No News Is Good News ... Or Is It? - Page 40

C2 Proficiency · Multiple Choice Cloze · Ready for C2 Proficiency Workbook, Macmillan

For questions 1–8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. There is an example at the beginning.

evaluate

construe

render

depict

work on

follow through

take in

allow for

a stark

a sheer

an utter

a mere

do away with

come up against

pick up on

get round to

subsides

unravels

undermines

disentangles

absence

shortage

lack

dearth

ambiguity

indecision

scepticism

dissent

degrading

treacherous

extortionate

unscrupulous

A key principle in information economics is that it's always better for businesses to reveal bad news than conceal it. That's because customers are (0) ___ to be rational decision-makers who will (1) ___ any gap in information as a deliberate cover-up. (The third option, lying about bad news, is a different matter entirely; we have to (2) ___ the assumption that cheats never prosper.) Imagine two car manufacturers conduct safety tests. One scores 10/10, which it proudly announces; the other scores (3) ___ 3/10, and is therefore tempted to keep quiet. However, according to information theory, customers will (4) ___ the gap and assume the worst – perhaps even that the true score was even lower. The problem is, the theory (5) ___ when tested on real people. Bizarrely, in the (6) ___ of any facts, many participants in experiments assume a median score, in this case 5/10, even when information theory predicts far more (7) ___ . Worse, they tend to doubt the credibility of genuinely high scores, despite having been told explicitly that the rules of the game forbid lying. So it seems that no news really is good news, at least for (8) ___ companies sitting on poor results. But as customers, we need to be far more wary of information gaps.

No news is good news ... or is it?

presumed

surmised

inferred

deduced

Available as a free printable PDF worksheet with an optional answer key.

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