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Young Geniuses Listening and Vocabulary Exercises

A 9-year-old boy from Hong Kong named March Boedihardjo has been accepted to study mathematics at university. The university designed a specially tailored 5-year course for him that will allow him to earn both a bachelor's and master's degree in mathematics. Some experts were concerned that attending university at such a young age could cause March to miss out on important social skills, but the university plans to customize a learning plan to support his personal and academic development while also providing peace of mind for his parents.

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Екатерина Приходько
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382 views4 pages

Young Geniuses Listening and Vocabulary Exercises

A 9-year-old boy from Hong Kong named March Boedihardjo has been accepted to study mathematics at university. The university designed a specially tailored 5-year course for him that will allow him to earn both a bachelor's and master's degree in mathematics. Some experts were concerned that attending university at such a young age could cause March to miss out on important social skills, but the university plans to customize a learning plan to support his personal and academic development while also providing peace of mind for his parents.

Uploaded by

Екатерина Приходько
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Young Geniuses

Listening Comprehension Test

Boy Aged 9 to Study Maths at University

BEFORE LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these
sentences are true (T) or false (F):
a. An American mathematical whiz-kid passed his university exams. T / F
b. The little boy will not be the youngest student at his university. T / F
c. The boy will study for both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. T / F
d. The little boy was extremely shy in front of a crowd of journalists. T / F
e. Education experts fear he will lose out on valuable social skills. T / F
f. The nine-year-old has little experience of being with older students. T / F
g. The boy is worried about communicating with college students. T / F
h. The college has tailored a plan to help his personality and learning. T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:


1. genius a. carefully
2 gain b. contentment
3. long and hard c. fears
4. media d. customize
5. amid e. press
6. concern f. took
7. sat g. Einstein
8. cope h. among
9. tailor i. manage
10. peace of mind j. get

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes
more than one combination is possible):
1. accepted to a. and hard
2 create a specially b. from educationalists
3. Authorities thought long c. after a two-month discussion
4. The decision was made d. passed advanced maths exams
5. the non-stop flash e. study mathematics
6. There has been concern f. roadmap
7. miss out g. designed five-year course
8. he sat and h. of mind
9. tailor a learning i. light from photographers
10. give his parents peace j. on social skills
WHILE LISTENING
Listen and fill in the spaces.

Boy Aged 9 to Study Maths at University

A nine-year-old ____________________ Hong Kong has been accepted to study


mathematics ____________________. Child prodigy March Boedihardjo will attend the
Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) and become the youngest college student in the
city. The ____________________ designed five-year course which will see him gain a
Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. Authorities ____________________ about whether or
not to admit March. HKBU president Professor Franklin Luk announced at a press
conference: "The decision ____________________-month discussion among various
departments of the university and March's parents." March also met the press and
____________________ when he entered the media room. He seemed very confident
____________________ flash light from photographers.
There has been concern from educationalists that March ____________________
social skills by attending university so young. His new classmates will all
____________________ than he is. March said this would not be a problem as
____________________ of studying with older students. He has already spent two years
in England, where he sat and ________________________ with A grades. "When I was
in Oxford, all my schoolmates were over 18 and we often discussed mathematics
problems. I think I won't have problems in communicating ____________________ me,"
said the nine-year-old. Professor Luk is ____________________: "With a view to
developing his…personal growth…we will tailor a learning roadmap that best benefits
March…and also give his ____________________," he said.

AFTER-LISTENING DISCUSSION

1. What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘genius’?


2. Would you like to be a genius?
3. Do you know about any other child prodigies?
4. Do you think a 9-year-old should be allowed to go to university?
5. Would you let your 9-year-old child go to university?
6. How might going to university aged nine help March in his life?
7. What things in life do you think March might miss out on?
8. Do you think his parents will really have peace of mind?
9. What questions would you like to ask March?
10. What kind of student were you when you were nine years old?

Vocabulary Exercises
1. Read the text below and think of only one word which best fits each space.

The Four-Year-Old Undergraduate

A child prodigy of four is receiving computer lessons at Brunel University in London.


Nicholas MacMahon (1) … studying at university because he is (2) … clever for school. A
senior lecturer at the university, Valso Koshy, said (3) … boy was remarkably intelligent.
Nicholas spoke fluently before he was one, and (4) … the time he was eighteen months
old he was taking telephone messages. This (5) … soon followed by conversational
French. These are the trademarks of a highly gifted child – unusual (6) … not unique. The
strange thing 7) … Nicholas is his reading – he taught 8) … to read before he could
speak. Ms Koshy, (9) … expert on gifted children, says Nicholas is quite exceptional. Yet
‘exceptional’ understates his amazing ability (10) … read, almost from birth. ‘He was
talking when he was one, (11) … we realised from the start he (12) … read,’ his father
said. ‘Soon after, he was correcting my spelling, words like caterpillar. Now he identifies
insects by (13) … Latin names’.
The list (14) … achievements is impressive, but frightening. A four-year-old who
(15) … tell a Boeing 747 from a DC 10, devours encyclopedias, reads The Daily
Telegraph and is well on the way to becoming a violin virtuoso is (16) … normal.

2. Read the text below and decide which answer A, B, C or D best fits each space.

What Makes a Musical Genius

In the early 1990s, the psychologist K. Anders Ericsson and two colleagues (1) …
themselves at Berlin’s elite Academy of Music. With the help of academy’s professors,
they (2) … the school’s violinists into three groups. First were the students with the (3)
…
to become world-class soloists. Second were those (4) … to be merely ‘good’. Third were
the students (5) … ever to play professionally and who intended to be music teachers
in schools. All were then asked how many hours they had practised since they first picked
up a violin.
Everyone, from all three groups, had started playing at roughly the age of five and
practised for two or three hours a week. But around the age of eight, differences started
to (6) … . The students who would (7) … as the best in their class began to practise
more than everyone else, until by the age of 20 they were practising (8) … over 30 hours
a week. By then, the elite performers had all totalled 10000 hours of practice over the (9)
…
of their lives, the merely good students 8000 hours and the future music teachers just
over 4000 hours.

1. A. settled in B. installed C. set up D. included


2. A. parted B. shared C. divided D. broke
3. A. promise B. potential C. prodigy D. power
4. A. regarded B. measured C. calculated D. judged
5. A. improbable B. doubtful C. unlikely D. unsure
6. A. emerge B. happen C. erupt D. arrive
7. A. come out B. close off C. result in D. end up
8. A. well B. much C. very D. far
9. A. track B. way C. course D. path
V

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