Why Fairy Tales Are Really Scary Tales Reading Answers

Why Fairy Tales Are Really Scary Tales Reading Answers: The “Why Fairy Tales Are Really Scary Tales” is a popular IELTS Reading topic that explores the hidden meanings and psychological impact of fairy tales. The passage examines how fear, survival instincts, and moral lessons are woven into these timeless stories.

In this guide, we provide a sample passage with answers to help IELTS candidates practice effectively. The question types in this passage include Matching Sentence Endings, Summary Completion, and Multiple Choice Questions. Practicing these question formats will enhance your ability to identify key details and improve your reading accuracy. Read till the end to master the Why Fairy Tales Are Really Scary Tales Reading Answers passage.

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Why Fairy Tales Are Really Scary Tales Reading Answers Passage

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14 which are based on Reading Passage below.

Why fairy tales are really scary tales

Some people think that fairy tales are just stories to amuse children, but their universal and enduring appeal may be due to more serious reasons

1. People of every culture tell each other fairy tales but the same story often takes a variety of forms in different parts of the world. In the story of Little Red Riding Hood that European children are familiar with, a young girl on the way to see her grandmother meets a wolf and tells him where she is going. The wolf runs on ahead and disposes of the grandmother, then gets into bed dressed in the grandmother’s clothes to wait for Little Red Riding Hood. You may think you know the story – but which version? In some versions, the wolf swallows up the grandmother, while in others it locks her in a cupboard. In some stories, Red Riding Hood gets the better of the wolf on her own, while in others a hunter or a woodcutter hears her cries and comes to her rescue. 

2. The universal appeal of these tales is frequently attributed to the idea that they contain cautionary messages: in the case of Little Red Riding Hood, to listen to your mother, and avoid talking to strangers. ‘It might be what we find interesting about this story is that it’s got this survival-relevant information in it,’ says anthropologist Jamie Tehrani at Durham University in the UK. But his research suggests otherwise. ‘We have this huge gap in our knowledge about the history and prehistory of storytelling, despite the fact that we know this genre is an incredibly ancient one,’ he says. That hasn’t stopped anthropologists, folklorists* and other academics devising theories to explain the importance of fairy tales in human society. Now Tehrani has found a way to test these ideas, borrowing a technique from evolutionary biologists.

3. To work out the evolutionary history, development and relationships among groups of organisms, biologists compare the characteristics of living species in a process called ‘phylogenetic analysis’. Tehrani has used the same approach to compare related versions of fairy tales to discover how they have evolved and which elements have survived longest. Tehrani’s analysis focused on Little Red Riding Hood in its many forms, which include another Western fairy tale known as The Wolf and the Kids. Checking for variants of these two tales and similar stories from Africa, East Asia and other regions, he ended up with 58 stories recorded from oral traditions. Once his phylogenetic analysis had established that they were indeed related, he used the same methods to explore how they have developed and altered over time.

4. First, he tested some assumptions about which aspects of the story alter least as it evolves, indicating their importance. Folklorists believe that what happens in a story is more central to the story than the characters in it – that visiting a relative, only to be met by a scary animal in disguise, is more fundamental than whether the visitor is a little girl or three siblings, or the animal is a tiger instead of a wolf. 

5. However, Tehrani found no significant difference in the rate of evolution of incidents compared with that of characters. ‘Certain episodes are very stable because they are crucial to the story, but there are lots of other details that can evolve quite freely,’ he says. Neither did his analysis support the theory that the central section of a story is the most conserved part. He found no significant difference in the flexibility of events there compared with the beginning or the end. But the really big surprise came when he looked at the cautionary elements of the story. ‘Studies on hunter-gatherer folk tales suggest that these narratives include really important information about the environment and the possible dangers that may be faced there – stuff that’s relevant to survival,’ he says. Yet in his analysis such elements were just as flexible as seemingly trivial details. What, then, is important enough to be reproduced from generation to generation?

6. The answer, it would appear, is fear – blood-thirsty and gruesome aspects of the story, such as the eating of the grandmother by the wolf, turned out to be the best preserved of all. Why are these details retained by generations of storytellers, when other features are not? Tehrani has an idea: ‘In an oral context, a story won’t survive because of one great teller. It also needs to be interesting when it’s told by someone who’s not necessarily a great storyteller.’ Maybe being swallowed whole by a wolf, then cut out of its stomach alive is so gripping that it helps the story remain popular, no matter how badly it’s told. 

7. Jack Zipes at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, is unconvinced by Tehrani’s views on fairy tales. ‘Even if they’re gruesome, they won’t stick unless they matter,’ he says. He believes the perennial theme of women as victims in stories like Little Red Riding Hood explains why they continue to feel relevant. But Tehrani points out that although this is often the case in Western versions, it is not always true elsewhere. In Chinese and Japanese versions, often known as The Tiger Grandmother, the villain is a woman, and in both Iran and Nigeria, the victim is a boy. Mathias Clasen at Aarhus University in Denmark isn’t surprised by Tehrani’s findings. ‘Habits and morals change, but the things that scare us, and the fact that we seek out entertainment that’s designed to scare us – those are constant,’ he says. Clasen believes that scary stories teach us what it feels like to be afraid without having to experience real danger, and so build up resistance to negative emotions.

Why Fairy Tales Are Really Scary Tales Reading Answers Sample Questions 

Matching Sentence Endings
Questions 1–5
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A–F, below.
Write the correct letter, A–F, in boxes 1–5 on your answer sheet.

1. Jamie Tehrani believes that the appeal of fairy tales may not be due to their…

2. The phylogenetic analysis used by Tehrani helped him understand…

3. Folklorists have long assumed that the most important part of a story is…

4. Tehrani was surprised to find that the most consistent element of the story was…

5. According to Mathias Clasen, scary stories help people…

Endings:
A. how different versions of the same story have evolved over time.
B. to understand the dangers of real-life situations.
C. the middle section where key events usually happen.
D. moral or cautionary content.
E. the frightening and gruesome aspects.
F. the sequence of events rather than the characters involved.

Summary Completion
Questions 6–10
Complete the summary using the list of words, A–I, below.
Write the correct letter, A–I, in boxes 6–10 on your answer sheet.

Jamie Tehrani used a technique called 6. ________ to study the development and variations of fairy tales across different cultures. His analysis focused on stories like Little Red Riding Hood and 7. ________, comparing them with similar tales from other regions. Contrary to what folklorists believed, Tehrani found that 8. ________ were not more stable than the characters involved. He also discovered that moral elements were no more consistent than other minor details. However, the most enduring part of the story turned out to be its 9. ________ and 10. ________ aspects, which might explain why these tales have survived through generations.

Options:
A. evolution
B. characters
C. phylogenetic analysis
D. frightening
E. middle section
F. suspenseful
G. survival
H. The Wolf and the Kids
I. events

Multiple Choice Questions
Questions 11–14
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 11–14 on your answer sheet.

11. What assumption about fairy tales does Tehrani’s research challenge?
    A. They are primarily intended for children.
    B. Their appeal lies in moral lessons.
    C. They are based on real-life events.
    D. They are influenced by modern culture.

12. According to Tehrani, which part of the story tends to be the most stable over time?
    A. The main characters.
    B. The order of events.
    C. The frightening elements.
    D. The setting of the story.

13. What does Tehrani suggest is necessary for a story to survive in an oral tradition?
    A. It must have a moral lesson.
    B. It needs to be simple and easy to remember.
    C. It must be entertaining even when poorly told.
    D. It should have a recognizable ending.

14. How does Mathias Clasen explain the appeal of scary stories?
    A. They help people cope with real-life fear.
    B. They teach children important life lessons.
    C. They reflect cultural values and traditions.
    D. They provide a sense of adventure.

Why Fairy Tales Are Really Scary Tales Reading Answers with Explanations 

Matching Sentence Endings

Questions 1–5 Answers

Summary Completion

Questions 6–10 Answers

Multiple Choice Questions

Questions 11–14 Answers

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