Most of us end up rushing around at times, and it’s usually not good for us. Being in a rush can also have a negative impact on how we treat other people, as was discovered in a famous 1970s psychology experiment.
Two psychologists, John Darley and Daniel Batson, were interested in why people help other people. They conducted an experiment in which students had to walk by themselves to another building to give a talk. Before they set off, the students were separated into three groups: the first group was told that they were early and had lots of time, the second group was told that they were on time, and the last group was told that they were late and needed to hurry. On the way to the other building they saw a man lying down in the street moaning and in need of help. So, who stopped to help?
From the ‘early’ group, 63% of the students stopped to help the man, 45% of the ‘on time’ group stopped, and only 10% of the ‘late’ group stopped to help. The results suggest that situations can have a powerful effect on how we behave, and being in a rush greatly reduces how likely we are to stop and help someone. Interestingly, the students were studying to be priests, and some of them were actually going to the other building to give a talk about the Good Samaritan (a religious story in which a Samaritan stops to help someone), but this had little effect on whether or not they stopped.
As well as reducing how willing we are to help other people, rushing can also be bad for our health and happiness. As psychologist Rick Hanson explains, although we might experience some excitement when hurrying, often there is more stress and anxiety, which, over time, is bad for our minds and bodies. Anxiety can also be one of the reasons that we rush, says journalist Oliver Burkeman. He explains that, in our fast-moving world, we become anxious about not keeping up, so we go faster in an attempt to reduce these feelings and have more control over our lives. However, it only makes us more anxious, he says.
Another downside of rushing is that we can actually miss out on life. In his book Four Thousand Weeks, Burkeman argues that we sometimes live our lives as if the future is something better that we need to get to. A problem with this is that when you are trying to get to the next thing, the present will never feel satisfying, he says. Not only that, but when you do get to the place you are going, you may find yourself quickly focusing on the next thing you want or need. The present is all we really have, and this rushing towards the future can leave you missing out on the moments that make life what it is.
Although rushing is sometimes necessary to get what we want or where we need to be, often it’s just not worth it. It reduces how willing we are to help others, creates more stress and anxiety, and leaves us missing out on the moments of our lives.
IELTS Reading Questions for In a Rush:
Summary Completion & Yes / No / Not Given.
What Next?
Watch a short video about The Good Samaritan Experiment.
Click the picture to open the YouTube video from Ideas in English.
Sources and links from In a Rush
– Journal summary of the Good Samaritan experiment.
– Psychology Today article about being in a rush by Rick Hanson.
– Oliver Burkeman’s book Four Thousand Weeks on Goodreads.
– Image from Pixabay.
This Post Has 18 Comments
i wonder why the answer of question 9th is NOT GIVEN.
I would be appreciated if you could reply me.thanks.
Hi Echo.
So, the answer is NG if there is no information in the passage about what the statement says, or if there isn’t enough information in the passage to say whether the statement is true or false.
Question 9 says: For most people, the future will be better than the present.
There is nothing in the passage that says that the future will be better for most people, so it’s not possible to say whether that statement is true or false.
In paragraph 5 it says, ‘we sometimes live our lives as if the future is something better that we need to get to’. This means that the way we act is like we believe that the future will be better, but there is nothing there that says that the future will actually be better in reality.
Hope that helps.
Wonderful information really liked it.
Good way to practice reading and solving questions
Hi Kanika.
Glad you liked it.
Thanks for the nice comment.
i answered 8 questions correctly, but the third and sixth question no, it is good? for the the third question I knew I should write a percent but, choosing which of them was problem, and the sixth question I think it was my self mistake, haste make waste, although the text mentioned it but the there isn’t any comparison, or saying about ‘ personality’, is it right? please respond my questions.
Hi Ali.
Well done.
Number 6 is Not Given. In paragraph 3, it says ‘situations can have a powerful effect on how we behave’, but there is no comparison between situations and personality and how they affect helping behaviour.
Question 6 says: ‘Situations affect helping behaviour more than personality does’. From the information in the article, there is no way to know if this is true or false, so the answer is Not Given.
Hope that helps.
thank you Nick, well done.
and could you say please, based on the IELTS’ score, what level are these texts? /67/8/9
Hi Ali.
It’s difficult for me to make a comparison like that or to give an IELTS test score.
My idea when writing the articles for this website was to make them similar, in terms of difficulty, to the articles in Upper Intermediate (B2) textbooks (some may be closer to Intermediate – B1+). My aim is that the articles and questions are a little easier than the real test, so that students at those levels can learn how to answer the questions and practice reading strategies.
To get an idea of your reading score, I suggest that you try some real practice tests.
You could get a Cambridge test book with real past test papers in it:
https://www.cambridge.org/gb/cambridgeenglish/catalog/cambridge-english-exams-ielts/ielts
And then check what bad your score is equal to.
Also, British Council has two free reading tests:
https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/prepare/free-ielts-english-practice-tests/reading/academic
Hope that helps.
Slow down and enjoy life’s moments! ⏳✨ Rushing often means missing out.
Nicely put, Ashika.
Could you answer the question no 7 why it is No
Hi Oshan.
Here goes:
Question 7: ‘There is a greater amount of excitement than stress when rushing.’ = More excitement than stress.
Paragraph 4: ‘ … although we might experience some excitement when hurrying, often there is more stress and anxiety …’ = More stress than excitement.
The answer is ‘No’ because the statement in question 7 contradicts (says the opposite of) what is in the text.
Hope that helps.
Hi Nick, thank a lot for your informative article and i would like to recommend it to other as well as see more article like these.
Hi Khea.
Thanks for the nice comment. Glad you liked the article.
Article perfect written thx, especially for pre intermediate
You’re welcome.
Thanks for the nice feedback.
That was such a helpful experiment.Although psychology is the anxious thing, it shows how people react.
Glad you liked it.
Thanks for the nice comment.