Step, stand, stairs: New study suggests movement pace may matter for longevity

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

C2. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Single choice

How to approach this practice

Read the passage for its main idea, then return to the relevant sentence or paragraph for each question. Base answers on the passage.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What is the article’s central argument?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Daily step targets should be abandoned immediately.
   2. Movement pace may complement quantity when considering longevity.
   3. Researchers have identified one ideal walking speed.
   4. Step counts have no relationship with long-term health.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Movement pace may complement quantity when considering longevity.

   It broadens movement analysis by adding pace to quantity.

   A new study, however, suggests that the answer may not lie in quantity alone.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article describe the study’s contribution as restrained?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. It rejects all existing movement research.
   2. It offers a possible factor without prescribing a new benchmark.
   3. It reports no meaningful connection between activity and longevity.
   4. It focuses exclusively on people meeting step goals.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   It offers a possible factor without prescribing a new benchmark.

   The report proposes an additional consideration without establishing a universal prescription.

   Its contribution is more restrained: it indicates that how much people move may be only one part of the relationship between activity and longevity.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does “The two dimensions” refer to?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Daily goals and numerical targets
   2. Researchers and readers
   3. Movement amount and movement pace
   4. Activity and long-term health
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Movement amount and movement pace

   The phrase points back to movement amount and movement pace.

   The two dimensions may therefore provide different kinds of information about the same general behavior.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What inference about step goals is best supported?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. They are precise measures of every relevant activity feature.
   2. They are entirely unsuitable for public-health communication.
   3. They provide useful measurement while omitting potentially important distinctions.
   4. They matter only for people who walk quickly.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   They provide useful measurement while omitting potentially important distinctions.

   The article presents them as useful but incomplete indicators of activity.

   A daily goal can make movement easy to quantify, yet a single total may conceal meaningful differences in how activity is performed.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   How is the discussion organized overall?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. It presents a controversy, then dismisses both sides.
   2. It introduces an established view, qualifies it, and broadens its framework.
   3. It lists unrelated findings before offering a personal recommendation.
   4. It describes a failed study and proposes replacing its methods.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   It introduces an established view, qualifies it, and broadens its framework.

   It moves from conventional quantity measures toward a broader interpretation including pace.

   Rather, the reported finding places them within a broader framework.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does “That possibility” most directly reference?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Replacing all step targets with speed benchmarks
   2. Identifying a specific ideal pace
   3. Treating pace as an additional factor in activity discussions
   4. Limiting movement research to laboratory settings
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Treating pace as an additional factor in activity discussions

   It refers to broadening future conversations about everyday movement.

   That possibility could broaden future conversations about everyday movement, particularly for people who find conventional step targets difficult to attain.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why might pace be especially relevant to people below conventional goals?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. They may still gain interpretive relevance from how they move.
   2. They are the only people included in movement research.
   3. They can safely disregard the amount of movement they accumulate.
   4. They are expected to meet a faster universal benchmark.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   They may still gain interpretive relevance from how they move.

   The finding suggests pace may provide information even when total movement is limited.

   Its conclusion applies even to people who fall far short of daily step goals.

8. Question 8 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What stance does the article adopt toward the study?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Dismissive
   2. Cautiously receptive
   3. Unreservedly celebratory
   4. Openly hostile
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Cautiously receptive

   Its language is cautiously receptive, emphasizing possibility rather than certainty.

   For now, the study adds pace to the questions researchers ask about activity and long-term health.

What to review next

Find the words that support each answer. For a mistake, compare the question with the evidence and identify the detail or inference you missed.

A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.

Before you practise: a worked example

Look for evidence in the text. Separate what the writer says from what you already know about the topic.

The library normally closes at six, but on Fridays it stays open until eight. When does it close on Friday?

The answer is eight. But introduces an exception to the normal closing time, so the first time mentioned is not the answer.

This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.