The phrase 'team building exercises' may be new but the reality is not. Its origins go back at least as far as the medieval tournaments. These provided knights with military training and the opportunity to make reputations. Individual jousting and hand-to hand combat came first. Then there were team events. In these, a group of knights fought against another group. These teams often stayed together and fought side-by-side in real battle. Team games today, such as football, baseball, cricket and hockey, are the distant descendants of such medieval tournaments.
A crucial event in the movement from being a group to becoming a team can be the team building exercise. This can be based upon either (1) a substitute team task (for example, a business case study or a few days of outdoor activities) or (2) a real task (for example, going away for a weekend to plan company strategy).
There are pros and cons to both approaches. The advantage of a substitute task type of event is that success or failure is not of paramount importance. Nor are there any technological or professional challenges to meet, so that people can concentrate on the essential issue of learning how to work more effectively together as a team.
According to the passage, the reality of 'team-building exercise' is that, it is _____.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → ancient
The passage opens: "The phrase 'team building exercises' may be new but the reality is not." Its origins "go back at least as far as the medieval tournaments". So the idea itself is ancient, that is, very old; only the name is new.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: advanced — Incorrect. Wrong focus: advanced means highly developed; the passage speaks of how old the practice is, not how developed it is.
Option 2: new — Incorrect. Misread: only the phrase may be new; the passage says plainly that the reality is not.
Option 4: modern — Incorrect. Contradicted: modern means of the present time, the opposite of what the passage says about medieval origins.