Table of Contents
BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 528
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 528 – PASSAGE – 3

IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 528
READING PASSAGE – 3
Animal Consciousness
There are some fundamental assumptions hiding behind the idea that the burden of proof in discussions of animal consciousness lies with those who would argue for it, as opposed to those who would argue against. We should refrain from offering complex explanations when more simple explanations suffice. Therefore, we should not claim that consciousness exists in animals if simpler explanations can account for the observed behaviors. The assumption here is that there is an ascending hierarchy of mental capabilities or functions, with consciousness at the top.
In Gallup’s view, we have consciousness, self-consciousness, and consciousness of other minds stacked at the top. Beneath this top level are abilities like learning, memory, and so on that can occur in blank minds. Phenomenal consciousness does not constitute a level of its own. For Povineli, phenomenal consciousness may have its own level, beneath the level where we find theory of mind and self-consciousness. Both investigators make the common assumption that many mental functions are mere mechanisms requiring no awareness for their function, mechanisms that inhabit lower levels of the hierarchy.
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Animal minds should be explained at the lowest level of the hierarchy that can account for the observed behaviors. This highly mechanistic view of animal mind is a direct inheritance from certain recurrent themes in the Western intellectual tradition. It has ancient roots (both in Greek philosophy and Christianity) in a form of speciesism that places humans at the top of the psychological and biological heap.
In Descartes, this view takes the form of a mind–body dualism in which our mental nature is markedly different from and superior to our bodily nature. When cast in evolutionary terms, it is the view that human consciousness is the most highly evolved mental function in the animal kingdom. Combined with the notion that animals do not have minds (or souls) at all, such views helped to justify the beginnings of animal experimentation.
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We essentially have two parallel hierarchies that are assumed to map onto one another. The biological hierarchy has humans at the top, followed by other primates, then “lower animals” of all sorts. The psychological hierarchy has consciousness at the top (maybe self-consciousness above it), complex cognition (memory, learning, etc.) below, and behavior at the bottom.
The assumptions here are that the higher levels are more complex. This assumption is incorporated into cognitive models of consciousness that place consciousness at the center or top of the information processing system, and in evolutionary explanations of consciousness that argue for its role on dealing with the demands of more complex information processing systems interacting with more complex environments.
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However, Maxine Sheets Johnstone questions the correctness of these hierarchical conceptions and of the assumption that “unconsciousness historically preceded consciousness” in animals. She suggests that proprioception may be the first evolved form of consciousness. The evolution of proprioception, she proposes, parallels the evolution of animate forms, such that from the very beginning of the ability of organisms to move, there was a need for a kind of flexible responsivity to external stimuli.
It is arbitrary, she argues, to call this responsivity behavioral or cognitive when referring to “lower animals” and conscious when referring to humans or “higher animals.” The fact that this is frequently done has much to do, she claims, with our brain-centered notions of consciousness that disregard more embodied sensory abilities. She notes that the first human sense to develop is proprioception, and it is through this sense that we initially come to learn to move our bodies and to feel ourselves. This is a sense that we share with many “simple” creatures.
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I believe that human beings hold a deep-rooted sense of their lesser connectedness with different species. Meantime, although the animal rights campaigners appear to reject speciesism, they actually perceive important differences between “higher” and “lower” animals in their mental abilities.
Questions 27 – 32
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 27–32 on your answer sheet, write
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
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27 Researchers disagree on whether animals have consciousness.
28 Behaviors of animals can be explained by other mental capabilities, not consciousness.
29 Gallup’s hierarchy in mental capacity is the same as that of Povineli.
30 The mechanic view of animal minds is based on the ancient belief that humans are on a higher level than any other animals.
31 Although animals are on a low level in their mental capacities, they have the same abilities to suffer as humans.
32 Because animals have proprioception like humans, they should be considered beings with high consciousness.
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Questions 33 – 37
Look at the statements (Questions 33–37) and the list of the researchers or philosophers below.
Match each statement with the correct researcher or philosopher, A–E.
Write the correct letter, A–E, in boxes 33–37 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
A. Gallup
B. Povineli
C. Gallup and Povineli
D. Descartes
E. Johnstone
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33 The nature of the human mind is different from bodily nature.
34 It is not true that unconsciousness developed historically ahead of consciousness in animals.
35 Phenomenal consciousness is a different state from consciousness in mental capacities.
36 Humans and animals share a form of consciousness, which is responsivity to external stimuli.
37 Mental capacities are represented by mechanical hierarchy placing consciousness at the top.
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Questions 38 – 40
Complete the table below.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
TWO PARALLEL HIERARCHIES | ||
The biological Hierarchy | The Psychological Hierarchy | |
The highest top | Humans | (38)…………. |
Below top | (39)…………. | Consciousness |
Above bottom | Lower animals | Complex cognition |
Bottom | Lowest animals | (40)…………. |

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ANSWERS
27. YES
28. YES
29. NO
30. YES
31. NOT GIVEN
32. NO
33. D
34. E
35. B
36. E
37. C
38. SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS
39. OTHER PRIMATES
40. BEHAVIOR
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