Oxytocin

Part 5: You are going to read a newspaper article about research into a chemical. For questions 31-36, choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

 

Oxytocin

Oliver Burkeman asks the US academic Paul Zak about his research into a chemical called oxytocin, which has an important role in our lives.

 

Paul Zak is renowned among his colleagues for two things he does disconcertingly soon after meeting people. The first is hugging: seeing the approach, the springs to his feet, and enfolds me in his arms. The second is talking them into having needles stuck into their arms to draw blood. I escape our encounter unpunctured, but plenty don’t – willingly, of course. Zak’s work has involved extracting blood from, amongst others, a couple on their wedding day, people who have been dancing, and a group in Papua New Guinea preparing to perform traditional rituals.

 

The possible implications are intriguing, Evolution has given us oxytocin, a biological mechanism that let us be instinctively trusting and kind – or ‘moral’. Mixing science and morality prompts suspicion, however. Just because something is ‘natural’ doesn’t mean it’s ‘right’, and efforts to derive moral codes from science rarely and well. Moreover, it’s unclear what Zak means when he says oxytocin, or the lack of it, ‘makes’ us good or evil. Still, none of this undermines the pragmatic aspect of Zak’s work. If oxytocin is the mechanism through which moral action takes place, then by manipulating oxytocin, we might boost levels of trust, generosity, and ultimately happiness.

 

On the other hand, what’s to stop car dealers, say, pumping oxytocin into showrooms? Zak waves the matter away: it’s incredibly hard to get enough oxytocin into the bloodstreams. Sure, oxytocin can be stimulated in subtle ways to serve other people’s agendas, ‘but they’re already doing that. Why do you think they have babies in adverts? To make you feel good, by provoking the release of oxytocin.’ Meanwhile, he says, we should all do at least eight hugs a day, message and even watch soppy movies – he’s done the tests. Interaction on social media seems to lead to oxytocin spikes, undermining the argument that it’s killing real human interaction; hormonally, it appears, the body processes it as real interaction.

 

31. What does the writer suggest about Paul Zak in the first paragraph?

A. He provokes mixed feelings in people.

B. He understands that aggression can sometimes be useful.

C. He can adapt himself to a variety of situations.

D. He is capable of being very persuasive.

 

32. What does ‘spoils’ refer to in line 16?

A. equipment

B. samples

C. guests

D. results

 

33. What is the writer’s purpose in the fourth paragraph?

A. to make a counter-argument

B. to introduce a new concept

C. to summarise an idea

D. to expand on a point

 

34. What does the writer say about Zak’s Trust Game experiments?

A. They demonstrate the importance of money in human relations.

B. Their artificiality means that what they tell us is of limited value.

C. The results challenge conventional notions of human behaviour.

D. They were constructed in a way that was clever and innovative.

 

35. What does the writer suggest in the sixth paragraph?

A.  The potential exploitation of oxytocin should be given serious consideration.

B. Zak’s experimental methods are the object of some mistrust.

C. Further work is needed to define exactly what oxytocin is.

D. Science cannot be free of ethical considerations.

 

36. How does Zak regard the idea of deliberately manipulating oxytocin?

A. He doubts whether it’s ever going to be feasible.

B. He worries about possible commercial misuse.

C. He advocates wider use of readily available means.

D. He feels it’s outside his area of expertise.