Loading question...
You are in free guest mode. Timed Practice Revision List Attempt History Progress Tracking Create a free account to unlock these tools
Prev Next
Practice Listening: Highlight Correct Summary ID: #37037 Medium The executives
Instructions ›
You will hear a recording. Click on the paragraph that best relates to the recording.
Because man's original need to hunt in order to survive has all but disappeared, we are now free to replace it with whatever symbolic substitution takes our fancy, just so long as it contains some of the basic elements. Today, for most people, 'going to work' is the major substitute for hunting. For the lucky ones, the nature of their daily work is sufficiently close to the pattern of the primeval hunt to be satisfying. The executives who set off in the morning, eager to make a 'killing' in the city, with their schemes and strategies, their team tactics and targets, their immediate aims and long-term goals, hoping to confirm a contract or close a deal and eventually to 'bring home the bacon', are the fulfilled pseudo-hunters of modern times. But Tor many other people, their work is so boringly repetitive that it provides little of the challenge or the hunt and is a poor substitute for it. If we were descendants of cud-chewing herbivores, this would not matter, but we are not. People whose work is boring become restless and frustrated. They have to find other outlets for their 'hunter's brain'. Some of these outlets are creative. Others can be highly destructive. For many individuals, a lack of 'job satisfaction', which can usually be traced to a lack or potential for symbolic hunting, is only made tolerable by the development of some kind of hobby or private passion.
* Click on the correct answer

Result:

AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Option 3: "Modern work acts as a symbolic substitute for humanity’s hunting instinct, and lack of challenge leads to frustration."

Explanation: This option accurately captures the main idea of the text. It highlights that modern work serves as a symbolic replacement for the primal need to hunt and points out that a lack of challenge in work can lead to frustration, aligning with the text's discussion of job satisfaction and the hunting instinct.

Option 1: "Modern executives are more successful than primitive hunters."

Explanation: This option incorrectly suggests a comparison of success between modern executives and primitive hunters, which is not the focus of the text. The text discusses how modern work serves as a substitute for hunting rather than making a direct comparison of success.

Option 2: "People should replace boring jobs with hobbies to feel satisfied."

Explanation: While the text mentions that people find hobbies to cope with job dissatisfaction, it does not advocate for replacing jobs with hobbies. Instead, it emphasizes the symbolic nature of work as a substitute for hunting.

Option 4: "Hunting was more satisfying than any modern profession."

Explanation: This option presents a subjective comparison that is not supported by the text. The text does not claim that hunting is more satisfying than modern professions; rather, it discusses how modern work can fulfill the hunting instinct in different ways.

The rest of this explanation is for members. Sign in free to read why the other options are wrong, key words and tips.

Sign in to read the full explanation

With a free account: Retry and compare every attempt.
Be the first! No community answers here yet. Submit yours and help others learn.
Saving...