarded with more information at any time in history

3) NOT GIVEN

[Esam Sharaf]

1-F
2-NG
3-T

[Zu]

1) NO
2) NOT GIVEN
3) NO

[seyma]

hi simon, I do not understand this question,, I think second is not given because it seems different meaning :( could you explain it please ?

[Chi]

Hi everyone,
My answer for the last question is NG. I don't understand why the answer from Simon is "Yes".
Could anyone please help me explain this question?

[Nhi]

As I understand, the last question means If we want to be more productive and creative, we should tame the multi-tasking because the multi-tasking may reduce human performance

[Vince]

Are these matching keywords correct?

Keywords From Question
1. human brain is set up to perform
2. many tasks at once
3. The information age
4. an abundance of data
5. our exposure to
6. performance
7. may
8. reduce

Keywords From Passage
1. human brain evolved to focus
2. one thing at a time
3. The information age
4. now buries us in data coming at us
5. We are bombarded with more information
6. productive and creative
7. suggests that
8. we should tame the multi-tasking

[iswariya raghu]

hi simon,

I've one doubt.

I don't understand answer for question 3.

the answer is yes as it is writer's opinion based question.

and

false,if it is facts based question.

Kindly clarify my doubt .

Thanks in Advance.

[iswariya raghu]

sorry,

NG,if it is facts based question.

[iswariya raghu]

hi simon,

why the answer for 3rd question is true?

Because of opinion based passage?

Thanks.

[N.I.Shajib]

1.No
2.Yes
3.NO

[Hung]

Hi Simon. In my opinion, the answer to Q3 is "Not Given" because "we should tame..." is not the author's opinion.

[Roozbeh]

N,Y,NG

[son pau]

hi simon the answer for the third question should be NG why Ý

[tabby]

thank u Simon, the last question in this exercise is so tricky. I gained one more noteworthy experience

[MANPREET]

1.NO 2.YES 3.YES

[Uzma]

1. No 2. Yes. 3. NG

[Viet]

I think key word of the 3rd question is "may' (mean the fact that if 'multi-tasking' reduces human performance is unsure.

Similarly, in the text, 'science suggests that we should...' is an opinion, whether this opinion is true is unsure, too.

[farhana]

NO
YES
NG

[minaxi]

1. No
2. Yes
3. Yes

[arooj]

no,yes, not given.

[thien sao]

1. No
2. Not given
3. Yes

[Ni]

I don't think the second question is Yes because of "characteristic"

[Ni]

Sorry. "Characterised"

[Simon]

N
Y
Y