TOEFL Reading Practice Online | Q&A 010

This is an original TOEFL-style academic reading passage with practice comprehension questions, not reproduced from any official test. A good self-practice pace is about 1.5 minutes per question; for more timed sets, see our reading practice hub and other reading practice articles.

Passage

How New Ideas Spread Through a Community

[1] When a new technology, farming technique, or health practice becomes available, it rarely spreads evenly or immediately through a community. Some innovations are adopted within a few years by nearly everyone who could benefit from them, while others, despite clear advantages, take decades to catch on or never spread widely at all. Understanding why adoption rates differ so sharply has been a central question in sociology since researchers began tracking how farmers, doctors, and consumers decided to try something new.

[2] When adoption is plotted over time, it typically forms an S-shaped curve rather than a straight line. In the early period, only a small number of people take up the innovation, and growth is slow. As those early users demonstrate that the innovation works, the rate of adoption accelerates sharply, and a large share of the remaining population adopts it within a relatively short span. Eventually the curve flattens again as only the most cautious or resistant members of the community remain unconvinced. Researchers often divide adopters into categories based on how early they act, ranging from a small group willing to try something completely untested to a much larger group that waits until an innovation is already common practice.

[3] Social contact, not advertising or formal instruction, usually drives the middle, fastest-growing part of this curve. People are considerably more likely to adopt a new practice once they see someone they trust and identify with adopting it first, particularly when the decision carries some risk or requires a change in habit. This helps explain why public health campaigns and agricultural extension programs often succeed by identifying and working through respected local figures rather than relying solely on posters, broadcasts, or written instructions. A recommendation from a neighbor or colleague can outweigh even a persuasive advertisement.

[4] The characteristics of the innovation itself also shape how quickly it spreads. An innovation that offers a clear, easily demonstrated advantage over existing practice tends to spread faster than one whose benefits are subtle or delayed. Similarly, an innovation that fits comfortably with a community's existing values, tools, and routines faces less resistance than one that requires people to abandon familiar methods entirely. Complexity works against adoption: practices that are simple to understand and try on a small scale before fully committing tend to gain acceptance more quickly than those that demand an all-or-nothing decision.

[5] Recognizing these patterns has practical value well beyond sociology. Public health workers, agricultural advisors, and businesses introducing new products all draw on diffusion research to decide where to focus limited resources, often targeting the small number of well-connected individuals whose early adoption can influence many others.

Questions

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

• (A) Why advertising is more effective than personal recommendations
• (B) The history of agricultural extension programs
• (C) The pattern by which new practices spread through a community and the factors that affect that pattern
• (D) A comparison of public health campaigns in different countries

2. Why does the author mention "farmers, doctors, and consumers" in paragraph 1?

• (A) To give examples of the range of people whose adoption decisions researchers have studied
• (B) To compare the incomes of these three groups
• (C) To argue that doctors adopt innovations faster than farmers
• (D) To criticize consumers for resisting new technology

3. The word "accelerates" in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to

• (A) slows down
• (B) levels off
• (C) reverses
• (D) speeds up

4. The word "cautious" in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to

• (A) careless
• (B) careful and slow to act
• (C) wealthy
• (D) enthusiastic

5. According to paragraph 2, what happens after the period of fastest adoption?

• (A) Adoption slows to its original pace and then speeds up again.
• (B) Adoption stops completely once half the population has taken part.
• (C) A competing innovation usually appears.
• (D) The curve flattens as only the most cautious or resistant people remain.

6. The word "it" in paragraph 3 refers to

• (A) social contact
• (B) advertising
• (C) a new practice
• (D) risk

7. According to paragraph 3, why can a recommendation from a neighbor outweigh an advertisement?

• (A) People are more willing to adopt something once a person they trust and identify with has tried it, especially when the decision is risky.
• (B) Advertisements are usually inaccurate.
• (C) Neighbors are paid to promote new products.
• (D) Advertisements are used only for low-risk products.

8. It can be inferred from paragraph 3 that a health campaign that relies only on posters and broadcasts

• (A) will always outperform person-to-person recommendations
• (B) cannot legally be used in agricultural programs
• (C) may be less effective than one that works through respected local figures
• (D) works best when the innovation is highly complex

9. According to paragraph 4, all of the following help an innovation spread faster EXCEPT

• (A) offering a clear, easily demonstrated advantage
• (B) being promoted through national advertising
• (C) fitting with a community's existing values and routines
• (D) being simple enough to try on a small scale first

Answers and explanations

1. (C) The passage describes the S-shaped adoption curve (paragraph 2) and the factors that speed or slow adoption (paragraphs 3–4). Option (A) reverses the passage's claim about advertising.
2. (A) The three groups show how broad the range of people studied has been.
3. (D) "Accelerates" means speeds up: after a slow start, adoption grows sharply.
4. (B) "Cautious" people are careful and slow to act, which is why they are among the last to adopt.
5. (D) Paragraph 2 states that "the curve flattens again as only the most cautious or resistant members of the community remain unconvinced."
6. (C) In "adopting it first," "it" is the new practice mentioned earlier in the same sentence.
7. (A) Paragraph 3 explains that people are "considerably more likely to adopt a new practice once they see someone they trust and identify with adopting it first, particularly when the decision carries some risk."
8. (C) The paragraph says campaigns "often succeed by identifying and working through respected local figures rather than relying solely on posters, broadcasts, or written instructions."
9. (B) Paragraph 4 discusses clear advantage, compatibility, and simplicity. Advertising is not mentioned there, and paragraph 3 plays down its role.