Test 1

Task 1 - Long reading

You are going to read about gossiping as a useful tool of communication.
Read the text below and answer the 15 questions that follow.

Paragraph 1
Gossiping certainly has had a bad press. The term is sometimes used to specifically refer to the spreading of dirt
and misinformation. Certain newspapers carry 'gossip columns' that relate scandals and personal information.
lndeed, to be labelled a 'gossip' is certainly far from complimentary and suggests a meddlesome, if not somewhat
vindictive, personality at work who is not to be trusted with personal confidences. Undoubtedly the instigator of
catty, idle chatter that fuels so many office and school rumours would be deservedly maligned. Such malicious gossip
is usually an individual's way of getting back at their enemies or advancing themselves and such behaviour is consid-
ered destructive to all parties concerned. In addition, stories of internet gossiping and bullying, tragically ending in
the suicide of the victim of such gossip, are rife in the media. lt is this type of gossip that has caused gossiping to be
viewed so negatively.

Paragraph 2
lnterestingly, the origin of the word 'gossip' originally bore no indication of the negative connotations that would
later be attributed to the term. Deriving from the Old English for 'godsibb', meaning godparents, the term was used
to describe clase friends with social and religious obligations. lt was only later in the 16th century that the word
began to take on a more negative meaning, describing a woman who delighted in talking about others. The link
between females and gossiping, in turn, originated from a time when women gave birth in front of a female-only
gathering. At such occasions, social chatter would be part and parcel of the proceedings, resulting in the evolution
of the word 'gossip' to mean idle, fema le talk.

Paragraph 3
Still today, gossips are looked down upon by society, even if the gossip in question is a close friend . This still holds
true today, even if the gossip is a clase friend. A study by Turner and colleagues showed that friends who passed on
gossip in a laboratory experiment lost their own friends' respect and as a result perceived them as less trustworthy,
afterwards. Furthermore, regardless of gossip type (positive versus negative) or relationship type (friend versus
stranger) the gossipers were always rated as less trustworthy after sharing the gossip. In fact, so destructive is the
action of gossiping perceived, that its effects have been likened to blackmail. Both gossip and blackmail involve the
disclosure of a secret but with the latter, the individual has more control over the information as they have the
option of silencing the blackmailer with a bribe. With gossip there is no such recourse; the gossip exposes the secret
without warning.

Paragraph 4
However, recent studies would seem to suggest that gossiping is not ali bad. In a recent study, undertaken by psy-
chologists at the University of California, Berkeley, it was found that talking behind someone's back resulted in
meaningful social benefits. In one experiment, a participant acted asan observer between two game players.
During the game, one of the players cheated, accumulating a score disproportionate to their playing skills and abili-
ty. The observer, hooked up to heart rate monitors, was shown to exhibit an increased heart rate as the 'cheater' e
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emerged as the triumphant 'winner'. However, when permitted the opportunity, most participants sent a 'gossip
note' to the next player cautioning them not to trust the cheater - an action that simultaneously worked to lower e
the participants' heart rates. Additionally, such participants reported feeling happier afterwards than those partici-
pants not warning the other player.

Paragraph 5
The conclusions drawn from the study suggest that gossip can play an important role in maintaining social arder, a
purpose that may have had sorne evolutionary benefit. Willer suggests that as our human ancestors began to live in
larger groups, it beca me increasingly impractical to monitor the behaviour of all group members. This apparently
gave rise to the evolution of linguistic practices, in particular, gossip, as a mea ns for sharing reputational information
about the past behaviours of group members. Linguistic practices like gossip allowed group members to track one
another's reputation as trustworthy interaction partners, even if they could not personally observe others' behaviour
themselves. With reputational concerns foremost, group members were forced to keep selfish motives in check or
risk ostracism.

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