When Conversations Flow – IELTS Reading Answers

Kasturika Samanta

13 min read

Updated On Jul 25, 2024

Reading Passage
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When Conversations Flow is an IELTS Academic Reading passage that consists of 14 questions. Candidates should ideally complete IELTS Reading passages, like When Conversations Flow Reading Answers, in 20 minutes. But, in order to do that, you must practise regularly to be able to scan the given text, highlight keywords and locate the answer within this short period. If you are interested in familiarizing yourself with all the question types, don’t hesitate to take IELTS reading practice tests.

The Academic passage, When Conversations Flow Reading Answers, contains some of the IELTS reading question types. The question types found in the IELTS Reading Answers of When Conversations Flow are:

IELTS Reading Yes/No/Not Given (Q. 27-32)
IELTS Reading Summary Completion (Q. 33-40)

Reading Passage

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on the Reading Passage below.

When Conversations Flow

We spend a large part of our daily life talking with other people and, consequently, we are very accustomed to the art of conversing. But why do we feel comfortable in conversations that have flow, but get nervous and distressed when a conversation is interrupted by unexpected silences? To answer this question we will first look at some of the effects of conversational flow. Then we will explain how flow can serve different social needs.

The positive consequences of conversational flow show some similarities with the effects of ‘processing fluency’. Research has shown that processing fluency — the ease with which people process information — influences people’s judgments across a broad range of social dimensions. For instance, people feel that when something is easily processed, it is more true or accurate.

Moreover, they have more confidence in their judgments regarding information that came to them fluently, and they like things that are easy to process more than things that are difficult to process. Research indicates that a speaker is judged to be more knowledgeable when they answer questions instantly; responding with disfluent speech markers such as ‘uh’ or ‘urn or simply remaining silent for a moment too long can destroy that positive image.

One of the social needs addressed by conversational flow is the human need for ‘synchrony’ — to be ‘in sync’ or in harmony with one another. Many studies have shown how people attempt to synchronise with their partners, by coordinating their behaviour. This interpersonal coordination underlies a wide array of human activities, ranging from more complicated ones like ballroom dancing to simply walking or talking with friends.

In conversations, interpersonal coordination is found when people adjust the duration of their utterances and their speech rate to one another so that they can enable turn-taking to occur, without talking over each other or experiencing awkward silences. Since people are very well-trained in having conversations, they are often able to take turns within milliseconds, resulting in a conversational flow of smoothly meshed behaviours. A lack of flow is characterised by interruptions, simultaneous speech or mutual silences. Avoiding these features is important for defining and maintaining interpersonal relationships.

The need to belong has been identified as one of the most basic of human motivations and plays a role in many human behaviours. That conversational flow is related to belonging may be most easily illustrated by the consequences of flow disruptions. What happens when the positive experience of flow is disrupted by, for instance, a brief silence? We all know that silences can be pretty awkward, and research shows that even short disruptions in conversational flow can lead to a sharp rise in distress levels .

In movies, silences are often used to signal non-compliance or confrontation (Piazza, 2006). Some researchers even argue that ‘silencing someone’ is one of the most serious forms of exclusion. Group membership is of elementary importance to our wellbeing and because humans are very sensitive to signals of exclusion, a silence is generally taken as a sign of rejection. In this way, a lack of flow in a conversation may signal that our relationship is not as solid as we thought it was.

Another aspect of synchrony is that people often try to validate their opinions to those of others. That is, people like to see others as having similar ideas or worldviews as they have themselves, because this informs people that they are correct and their worldviews are justified. One way in which people can justify their worldviews is by assuming that, as long as their conversations run smoothly, their interaction partners probably agree with them. This idea was tested by researchers using video observations.

Participants imagined being one out of three people in a video clip who had either a fluent conversation or a conversation in which flow was disrupted by a brief silence. Except for the silence, the videos were identical. After watching the video, participants were asked to what extent the people in the video agreed with each other. Participants who watched the fluent conversation rated agreement to be higher than participants watching the conversation that was disrupted by a silence, even though participants were not consciously aware of the disruption. It appears that the subjective feeling of being out of sync informs people of possible disagreements, regardless of the content of the conversation.

Because people are generally so well- trained in having smooth conversations, any disruption of this flow indicates that something is wrong, either interpersonally or within the group as a whole.Consequently, people who do not talk very easily may be incorrectly understood as being less agreeable than those who have no difficulty keeping up a conversation.

On a societal level, one could even imagine that a lack of conversational flow may hamper the integration of immigrants who have not completely mastered the language of their new country yet. In a similar sense, the ever- increasing number of online conversations may be disrupted by misinterpretations and anxiety that are produced by insuperable delays in the Internet connection. Keeping in mind the effects of conversational flow for feelings of belonging and validation may help one to be prepared to avoid such misunderstandings in future conversations.

Questions 27 – 32

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the text?

YES – if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer

NO – if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer

NOT GIVEN – if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

27 Conversations occupy much of our time.

28 People assess information according to how readily they can understand it.

29 A quick response to a question is thought to show lack of knowledge.

30 Video observations have often been used to assess conversational flow.

31 People who talk less often have clearer ideas than those who talk a lot.

32 Delays in online chat fail to have the same negative effect as disruptions that occur in natural conversation.

Questions 33 – 40

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.

There is a human desire to coordinate 33 ______________ in an effort to be ‘in harmony’. This coordination can be seen in conversations when speakers alter the speed and extent of their speech in order to facilitate 34 ______________. This is often achieved within milliseconds: only tiny pauses take place when a conversation flows; when it doesn’t, there are 35 _____________ and silences, or people talk at the same time.

Our desire to 36 _____________ is also an important element of conversation flow. According to research, our 37 _____________ increase even if silences are brief. Humans have a basic need to be part of a group, and they experience a sense of 38 _____________ if silences exclude them.

People also attempt to coordinate their opinions in conversation. In an experiment, participants’ judgement of the overall 39 _____________ among speakers was tested using videos of fluency and a slightly disrupted conversation. The results showed that the 40 _____________ of the speakers’ discussions was less important than the perceived synchrony of the speakers.

Answers for When Conversations Flow Reading Answers with Location

Since you have completed the questions, it’s time to check the answer key for When Conversations Flow IELTS Reading Answers and get an idea of how you need to improve for a high IELTS Reading band score.

27 Answer: Yes

Question type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 1, line 1 – line 2

Answer explanation: The introductory line from Paragraph 1 says that “We spend a large part of our daily life talking with other people and, consequently, we are very accustomed to the art of conversing.” It makes it clear that conversations (talking with other people) occupy much of our time (spend a large part of our daily life) and we are accustomed to it. Hence the answer is Yes.

28 Answer: Yes

Question type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 2, line 2- line 4

Answer explanation: The following line from Paragraph 2 says that “Research has shown that processing fluency — the ease with which people process information — influences people’s judgments across a broad range of social dimensions.” This sentence makes it clear that according to research, people assess information (people process information) according to how readily they can understand (process) it. Hence the answer is Yes.

29 Answer: No

Question type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 3, line 3 – line 4

Answer explanation: The following line from Paragraph 3 says that “Research indicates that a speaker is judged to be more knowledgeable when they answer questions instantly…”. It proves that when a person promptly answers a question, he/she is said to have more knowledge, which contradicts the question statement. Hence the answer is No.

30 Answer: Not Given

Question type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: N.A.

Answer explanation: Although it is given in the passage that – One way in which people can justify their worldviews is by assuming that, as long as their conversations run smoothly, their interaction partners probably agree with them. This idea was tested by researchers using video observations, there is no reference whether the video observations have been used often or not. Hence the answer is Not Given.

31 Answer: Not Given

Question type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: N.A.

Answer explanation: As there is no reference to people who talk less often have clearer ideas than who talk more, it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this. Hence the answer is Not Given.

32 Answer: No

Question type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph 11, line 1 – line 4

Answer explanation: The following line from the final paragraph says that “On a societal level, one could even imagine that a lack of conversational flow may hamper the integration of immigrants who have not completely mastered the language of their new country yet. In a similar sense, the ever- increasing number of online conversations may be disrupted by misinterpretations and anxiety that are produced by insuperable delays in the Internet connection.” It is clear that natural conversation (on a societal level) hampers the conversation flow just like disruption in an online conversation. So, as the information contradicts the question statement, the answer is No.

33 Answer: (their) behaviour/activities