Cefr practice reading tests complete the text true or false

 
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CEFR READING PART PRACTICE – MULTIPLE CHOICE
Read the text and answer the questions 1-7. 
 
TASK 8 
Was it poor visibility or superstition that made Manchester United's players abandon their grey strip for away games 
in the middle of a Premiership match in 1996? The players couldn't pick each other out. manager Alex Ferguson 
told reporters at the time. It was nothing to do with superstition. They said it was difficult to see their team mates at 
a distance. But his protest failed to mention that one of the five occasions the grey strip had been worn, the team had 
failed to win. 
Dr Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at Hertfordshire University, says United's players may have succumbed to the 
power of superstition without even realising it. “I might argue that the players may have unconsciously noticed that 
when they do certain things, one of which might well involve the wearing of red shirts, they are successful." He 
draws a parallel with research into stock market speculators. Like gamblers they swore that certain days were lucky 
for them. Eventually it was shown that the successful market speculators were unconsciously picking up on 
numerous indicators and were shadowing market trends but were unable to explain how they did it Superstition 
plays a pan whenever people are not certain what it is they do to achieve a good performance and people who have 
to perform to order are particularly vulnerable. It is as if the imagination steps into the gap in the dialogue between 
the conscious and the unconscious mind. 
Many superstitions have deep roots in the past according to Moira Tatem, who helped edit the 1,500 entries in the 
Oxford Dictionary of Superstitions, People today observe superstitions without knowing why and they’d probably 
be surprised to discover origins. The idea that mail vans arc lucky is a good example. Sir Winston Churchill, the 
British Prime Minister during World War II, was said to have touched a mail van for luck whenever he saw one in 
the street. The reason for this superstition resides in the ancient belief that Kings and Queens had the ability to cure 
by touch. Monarchs, naturally enough, grew fed up with being constantly touched and at some point started trailing 
ribbons with gold medals or coins out of the door of their coaches when travelling and people touched them instead. 
Mail vans carry the Crown symbol on the side and touching the van is a direct throwback to that earlier belief. 
While some ancient superstitious beliefs and practices have been maintained, others have died out. This b because 
those practices with a connection to farming and a life spent m close proximity to nature no longer make much 
sense now that so many of us live in cities. Nevertheless, we continue to develop our own sometimes very private 
and personal superstitions. Many people carry or wear lucky objects although they may not in fact think of them as 
such. It only becomes obvious that the object forms a part of a superstitious belief when the person is unable to wear 
or carry it and feels uncomfortable as a result. 
Experts agree that these individual superstitious practices can be an effective means of managing stress and 
reducing anxiety. The self-fulfilling nature of superstitions is what can help. The belief that something brings you 
good luck can make you foci calmer, and as a result, able to perform more effectively, International cello soloist 
Ralph Kirshbaum says musicians arc a good example of the effectiveness of these very particular rituals. "I know 
suing players who won't wash their hands on the day of a recital and others who avoid eating for eight hours prior to 
a performance. They can then play with confidence.” 
But this self-fulfilling aspect of superstitions can also work against you. This is why Kirshbaum prefers to confront 
the superstitious practices of other musicians. “If you're in a situation where you can't avoid eating or forget and 
wash your hands, you then feel that you'll play badly. And you often do, simply because you feel so anxious. I wash 
my hands and have broken the taboo about eating My only vice is to insist that people leave and give me two 
minutes complete silence in the dressing room before I go on.” 
Superstitions can become even more harmful when they develop into phobias or obsessions, often characterized by 
elaborate collections of rituals. “It's not a problem if 1 carry a lucky object of some kind," says psychologist Robert 
Kohlenberg of the University of Washington. “But if I don’t have it with me and 1 gel terribly upset and turn the 
house upside down looking for it, that’s a bad thing." 

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