ODTÜ METU

PROCEEDING
TOWARDS
PROFICIENCY

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 by
Öğr. Gör. Umman Tümkaya
&
Öğr. Gör. Dr. Başak Ağın

Summer School Materials

Ankara, 2018

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Bringing together all the items in this book and incorporating them into the expected NEPE format
was no easy mission, especially considering the accuracy required in completing it and the pace at
which the set of materials was produced, compiled, and edited. Accomplishing this demanding
task would not have been possible without the help and guidance of several colleagues, whose
meticulous efforts invigorated us even at times of despair.
First and foremost, we would like to express our gratitude to Özlem Atalay, Director of School of
Foreign Languages, for believing in our potential to produce such material bearing utmost
importance. We also thank Aliye Hale Bingöl, Head of Department of Basic English, and all our
colleagues working in the DBE administration for their supportive approach.
We definitely feel indebted to our proofreaders, who continuously provided us with invaluable
feedback and detailed insight during the production process of the materials. We are deeply
grateful to Gökçen Baskan Gülşen, Fatma Gülhan, Steve Riva, and Hilal Sevinç, who put
enormous effort into reading and analyzing in detail such comprehensive work. Their precious and
wise feedback always reached us in a timely manner, making our job much easier to handle and
yielding results with higher precision. We thank them for their support, which was with us from
the beginning to the end. We also owe thanks to Nilay Bekçi Köse, Elif Çiçek Dikmen, Nilüfer
Kale, Ece Selva Küçükoğlu, Çiğdem Özen, Sezi Özentürk Coşkuner, Deniz Özhan, and Füsun
Şahin for contributing to this book with their constructive and insightful feedback at times of need.
Our special thanks go to Cansu Göktan, who not only spent days and nights working with us to
deliver feedback, but also came up with brilliant ideas to improve the quality and feasibility of the
material we produced. We also thank the recording team, Defne Akıncı Midas, Murat Aydın,
Tuğçe Bölükbaşı, Gary Conlan, Yasemin Fırat, Meriç Gülcü, Thomas Madge, Çiğdem Mekik,
Jason Steinberg, İrem Soyuer, and Münire Vecdi Özbilen, for giving voice to the while-listening
section and the lecture parts of the performance tasks by undertaking heavy workload. And finally,
needless to say, we are thankful to all our colleagues in DBE who gave us emotional support by
offering help and appreciating our hard work.
We hope that this set of materials will prove useful for the students preparing for the NEPE and
for our colleagues in guiding students towards success. We wish our students a fruitful summer
school term.

Umman Tümkaya & Başak Ağın

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Listening Comprehension………………………………………………………………………1
Practice I………………………………………………………………………………....2
Practice II…………………………………………………………………………...........7
Practice III……………………………………………………………………………....12
Practice IV…………………………………………………………………………........17
Practice V………………………………………………………………………………..22
Practice VI………………………………………………………………………………28
Practice VII………………………………………………………………………….......34
Practice VIII……………………………………………………………………….........41
Practice IX…………………………………………………………………………........48
Practice X……………………………………………………………………………..…53
Practice XI………………………………………………………………………………58
Practice XII……………………………………………………………………………...64
Careful Reading………………………………………………………………………………...68
Extra Practice for Careful Reading………………………………………………….128
Search Reading………………………………………………………………………………..143
SR1……………………………………………………………………………………..144
SR2……………………………………………………………………………………..150
SR3……………………………………………………………………………………..157
SR4……………………………………………………………………………………..164
SR5……………………………………………………………………………………..171
SR6……………………………………………………………………………………..179
SR7……………………………………………………………………………………..186
SR8……………………………………………………………………………………..193
SR9……………………………………………………………………………………..200
SR10……………………………………………………………………………………207
SR11………………………………………………………………………………..…..214
SR12……………………………………………………………………………………222
Writing Practice……………………………………………………………………………….230
Line Graphs……………………………………………………………………………231
Bar Graphs…………………………………………………………………………….235
Pie Charts……………………………………………………………………………...239
Tables…………………………………………………………………………………..243
Multiple Graphs……………………………………………………………………….247
Diagrams……………………………………………………………………………….249

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Performance Tasks……………………………………………………………………………251
PT1……………………………………………………………………………………..252
PT2……………………………………………………………………………………..255
PT3……………………………………………………………………………………..258
PT4……………………………………………………………………………………..261
PT5……………………………………………………………………………………..264
PT6……………………………………………………………………………………..267
PT7……………………………………………………………………………………..270
PT8……………………………………………………………………………………..273
PT9……………………………………………………………………………………..276
PT10…………………………………………………………………………………....279
PT11………………………………………………………………………………..…..282
PT12………………………………………………………………………………..…..285
PT13.……………………………………………………………………………….…..288
PT14……………………………………………………………………………..……..291
Vocabulary……………………………………………………………………………………..294
Test 1…………………………………………………………………………………...295
Test 2…………………………………………………………………………………...300
Test 3…………………………………………………………………………………...305
Test 4………………………………………………………………………………...…310

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LISTENING COMPREHENSION

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PRACTICE I
BRIEF TALKS
For items 1-5, you will listen to five one-minute talks and a question related to each. As you listen,
mark the alternative that answers the question or completes the statement. Before you listen to
each talk, you will be given 15 seconds to look at the three alternatives.

1. What is the aim of the speaker?

a. To comment on a show by comparing it with its old version
b. To criticize a show by highlighting its shortcomings
c. To illustrate successful standups and sitcoms

2. What is the main point of the talk?

a. Getting familiar with the culture helps relate to the language.
b. Russians find short responses in conversations rude.
c. Learners must have interest in the language to learn it effectively.

3. What is the topic of the talk?

a. Halley’s Comet
b. Pioneer Venus Orbiter
c. Vega 1 and Vega 2

4. What is the topic of the talk?

a. An uncommon job
b. The quality of dog food
c. Well-paying jobs

5. What is the purpose of the talk?

a. To publicize the ceremonial opening of a museum located in London
b. To announce the exhibition of the winners of a photography competition
c. To call for applications for a photography competition in London

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ANNOUNCEMENT

For items 6 to 8, you will listen to an announcement during the orientation program. As you listen,
mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to
the announcement, you will be given 30 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

6. Which of the following is not one of the duties of the student assistant?
a. Replying to e-mails at the circulation desk
b. Arranging and maintaining the stacks
c. Solving computer problems
7. How many hours a week will the assistant need to work?
a. 10
b. 15
c. 20
8. How can the student apply for an interview?
a. By sending a letter of intent via e-mail
b. By filling in an online application form
c. By calling the supervisor at the main library

INSTRUCTION
For items 9 and 10, you will listen to an instructor in the Department of Psychology giving
instructions as to how to conduct an experiment. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer
the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the instructions, you will be given
30 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

9. Which of the following is true according to the instruction?

a. The sample group is divided into two in the second stage.
b. It’s easier to select groups randomly in biological and behavioral sciences.
c. The larger the sample group is, the more valid the experiment results will be.

10. Why does the instructor mention Parkinson’s disease?

a. To show why it is important to determine the frequency of sampling
b. To explain how researchers can reduce the chances of experimental error or bias
c. To indicate why researchers need to perform different methods to collect data

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CONVERSATION
For items 11-15, you will listen to a conversation. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer
the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the conversation, you will be given
60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
11. Which best describes the student’s current activity?
a. He is completing his schedule.
b. He is getting guidance from his advisor.
c. He is asking about registration procedures.
12. Why does the student want to take Chemistry Lecture Section 1?
a. Because it is early in the morning.
b. Because the class size of that section will be smaller.
c. Because he’d rather be in the same section as his friend.
13. What is the problem with Laboratory Section 22?
a. It is too late on Friday.
b. It is at the same time as another class.
c. He has a conflict with the lab assistant.
14. Why does the young man say this: “They won’t go in an hour”?
a. To reassure the student
b. To caution the student
c. To console the student
15. For how many sections does the student register?
a. 2
b. 3
c. 4

DISCUSSION

For items 16-20, you will listen to a group discussion among students. As you listen, match each
student’s name with a task. Some options may be used more than once; some options may not be
used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will be given 30 seconds to read the question
and the alternatives.

Tasks Students

16. getting quantitative data ______ a. Kate

17. interviewing people using the bus service ______ b. Lin
18. interviewing car drivers ______ c. Paul
19. interviewing cyclists ______ d. Cindy
20. taking photos ______

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LECTURES

Lecture 1

21. All of the following are true about emblems except that they _________.
a. are generally not taught explicitly
b. are usually learned through imitation
c. are the same in all cultures
22. Which of the following is not mentioned as one of the purposes for using emblems?
a. To reinforce what is being said.
b. To express certain emotions.
c. To substitute for specific verbal expressions.
23. Illustrators _________.
a. are always performed consciously
b. serve to intensify our nonverbal messages
c. might differ only slightly across cultures
24. _________ is not mentioned as an emotional meaning that can be conveyed through
affect displays.
a. Fatigue
b. Sadness
c. Eagerness
25. Affect displays _________.
a. are heavily dependent on verbal messages
b. intensify when we try to show our feelings
c. can be consciously controlled by actors
26. Regulators differ from emblems, illustrators, and affect displays in that they _______.
a. are not used in place of verbalization
b. are usually unintentional
c. are not performed by speakers

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Lecture 2

For items 27–31, you will listen to a lecture about a movement in modern architecture. As you
listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen
to the lecture, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

27. William Morris probably did not support the idea that _______.
a. art design should focus on function
b. art needs to express the artist’s feelings
c. art must be supporting the needs of society
28. Which of the following best describes the motto of the Bauhaus design?
a. Imagination could go beyond the limits of simplicity.
b. Art should reflect the horrors of the war and poverty.
c. Practicality and creativity can be brought together.
29. Which of the following is true about the Bauhaus movement?
a. Their designs were mostly bulkier than the traditional ones.
b. They preferred steel in their designs as it brought precision.
c. Weimar Republic provided full economic support for the designers.
30. Which image displays the cantilever chair?

a. b. c.

31. Why did the Bauhaus lecturers and students move to different countries?
a. They were subject to unfair treatment due to political discrimination.
b. They were idealists who aimed to spread their art throughout the world.
c. They were so famous they were asked to open schools in these countries.

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PRACTICE II

BRIEF TALKS
For items 1-5, you will listen to five one-minute talks and a question related to each. As you
listen, mark the alternative that answers the question or completes the statement. Before you
listen to each talk, you will be given 15 seconds to look at the three alternatives.

1. What is the speaker going to talk about next?

a. The importance of efficient timing in presentations
b. Topics to choose for persuasive presentations
c. Tips for making different lengths of presentations

2. What is the purpose of the talk?

a. To persuade people of the health benefits of chia seeds
b. To warn against the possible side effects of chia seeds
c. To instruct people how to consume chia seeds

3. What is the topic of the talk?

a. Why groundwater is significant
b. How people can use ocean water
c. What contributes to surface water

4. What is the main idea of the talk?

a. Playing with constructing toys like LEGO can boost creativity in young children.
b. Skills used while playing with LEGO are similar to those required in engineering.
c. LEGO constructions actually require designing skills and a knowledge of physics.

5. What is the topic of the talk?

a. The pros and cons of an ERASMUS program.
b. Potential candidates for an ERASMUS program.
c. The popularity of ERASMUS programs.

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ANNOUNCEMENT

For items 6 and 7, you will listen to an announcement in the student union building. As you listen,
mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to
the announcement, you will be given 30 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

6. Why will the TV set be removed from the building?

a. Because students cannot agree on what to watch
b. To reduce the cost of repairs and maintenance
c. Because it is distracting and unnecessary

7. When will the TV set be removed from the building?

a. On Friday
b. By the end of the week
c. At the beginning of next week

INSTRUCTION

For items 8 and 9, you will listen to an instructor in the Department of Agricultural Sciences giving
instructions as to how to prune a tree. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions
or complete the statements. Before you listen to the instructions, you will be given 30 seconds to
look at the questions and the alternatives.

8. When should the trees be pruned?

a. in late fall or early winter
b. in late summer or early fall
c. in late winter or early spring

9. What kind of branches are not recommended for pruning?

a. branches that are over one inch in diameter
b. branches that are rubbing against one another
c. branches that are growing back into the center of the tree

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CONVERSATION
For items 10-15, you will listen to a conversation between a student and a university service
representative. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the
statements. Before you listen to the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the
questions and the alternatives.

10. What does the student go to the Intramural Activities Center?

a. Buy a pass for the IMA Center
b. Play sports at the IMA Center
c. Work part-time at the IMA Center

11. What does the student imply when he says “Man, I didn’t know this was going to be so
complicated”?
a. He cannot understand the information he has just received.
b. He didn’t expect the transaction to take so long.
c. He didn’t know so many documents would be required.

12. Which sports are included in the super pass that are not included in the basic pass?
a. swimming, tennis, and fitness
b. sauna and whirlpools
c. squash and rock-climbing

13. How many types of IMA passes are available?

a. 2
b. 3
c. 4

14. Which of the following is true according to the conversation?

a. Guests can obtain a pass if they pay the $10 fee regularly.
b. Students with a super pass are also charged for extra fitness classes.
c. If you go to the IMA center just once a week, buying a pass is not logical.

15. When can the student call the IMA Center?

a. At 6 PM on Tuesday
b. At 7 PM on Friday
c. At 2 PM on Saturday

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DISCUSSION
For items 16-20, you will listen to a discussion on how to handle late-coming in the Classroom
Management and Teaching Skills course. As you listen, match each student’s name with a
strategy they suggest. Some options may be used more than once; some options may not be
used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will be given 30 seconds to read the question
and the alternatives.
Strategies Students

16. giving short quizzes at the beginning of the lesson _____ a. Erin
17. making the students do an embarrassing task _____ b. Shawn
18. marking the latecomer absent _____ c. Iris
19. allowing the latecomer to get seated close to the door _____ d. Jeanie
20. not allowing the latecomer in _____

LECTURES
Lecture 1
For items 21–25, you will listen to a lecture about the Japanese bonsai. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
lecture, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
21. Bonsai _______.
a. do not bear flowers or fruit
b. should be kept indoors in winter
c. have four different sizes
22. Bonsai was introduced to countries other than Japan _______.
a. when the word was mentioned in a poem in the 14th century
b. when high-ranking people in Japan started to enjoy it
c. after Japan stopped being isolated in 1868
23. Where was the first World Bonsai Convention held?
a. Florida
b. Omiya
c. Munich
24. Bonsai are categorized according to their ________.
a. shape
b. length
c. color
25. What must one do while growing bonsai?
a. Make the tree fit a certain category
b. Control the shape the tree takes
c. Avoid bending or cutting off the branches

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Lecture 2
For items 26-31, you will listen to a lecture in a fine arts class. As you listen, mark the alternatives
that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the lecture, you will be
given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

26. Why does the lecturer mention Leonardo da Vinci?

a. To show how successful Picasso was
b. To indicate Da Vinci’s influence on Picasso
c. To highlight the differences between the two
27. The lecturer mentions Picasso’s early education and career in order to _____________.
a. emphasize his brilliance in art
b. underline his father’s influence
c. exemplify his importance in modernism
28. During his ‘Blue Period,’ Picasso _____________.
a. was influenced by Renaissance illusionism
b. employed mostly warm colors and thin paint
c. painted ‘The Old Guitarist’
29. Which of the following is Picasso’s first and most famous collage?
a. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
b. Woman with a Guitar
c. Still Life with Chair Caning
30. What is Guernica?
a. A town
b. A battle
c. A period
31. How has the lecturer organized his lecture?
a. By place of residence
b. By thematic representation
c. By periods of development

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PRACTICE III
BRIEF TALKS
For items 1-5, you will listen to five one-minute talks and a question related to each. As you listen,
mark the alternative that answers the question or completes the statement. Before you listen to
each talk, you will be given 15 seconds to look at the three alternatives.
1. What is the topic of the talk?
a. What reading comprehension is and how it functions
b. The processing capacity of individuals when reading a text
c. The types of difficulties that readers may be faced with
2. Which of the following is expected to dominate the rest of the talk?
a. Whether to change a college major
b. When to change a college major
c. How to change a college major
3. What is the purpose of the talk?
a. To describe the distinctive visual look of Japanese animation against the American one
b. To demonstrate that American animation is more appropriate for children than anime
c. To explain the differences between Japanese and American animation
4. What is the main point of the talk?
a. Geometry helps to improve people’s critical-thinking skills.
b. Almost all sports people use geometry to improve their performance.
c. Practically every profession demands some knowledge of geometry.
5. What is the topic of the talk?
a. A brief history of solar energy
b. The world’s largest solar furnace
c. The use of solar heat in ancient times
ANNOUNCEMENT
For items 6 and 7, you will listen to an announcement to students at the beginning of the General
Physical Conditioning course. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or
complete the statements. Before you listen to the announcement, you will be given 30 seconds to
look at the questions and the alternatives.
6. Where can you go if you want to report a lost item?
a. To Room 132.
b. To the reception.
c. To the Lost Property Office.
7. If you have lost a necklace, how long will they keep it?
a. For two weeks
b. Until the weekend
c. Until the end of the academic year

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INSTRUCTION

For items 8 and 9, you will listen to some guidelines in a library. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
instructions, you will be given 30 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
8. If you are not a member of the university, it is possible to view the rare books
_________________.
a. on Fridays between 8:30 and 16:00
b. by emailing the person in charge in the library
c. after getting a student or faculty library card

9. When working with a rare book, you can ___________.

a. take photos of the book with your digital camera
b. scan or copy a limited number of pages from the book
c. take the book to any section provided it remains in the library

CONVERSATION
For items 10-13, you will listen to a conversation between a university student and an employee
in the Student Services Center. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions
or complete the statements. Before you listen to the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds
to look at the questions and the alternatives.

10. Why does the student visit the Student Services Center?
a. To arrange for a student parking discount.
b. To register his car with campus security.
c. To purchase a parking pass for his vehicle.
11. What does an unlimited parking pass include?
a. Parking on weekdays for the entire calendar year.
b. Parking on school days during the academic year.
c. Parking every day during the academic year.
12. Why does the employee say: “You’re getting an excellent deal”?
a. To advise the student not to pay in installments.
b. To encourage the student to buy the parking pass.
c. To reassure the student of the fairness of the daily parking cost.
13. What will the student probably do next?
a. Buy a pass with his credit card.
b. Complete a registration form.
c. Put a sticker in his car window.

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DISCUSSIONS
Discussion 1
For items 14-17, you will listen to a discussion among four students. As you listen, match each
student’s name with the place they are going to eat lunch at. Some options may be used more than
once; some options may not be used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will be given
30 seconds to read the question and the alternatives.

Students Venues

14. Charles ________ a. Pizzeria

15. Diana ________ b. The corner café
c. Cafeteria
16. David ________ d. Burger shop
17. Sally ________ e. Kebab restaurant

Discussion 2
For items 18-21, you will listen to a discussion on cyberbullying. As you listen, match each
person’s name with his/her argument. Some options may be used more than once; some options
may not be used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will be given 30 seconds to read
the question and the alternatives.

Teachers Arguments

18. Vincent ______ a. Schools are only responsible for cyberbullying during
school hours.
19. Lilian ______
b. Schools should be able to punish students who
20. Simon ______ cyberbully their friends.
21. Tina ______ c. Students who violate the school’s code of conduct by
cyberbullying should do community work.
d. Schools should teach students how to behave if they
are cyberbullied.

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LECTURES
Lecture 1
For items 22-26, you will listen to a lecture about a controversial figure in American exploration
into space. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the
statements. Before you listen to the lecture, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions
and the alternatives.

22. Who designed Saturn V, the launch rocket that sent Apollo 11 to the moon?
a. Michael Collins
b. Herman Oberth
c. Wernher Von Braun

23. What is true according to the lecture?

a. Von Braun was born to a middle-class family in 1945 in Poland.
b. Oberth was a strong influence on Von Braun’s work and career.
c. Oberth became a member of the Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party.

24. Von Braun and his team ______________.

a. led an operation called “Paperclip” in Nazi Germany
b. continued working for the Nazi army after they went to America
c. engineered the first missile to carry a nuclear warhead

25. Which of the following is among Von Braun’s accomplishments?

a. He was one of the founders of NASA.
b. He planned space stations and trips to Mars.
c. He opened the Marshall Space Flight Center.

26. The aim of the lecture in general is _____________.

a. to persuade the audience that Von Braun was a great influence in both science and
politics
b. to exemplify Von Braun’s achievements to support his alignment with the Nazi army
c. to give information about Von Braun’s life as a provocative figure in science

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Lecture 2
For items 27-32, you will listen to a lecture about dancing bees. As you listen, mark the alternatives that
answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the lecture, you will be given
60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

27. Which aspect of bee behavior does the professor mainly discuss?
a. Reproduction
b. Organization
c. Communication
28. Why does the professor mention radar?
a. To explain how bees know which way to fly
b. To show how a theory was proved correct
c. To illustrate problems with the waggle dance
29. According to the professor, what does the waggle dance tell forager bees?
a. The distance of the food site from the hive
b. The exact location of the food at the site
c. How much food they will find at the site
30. Which way should forager bees fly if a scout bee flies up the side of the beehive in a
vertical line?
a. toward the west
b. toward the hive
c. toward the sun
31. The professor says “I don’t know how, but they did” because he wants to imply that
______.
a. the scientists should have been more careful
b. it is difficult to put transmitters on bees
c. it is not a good idea to use radar with bees
32. What can be inferred about how forager bees find food?
a. They rely solely on the information from the waggle dance.
b. They follow the scout bee until they find the food.
c. They use their senses to find the exact location of food.

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PRACTICE IV
BRIEF TALKS
For items 1-5, you will listen to five one-minute talks and a question related to each. As you listen,
mark the alternative that answers the question or completes the statement. Before you listen to
each talk, you will be given 15 seconds to look at the three alternatives.

1. What is the purpose of the talk?

a. To compare the attitudes of teenagers and adults towards camping as a vacation
b. To persuade listeners of the inappropriateness of camping for vacation for adults
c. To inform listeners of the differences between camping and hotel vacations

2. What is the topic of the talk?

a. The differences in culturally similar societies’ cuisines
b. Sociologists’ negligence of food in their inquiries
c. The importance of food studies in sociology

3. What is the main point of the talk?

a. A black cat is considered good luck in some countries but bad luck in others.
b. Black cats are considered unlucky because of their association with witches.
c. The deep-rooted superstitions about black cats are detrimental to their well-being.

4. What is the purpose of the talk?

a. To exemplify how film composers are inspired by those of classical music
b. To argue that Gustav Holst’s Planets is indebted to John Williams’s music
c. To convince the audience that Planets is an unprecedented masterpiece of music

5. What is the topic of the talk?

a. How mesotherapy functions to reduce fat and cellulite
b. Why mesotherapy is actually weaker than liposuction
c. Where mesotherapy can be applied in the human body

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ANNOUNCEMENT
For items 6-8, you will listen to an announcement at the swimming pool. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
announcement, you will be given 30 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

6. What is the main purpose of this announcement?

a. To inform personnel and students about the closure of the pool
b. To inform personnel and students of the Subaqua Sports Club sessions
c. To inform personnel and students that the pool needs maintenance work
7. When will the pool be closed?
a. From September 12 to October 5
b. From September 12 to October 26
c. From October 5 to October 26
8. When will the sessions of the Subaqua Sports Club start again?
a. September 12.
b. October 26.
c. It is not certain.

INSTRUCTION

For items 9-11, you will listen to a professor who teaches the course Human-Computer Interaction
giving instructions for a team project. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions
or complete the statements. Before you listen to the instructions, you will be given 30 seconds to
look at the questions and the alternatives.

9. When will the teams submit their final project?

a. On November 12
b. On December 3
c. On December 10
10. What will happen if teams submit only one check-in?
a. They will not be penalized.
b. They will face a two-letter grade penalty.
c. They will not get any credit for the project.
11. Which of the following is true according to the instructions?
a. The professor doesn’t accept late submissions under any circumstances.
b. The students can only submit PDF documents to receive feedback.
c. Completion of the project is more important than the quality of work.

18
CONVERSATION
For items 12-15, you will listen to a conversation between two students at the library. As you
listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen
to the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

12. Why does the girl start a conversation?

a. To get advice
b. To ask for help
c. To make a complaint
13. What does she need the book for?
a. To cite a source.
b. To check linguistics.
c. To find relevant quotes.
14. Where could the book be?
a. It might be reserved for the professor.
b. Someone might have checked it out.
c. A classmate might be using it.
15. What will the girl do next?
a. Search on Google Scholar.
b. Check the catalogue.
c. Go to a library.

DISCUSSIONS

Discussion 1

For items 16-18, you will listen to a discussion among three students. As you listen, match each
student’s name with all the films they would like to watch. Some options may be used more than
once; some options may not be used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will be given
30 seconds to read the question and the alternatives.

Students Films

16. Erin ________ a. Star Wars

b. What Happened to Monday?
17. Brannah ________
c. Ayla
18. Jamie ________ d. Beetlejuice
e. Mother

19
Discussion 2
For items 19-23, you will listen to five students discussing their opinions about friendship in a
counseling session. Please match each student with his or her opinions. Some options may be used
more than once; some options may not be used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will
be given 30 seconds to read the question and the alternatives.
Students Opinions
19. Kelly _____ a) Social networking keeps friendships going.
20. Jack _____ b) There’s no friend like an old friend.
21. Leslie _____ c) Virtual friends aren’t real friends.
22. Sam _____ d) The younger generation can’t socialize.
23. Lily _____ e) I outgrew my old friends.
f) Friendship has limitations.

LECTURES
Lecture 1
For items 24–28, you will listen to a lecture in an American history class. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the lecture,
you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
24. What is the main topic of the lecture?
a. Women-centered history
b. The victim approach
c. Historical models
25. Why does the professor mention Jane Addams?
a. To argue against traditional US historical models
b. To correct a misimpression about the Nobel Peace Prize
c. To illustrate an example of female roles in US history
26. According to the professor, what is one problem with the contribution approach?
a. It ignores the most outstanding women.
b. It overemphasizes men’s oppression of women.
c. It does not consider women’s familial social roles.
27. Which of the following describes the victim approach to US History?
a. It asks, “What have women done?”
b. It asks, “How have men oppressed women?”
c. It asks, “How have women suffered from their emotions?”
28. Which of the following might the new approaches deal with?
a. Women’s interaction with other women in minority groups
b. Women’s being dominated by men in science and politics
c. Unusually successful women in the history of economics

20
Lecture 2
For items 29-34, you will listen to a lecture in a social science class. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the lecture,
you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

29. What is the main topic of the lecture?

a. How fads become trends
b. The history of fads and trends
c. The difference between fads and trends
30. How does the professor introduce fads?
a. He gives a definition.
b. He tells a personal story.
c. He asks the class a question.
31. According to the professor, what is the main difference between a fad and a trend?
a. The length of time that each one lasts
b. How quickly an industry accepts them
c. How much money is earned from them
32. Why does the professor mention cell phones?
a. To contrast fads and trends in terms of functionality
b. To exemplify the spread of trends into various industries
c. To support that they have been more successful than hula hoops
33. Which of the following is not a characteristic of a fad?
a. It can cross over into different industries.
b. Large companies do not accept it right away.
c. It usually has a short-term influence.
34. Why does the professor say “Yes, in the back.”?
a. He is telling a student there is something on the back of his or her shirt.
b. He is recognizing a student who has raised a hand to ask a question.
c. He wants students in the back of the room to quit talking and listen.

21
PRACTICE V
BRIEF TALKS
For items 1-5, you will listen to five one-minute talks and a question related to each. As you listen,
mark the alternative that answers the question or completes the statement. Before you listen to
each talk, you will be given 15 seconds to look at the three alternatives.

1. What is the topic of the talk?

a. The impact of the imagery in social media on people.
b. The mental disorders people have due to social media.
c. Blogs and images like selfies that affect people negatively.
2. What is the main point of the talk?
a. Youth involved in bullying are inclined to have suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
b. Despite its serious negative effects, like suicide, many adults still consider bullying
normal.
c. Bullying is still a painful problem in many countries such as the US, the UK, and
China.
3. What is the purpose of the talk?
a. To explain the relationship between setting goals and success
b. To inform people about the ways to increase their level of happiness
c. To highlight the contribution of success to happiness
4. The speaker’s approach towards technological advancement is mainly ___________.
a. positive
b. cautious
c. indifferent
5. What is the main idea of the talk?
a. Women do not play video games as much as men because they are not interested.
b. Women are not trained well in computer-related areas and graphic design.
c. There are fewer women game producers due to a male-dominant culture.

ANNOUNCEMENT
For items 6-8, you will listen to a professor’s announcement on the first day of the Educational
Psychology course. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the
statements. Before you listen to the announcement, you will be given 30 seconds to look at the
questions and the alternatives.
6. Which of the following is false about research papers?
a. They should be between three and five pages.
b. They have to be submitted to Turnitin.com.
c. They don’t need to include a cover page.
7. When will the students be given more information about CLP?
a. in week 2
b. in week 3
c. in week 8

22
 8. Whom will the students interact with in Forum posts?
a. The authors
b. The instructor
c. Their classmates

INSTRUCTION
For items 9-12, you will listen to an assistant talking to freshman students in the department of
physics about electrical safety in the lab. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the
questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the instructions, you will be given 30
seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

9. What does “let-go” threshold mean?

a. The person detects a tingling feeling.
b. The person can’t release the conductor.
c. The current is between 0.4 mA and 16 mA.

10. What is the first thing to do in the event of an electrical hazard?

a. Unplug the equipment
b. Turn off the equipment
c. Turn off the safety switch

11. To turn off the safety switch, use ____________________.

a. your left hand
b. your right hand
c. both hands

12. Which of the following is not a material used for insulating gloves?
a. leather
b. heavy cotton
c. norfoil

23
CONVERSATION
For items 13-16, you will listen to a conversation between two students in a chemistry lab. As you
listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen
to the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

13. How many chemicals are required for the young man’s experiment?
a. 2
b. 3
c. 4

14. What caused his experiment to fail?

a. Impure materials
b. Faulty equipment
c. Improper technique

15. Why does the woman say, “Isn’t this a scientific laboratory?”
a. She thinks the lab doesn’t have enough scientific equipment.
b. She thinks it is necessary for the man to retry the experiment.
c. She thinks the man should have a more scientific attitude.

16. What will the man probably do next?

a. Report his findings.
b. Redo the experiment.
c. Renovate his equipment.

test tubes a Bunsen a tweezers splints reagent bottles

and rubber burner graduated
stoppers cylinder

24
DISCUSSION
For items 17-21, you will listen to a discussion among faculty members in a department meeting.
As you listen, match each member’s name with their suggestions. As you listen, match each
student’s name with a strategy they suggest. Some options may be used more than once; some
options may not be used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will be given 30 seconds
to read the question and the alternatives.
Suggestions Faculty members

17. buying high-tech PCs and monitors ____

a. Prof. Sue Davies
18. buying laptops ____
b. Prof. John Nell
19. buying more PCs later, should the need arise ____
c. Dr. Mandy Jackson
20. buying fewer PCs ____
d. Dr. Nick Sullivan
21. buying new furniture for the classrooms ____

25
LECTURES
Lecture 1
For items 22–29, you will listen to a lecture in an American literature class. As you listen, mark
the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
lecture, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
22. The Bell Jar was _____________.
a. one of her last poetry books
b. her first novel
c. a very successful collection of poems
23. Sylvia Plath’s Collected Poems won the Pulitzer Prize _______________.
a. 20 years after it was published
b. in 2003
c. in 1982
24. Sylvia’s husband ________________.
a. made movies
b. died in 2003
c. was also a poet
25. Sylvia’s work ________________.
a. led to debates among female poets
b. aimed at starting a feminist movement
c. was of great interest to women
26. Sylvia’s brother ________________.
a. received less attention than Sylvia
b. was born two years after her
c. was a professor at Boston University
27. What does the lecturer imply when she says, “The domineering father figure became a
common theme that recurred throughout Plath’s writing.”
a. Plath’s writings were dominated by the image of her father.
b. Plath often wrote of her love for her father.
c. Plath’s father often told her what to write about.
28. Sylvia Plath’s time at college was difficult because ________________.
a. she got bad grades
b. boys didn’t like her
c. she was short of money
29. In 1953, Sylvia ________________.
a. left New York to get a job as an editor
b. rejected an offer to teach creative writing
c. worked as a guest editor in New York

26
Lecture 2

For items 30–34, you will listen to a lecture in a social sciences class. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the lecture,
you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

30. What is the main topic of the lecture?

a. The invention of the bicycle
b. The history of the bicycle
c. Modern bicycles
31. How does the professor present the information about bicycles to the class?
a. In chronological order
b. By classifying bicycles
c. According to the regions
32. What does the professor imply about Leonardo da Vinci?
a. He was a great artist.
b. He was mentally ill.
c. He was a visionary inventor.
33. What are “penny farthings”?
a. Wooden bicycles with no pedals
b. Bicycles with pedals and equal-size tires
c. Bicycles with a large front wheel
34. Which of the following types of bicycles is not mentioned in the lecture?
a. Hobby horse
b. Velocipede
c. Quadriped

27
PRACTICE VI

BRIEF TALKS

For items 1-5, you will listen to five one-minute talks and a question related to each. As you listen,
mark the alternative that answers the question or completes the statement. Before you listen to
each talk, you will be given 15 seconds to look at the three alternatives.

1. Which of the following will be the main point of the talk?

a. The mentally ill are neglected through inappropriate policies and applications.
b. Like physical problems, mental illnesses can be controlled with the right treatment.
c. Mental disorders can be diagnosed early if their symptoms are not ignored.
2. What is the purpose of the talk?
a. To advise college students to reduce their expenses.
b. To instruct college students on how to set a budget.
c. To explain the sources of a college student’s income.
3. What is the topic of the talk?
a. How philosophy begins on an everyday level
b. How important near-death experiences are in philosophy
c. How making important decisions are related to philosophy
4. What is the topic of the talk?
a. The probable reasons behind the fall in today’s educational standards
b. How exposure to bad content in the media affects children’s education
c. Overcrowding as a major source of the decrease in educational standards
5. What is the purpose of the talk?
a. To introduce the cultural studies program at a university
b. To highlight the importance of graduating from the cultural studies program
c. To emphasize the interdisciplinarity of the cultural studies program

28
ANNOUNCEMENT
For items 6-9, you will listen to an announcement about the PLAB test. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
announcement, you will be given 30 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
6. What is necessary to take a PLAB test?
a. a minimum of 7.5 in all four modules of the IELTS test
b. a primary medical qualification that is acceptable overseas
c. experience in an institution listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools
7. Where can you sit Part 1 of the PLAB test?
a. In Cairo only
b. In the UK only
c. Both in Cairo and the UK
8. What happens if you fail Part 1 four times?
a. You have to pass it in 3 years to sit Part 2.
b. You have to wait for three years to take it again.
c. Nothing. You can take it any time you want.
9. When are the results of Part 2 announced?
a. After two weeks
b. After three weeks
c. After four weeks

INSTRUCTION

For items 10 and 11, you will listen to a teacher at a secondary school giving instructions to
students as to how to use the computer lab. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the
questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the instructions, you will be given 30
seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

10. Which of the following is strictly forbidden in the computer lab?

a. Downloading files
b. Visiting Internet sites
c. Changing system settings
11. Which of the following is true?
a. Students can ask for help from their friends sitting next to them.
b. Students should turn off their computer upon hearing “Lights out.”
c. Students can print only one page if they get permission from the teacher.

29
CONVERSATIONS
Conversation 1
For items 12-15, you will listen to a conversation between two students. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
12. What are the speakers mainly discussing?
a. Their plans for the next academic year
b. Why the woman can’t go to the concert
c. Their favorite band and its live concert
13. What will the woman do on Saturday?
a. Teach a tutorial class.
b. Look for a program.
c. Mark tests.
14. What can be inferred from the conversation?
a. The woman worked in the dorm last weekend.
b. The man and woman take the same courses.
c. The man stayed after class to get help.
15. How does the male student feel about the woman’s weekend plans?
a. He feels sorry for her.
b. He feels worried about her.
c. He is jealous of her.
Conversation 2
For items 16-19, you will listen to a conversation between a professor and a student. As you listen,
mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to
the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
16. Why does the student visit the professor?
a. To inform her about recent changes in his and his family’s lives
b. To discuss how to make a potentially dry topic more engaging
c. To complain about the difficulty of an assignment given by another professor
17. What can be inferred about William III, Stephen of Blois, and Richard II?
a. They did not rule England for long enough periods of time to have notable impacts.
b. They are generally disliked by historians and therefore rarely discussed.
c. Many students are less familiar with them than with Henry VIII.
18. Which of the following does the student believe is true of King Henry VIII?
a. He is well known primarily for his colorful personality.
b. The details of his life are often exaggerated in stories.
c. He was a cruel man for executing several of his wives.
19. What will the student probably do before giving the lecture?
a. Discuss his lesson plan with another professor.
b. Research more dramatic details of Henry VIII’s life.
c. Give a practice lecture to polish his storytelling skills.

30
DISCUSSIONS

Discussion 1

For items 20-25, you will listen to a discussion among three students about a group presentation.
As you listen, match each student’s name with the phase they are going to present. Also, match
the phases with their key points. Each phase is matched with more than one key point. Before you
listen to the discussion, you will be given 30 seconds to read the question and the alternatives.

20. Gwen __ 23. Phase 1 __________ a. no marketing strategies

b. marketing Kleenex as a substitute for
handkerchiefs
21. Theresa __ 24. Phase 2 __________ c. marketing Kleenex as a substitute for
facecloths
22. Bobby __ 25. Phase 3 __________ d. using Kleenex in bandages and gas
masks
e. using famous actresses in marketing
f. high demand for Kleenex
g. a shortage of cotton
h. consumer testing

Discussion 2
For items 26-30, you will listen to a discussion among five students talking about their first year
at university. As you listen, match each student’s name with a statement. Some options may be
used more than once; some options may not be used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you
will be given 30 seconds to read the question and the alternatives.

Students Statements
a) I had to face some criticism when I chose a subject to
26. Lisa _____
study.
27. Harry _____
28. Grayson _____ b) I had to change an earlier decision about my studies.
29. Deb _____ c) I’m pleased that I’m able to combine studying with a job.
30. Terri _____ d) I had to be careful when choosing which college to study
at.
e) I had to give up a good job to concentrate on my studies.
f) I’m happy to have an active social life while at college.

31
LECTURES
Lecture 1
For items 31–35, you will listen to a lecture about types of societies. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the lecture,
you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

31. Which of the following is not mentioned as a criterion in the definition of a society?
a. Geographical area
b. Same species
c. Physical appearance
32. In ______ societies, animals such as goats and pigs are used as a means of dietary intake.
a. Hunting and gathering
b. Horticultural
c. Pastoral
33. Which of the following is a characteristic of agrarian societies?
a. Land is cleared by burning to make area for large cities.
b. Their lifestyle leads to the development of complex systems.
c. The productivity level is often low due to their social structure.
34. Which of the following is true for industrial societies?
a. Watt’s invention acted as the starting point in their establishment.
b. Social inequalities were not observed much in these societies.
c. They increased agricultural work thanks to new developments.
35. In postindustrial societies, economic activity is based on ___________.
a. information and computer technologies
b. interactions between people
c. production of goods

32
Lecture 2
For items 36–39, you will listen to a lecture about Olympic Games. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the lecture,
you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

36. Which of the following is true about the Olympic Games?

a. The Olympic Games as we know them first started in 1912.
b. The first games in which women could compete were held in Stockholm.
c. In Ancient Greece, women could only watch the Games, but could not play.
37. The Olympic emblem with five rings _____________.
a. was first used in the Antwerp games
b. went through color revision in 1920
c. was thought of and designed in 1913
38. The Olympic torch _____________.
a. came back into existence in the Amsterdam games in 1936
b. was first carried from Greece to Germany by 3,000 runners
c. was kept lit in the sky and the water during the Berlin games
39. More than one billion dollars was paid to televise _____________.
a. Barcelona Games in 1992
b. Atlanta Games in 1996
c. Sydney Games in 2000

33
PRACTICE VII
BRIEF TALKS
For items 1-5, you will listen to five one-minute talks and a question related to each. As you listen,
mark the alternative that answers the question or completes the statement. Before you listen to
each talk, you will be given 15 seconds to look at the three alternatives.
1. What is the topic of the talk?
a. A comparison of rationalism and empiricism
b. The effect of empiricism on rationalism
c. The superiority of rationalism to empiricism
2. What is the main idea of the talk?
a. The advantages of online learning over face-to-face classes outweigh the
disadvantages.
b. There is a direct positive relationship between social media and learning outcomes.
c. Social media and face-to-face education can be employed to support one another.
3. The speaker is going to continue the talk with ____________.
a. the reasons for wearing perfume
b. a brief history of perfumes and fragrances
c. the process of making perfume
4. What is the main point of the talk?
a. AR attracts modern art museum visitors.
b. Many people find virtual graffiti repulsive.
c. Our legal systems are not ready for AR art.
5. The talk is probably a part of __________.
a. A conference session
b. A YouTube video
c. A webinar
ANNOUNCEMENT
For items 6 and 7, you will listen to an announcement at a conference. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
announcement, you will be given 30 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
6. What is the purpose of the announcement?
a. To welcome participants to the conference
b. To inform participants about a social event
c. To give information about the “Abbaye de Valmagne”
7. Which of the following is correct about the conference dinner?
a. Participants will have to pay extra for the dinner.
b. They have to register at the website of the Abbaye de Valmagne.
c. Only 150 participants will be able to attend the dinner.

34
INSTRUCTION

For items 8-12, you will listen to an extract from a Cleanroom Orientation. A professor is giving
instructions to M.A. and Ph.D. students as to how to use the cleanroom. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
instructions, you will be given 30 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

8. Which of the following should you do on the day you are planning to use the cleanroom?
a. Have a shower to avoid shedding contaminants and particles
b. Wear cologne or perfume to avoid body odors in the cleanroom
c. Wear sleeveless shirts and slippers to feel comfortable during a long process
9. When must you stop smoking prior to entry to the cleanroom?
a. 30 minutes before
b. 45 minutes before
c. An hour before
10. Why do you need your ID card?
a. To enter the locker room
b. To enter the gown room
c. To enter the cleanroom
11. In which order should you wear your cleanroom gear?
a. hood ‒ coverall ‒ shoe covers or booties ‒ glasses, gloves, and the snood
b. shoe covers or booties ‒ coverall ‒ hood ‒ glasses, gloves, and the snood
c. coverall ‒ hood ‒ glasses, gloves, and the snood ‒ shoe covers or booties
12. Where do you need to go for help with the cleanroom?
a. Office B12
b. Office B20
c. Office B22

35
CONVERSATIONS
Conversation 1
For items 13-16, you will listen to a conversation between a student and a librarian. As you listen,
mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to
the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

13. Which of the following has the student already done?

a. Reserved a couple of books
b. Used the library search engine
c. Checked the journal database
14. On how many days per week are library inductions currently available?
a. 1 day per week
b. 2 days per week
c. 5 days per week
15. What can the student do on level two?
a. Find the engineering books
b. Sign up for a library tour
c. Meet Mark Taylor
16. What time does the librarian recommend the student to return to meet the subject
librarian?
a. At around 12:15
b. At around 12:30
c. At around 14:00

36
Conversation 2
For items 17-20, you will listen to a conversation between a professor and his assistant. As you
listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen
to the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

17. Why does the professor mention the book he’s writing?
a. To emphasize that he needs the assistant’s help
b. To ask the assistant to find a publishing company
c. To explain why he doesn’t have time for a vacation
18. What is the purpose of this meeting?
a. To review a subject
b. To reschedule a lecture
c. To revise a course
19. Why will the professor give the students a reading?
a. So that they can get familiar with Old English
b. So that they can get ready for the phonetics quiz
c. So that they can write their term paper
20. What will the assistant probably do that afternoon?
a. Go to the library
b. Attend a meeting
c. Surf the Net
DISCUSSIONS
Discussion 1
For items 21-25, you will listen to a discussion among five students. As you listen, match each
student’s name with what they are doing or planning to do. Some options may be used more than
once; some options may not be used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will be given
30 seconds to read the question and the alternatives.

Students Tasks

21. Frank ___________ a. Prepare a presentation

b. Organize notes for a class
22. Fiona ___________
c. Help a friend
23. Ian ___________ d. See a professor
e. Go to the library
24. Philip ___________
f. Watch a play
25. Monica ___________ g. Park the car

37
Discussion 2
For items 26-29, you will listen to a discussion on renewable energy sources. As you listen, match
each person’s name with his/her argument. Some options may be used more than once; some
options may not be used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will be given 30 seconds
to read the question and the alternatives.
Students Arguments
26. Ted ______ a. Many living things are affected negatively by the
27. Mike ______ construction of dams.
28. Sharon ______ b. The disadvantages of wind power are far greater than its
advantages.
29. Jack ______
c. Renewable energy sources do relatively less harm to the
environment.
d. Using renewable sources will not have an adverse effect
on the economy
LECTURES
Lecture 1
For items 30–34, you will listen to a lecture in a political science class. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the lecture,
you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
30. The concept of nation emerged ______________.
a. with the rise of the Greek city-states
b. with the development of large empires
c. within the last two decades of the 1700s
31. Which characteristic of Ireland does the professor utilize in his lecture?
a. It is part of the UK.
b. It is conspicuously religious.
c. It has a common ethnicity.
32. The lecturer uses the people of Circassia as an example of what?
a. A stateless nation
b. A nationless state
c. State-nationhood
33. What is this lecture mainly about?
a. The differences between nations
b. The history of nationhood
c. The definitions of a nation
34. Judging from his lecture, which idea would the professor probably NOT accept?
a. China should be divided into several countries.
b. Defining nation-states is not an easy task.
c. Nation-states are a recent phenomenon.

38
Lecture 2
For items 35–38, you will listen to a lecture on the northern lights, also known as the Aurora
Borealis. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements.
Before you listen to the lecture, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the
alternatives.

35. What fuels Aurora Borealis?

a. The solar system
b. An electrically charged wind
c. A magnetic field
36. Which of the following is false about the color of auroras?
a. Green is one of the most commonly sighted colors.
b. Yellow is the least visible color.
c. Red is the most rarely sighted color.
37. Which of the following is true about the sightings of the auroras?
a. In March and October, the night skies are too dark to see them.
b. The summer months are the best time to view them.
c. Today it is difficult to sight them due to light pollution.
38. According to an American Indian myth, auroras ___________.
a. were the light caused by iceberg crashes
b. were the souls of babies who lost their lives
c. were the souls of killed enemies

39
Lecture 3
For items 39–42, you will listen to a talk that takes place in the Q&A session of a conference on
science and emotions. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete
the statements. Before you listen to the lecture, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the
questions and the alternatives.
39. In her presentation, Dr. Wilson has probably talked about all of the following except
___________.
a. how science explains the ways people build trust
b. the scientific reasons why people may hate each other
c. how to attract the attention of the opposite sex
40. According to the similarity principle, which of the following is not true about women?
a. Women tend to choose the eye color similar to their fathers’.
b. Women tend to choose the eye color similar to theirs.
c. Women make their choice about their partners consciously.
41. According to the principle of symmetry, people ________________ .
a. tend to choose partners without symmetrical features.
b. tend to choose partners who look healthy.
c. feel better when they make conscious choices.
42. Pheromones are chemicals that ______________ .
a. help to improve the immune system
b. can be detected only by animals
c. help people detect different immune systems

40
PRACTICE VIII
BRIEF TALKS
For items 1-5, you will listen to five one-minute talks and a question related to each. As you listen,
mark the alternative that answers the question or completes the statement. Before you listen to
each talk, you will be given 15 seconds to look at the three alternatives.

1. What is the main point of the talk?

a. Counselors’ personal experience of abuse or neglect as a child may affect their work.
b. Counselors have to maintain a balance between their own lives and those of their clients.
c. Counselors should not give their clients too much or too little support.

2. What is the main point of the talk?

a. People feeling anxious or depressed have limiting beliefs about themselves.
b. Beliefs are formed as a result of analysis of information and experience.
c. People tend to notice and look for evidence that supports their beliefs.

3. What is the purpose of the talk?

a. To persuade the audience that Kass has a stronger view than Nietzsche and Thoreau
b. To explain eating has a more biological side than its cultural effect on human life
c. To compare and contrast the perspective of Kass with that of Nietzsche and Thoreau

4. The speaker’s attitude towards the idea that humans are unique is _________________.
a. indifferent
b. sympathetic
c. sarcastic

5. What is the topic of the talk?

a. Beethoven’s “Heiligenstadt Testament” and “Emperor Concerto”
b. The terrible experience of Beethoven at the premiere of the Ninth Symphony
c. The beginning of and reasons for Beethoven’s hearing loss

41
ANNOUNCEMENT

For items 6-8, you will listen to a professor’s announcement about a tutorial. As you listen, mark
the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
announcement, you will be given 30 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

6. Which of the following will the tutorial include?

a. Lectures
b. Workshops
c. Presentations
7. Who cannot apply for the tutorial?
a. graduate students
b. undergraduate students
c. postdoctoral researchers
8. Which of the following is false about tutorial applications?
a. You can request funding for air travel.
b. You can apply online at the CESM website.
c. You will be notified in September if accepted.

INSTRUCTION

For items 9-12, you will listen to a lab assistant giving instructions to students as to how to dispose
of used equipment in the laboratory. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions
or complete the statements. Before you listen to the instructions, you will be given 30 seconds to
look at the questions and the alternatives.

9. Which of the following should not be put into the step-on can?
a. Gloves
b. Plastic petri dishes
c. Microscope slides
10. What happens to the items put into the discard pan?
a. They will be sterilized and discarded.
b. They will be sterilized, washed, and used again.
c. They will be sterilized, washed, and re-sterilized.
11. Where should you put uncontaminated broken glass?
a. In the step-on can
b. In the discard pan
c. In the sharps container
12. Where and how are reusable pipettes placed?
a. In the discard pan, by removing the labels
b. In the sharps container, by sterilizing
c. In the jar, by putting their tips down

42
CONVERSATIONS
Conversation 1
For items 13-17, you will listen to a conversation between an assistant lecturer and a student. As
you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you
listen to the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

13. What is the purpose of this conversation?

a. To acquaint the student and the assistant lecturer with each other
b. To find out about the British authors that are being taught in a course
c. To ascertain the grading method of the course the student is taking

14. If the student passes all 15 quizzes, how much of her final grade will they represent?
a. 10%
b. 15%
c. 20%

15. Which of the following is true about the exams?

a. The midterm exam will include the first eight chapters.
b. There will be questions on all chapters in the final exam.
c. The final exam will constitute 60% of the total grade.

16. Which of the following is false about the essays?

a. They should not be handwritten or less than four pages each.
b. Writing style and ability are as important as the content of the essay.
c. The authors should be chosen among the ones in the syllabus.

17. Why does Mr. Davies say “Papers that reflect some enthusiasm always turn out
better”?
a. To encourage her to choose an author she is interested in
b. To point out that unmotivated students fail to write papers
c. To highlight that interesting papers get the chance to be published

43
Conversation 2
For items 18-21, you will listen to a conversation between a student and an employee in the
accommodations office. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete
the statements. Before you listen to the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the
questions and the alternatives.

18. When is this conversation taking place?

a. At the end of July
b. Before the term starts
c. At the beginning of the summer school

19. Whose mistake was it that led to the problem?

a. The student’s.
b. The warden’s.
c. The dorm’s.

20. Where is the Kenton Hostel on the map?

University

City
B
C

a. A
b. B
c. C

21. Which of the following does the Kenton Hostel NOT provide?
a. Meals at a reasonable price
b. Ring service to the campus
c. Cheap beds in shared rooms

44
DISCUSSIONS

Discussion 1

For items 22-25, you will listen to a discussion among five students. As you listen, match each
student’s name with their social-media accounts. As you listen, match each student’s name with a
strategy they suggest. Some options may be used more than once; some options may not be used
at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will be given 30 seconds to read the question and
the alternatives.

Students Social-Media Account

22. Sheldon ____________ a. Facebook

23. Penny ____________ b. Instagram
24. Leonard ____________ c. Twitter
25. Amy ____________ d. YouTube
e. Snapchat

Discussion 2

For items 26-29, you will listen to four students discussing their summer activities. As you listen,
match each student’s name with the type of holiday he or she had, and tick whether or not the
student is happy about it. Some options may be used more than once; some options may not be
used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will be given 30 seconds to read the question
and the alternatives.
Student Happy Activity
YES NO
26. Alice ______ a) Went to a small town with parents
27. Tom ______ b) Went on a cultural trip

28. Brian ______ c) Spent time in parents’ home

d) Went on holiday with best friend
29. Sharon ______

45
LECTURES
Lecture 1
For items 30–34, you will listen to a lecture from a life sciences class. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the lecture,
you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

30. Why does the professor mention Japan and China?

a. In reference to an archaeological study
b. As examples of handedness prejudices
c. To counter a point about handedness genetics
31. What does the professor mean when he says, “... open a whole new can of worms”?
a. Determining the percentage of handedness will cause new problems.
b. It will be more difficult to determine left-handedness using this method.
c. Measuring handedness on a continuum isn’t applicable to the both-handed.
32. According to the professor, what is the problem with the concept of brain lateralization?
a. It has been disproven by a recent scientific study.
b. It does not seem to apply to determining handedness.
c. The same part of the brain controls all bodily functions.
33. According to the lecture, the archaelogical study _____________.
a. was not conclusive
b. explained the ambidexterous nature of the British
c. showed handedness developed due to social factors
34. What is the main topic of the lecture?
a. Handedness genetics
b. Right-handed dominance
c. The scientific basis of handedness

46
Lecture 2
For items 35–39, you will listen to a lecture by a professor of animal behavior. As you listen, mark
the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
lecture, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

35. Why does the professor mention the weather at the beginning of his lecture?
a. To relax the students before his talk
b. To draw the students away from their textbooks
c. To direct the students’ attention to the topic

36. How has the professor organized his presentation of migration?

a. By pattern
b. By species
c. By distance

37. According to the lecture, what is the main difference between altitudinal and latitudinal
migration?
a. The length of the migration
b. The frequency of migration
c. The direction of migration

38. Based on the professor’s remarks, what does “nomadic” mean?

a. Wandering
b. Periodic
c. Regional

39. Which is not included as a method of animal navigation?

a. Sight
b. Smell
c. Taste

47
PRACTICE IX
BRIEF TALKS
For items 1-5, you will listen to five one-minute talks and a question related to each. As you listen,
mark the alternative that answers the question or completes the statement. Before you listen to
each talk, you will be given 15 seconds to look at the three alternatives.
1. What is the purpose of the talk?
a. To explain marine biology as a scientific field
b. To introduce a special journal on marine biology
c. To promote the understanding of life in the sea
2. What is the topic of the talk?
a. How each piece is used in chess
b. The historical roots of chess
c. The origins of the word “check mate”
3. What is the purpose of the talk?
a. To explain the role of play in children’s cognitive development
b. To compare the role of play in two educational theories
c. To discuss whether play is influential in early education
4. What is the main idea of the talk?
a. E-nose devices help to diagnose certain medical conditions.
b. E-nose products have created a new sector in sensor technology.
c. E-nose instruments may be used for diverse tasks.
5. What is the main point of the talk?
a. People tend to obey orders from an authority for various reasons.
b. Milgram’s experiment on obedience is famous but controversial.
c. People who refused to obey Milgram’s command were in the minority.

ANNOUNCEMENT
For items 6-8, you will listen to a teacher’s announcement about a field trip. As you listen, mark
the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
announcement, you will be given 30 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

6. What will the students do on the field trip?

a. Appreciate artistic and scientific displays
b. Have hands-on practice on art and science
c. Do experiments to combine art and science
7. How long will the trip last?
a. all day
b. all morning
c. all afternoon
8. Which of the following is false?
a. The deadline for the submission of forms is February 17.
b. Students are asked to bring $8 with the permission slip.
c. Students without the permission slips will go to the library.

48
INSTRUCTION

For item 9, you will listen to a professor in the chemistry department giving instructions to students
about the official procedure to follow to use the lab. Listen to the instructions and do the related
task. Before you listen to the instructions, you will be given 30 seconds to look at the task.

9. Tick the items that you have to do in order to be authorized access to the chemistry lab.
( ) a. Give concise and detailed information about your experiment
( ) b. Give detailed information about the chemicals and their quantities
( ) c. Fill out a form that is in either doc or pdf format
( ) d. Specify the dates for your experiment on the form
( ) e. Make sure all members of the affiliation sign the form
( ) f. Submit the form to the Head of Chemistry and Micro-Imaging Laboratories.
( ) g. Contact Dr. Müller if you don’t get a reply in a week

CONVERSATION
Conversation 1
For items 10-13, you will listen to a conversation between a student and a university employee.
As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before
you listen to the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the
alternatives.

10. What are the speakers mainly discussing?

a. The high cost of ID cards
b. How to replace a lost ID card
c. How to obtain a temporary ID card
11. Why can’t the student have a temporary ID card?
a. Because it is too expensive.
b. Because it may pose a security risk.
c. Because she has lost her ID too many times.
12. How does the student feel about purchasing a replacement?
a. Relieved
b. Pressured
c. Frustrated
13. What can be inferred about the student?
a. She is an untidy person.
b. She hasn’t lost her card before.
c. Her parents don’t give her much money.

49
Conversation 2
For items 14-17, you will listen to a conversation between a research professor and a student. As
you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you
listen to the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
14. What is the purpose of this conversation?
a. To arrange a maintenance schedule
b. To ensure continued animal research
c. To offer the student an assistantship
15. What can you infer about the student’s attitude towards animals?
a. He really loves looking after all kinds of animals.
b. His mother made him take care of the pets at home.
c. He likes pets in general, except for mice and hamsters.
16. When will the student have to work in the lab?
a. in the mornings, except on weekends and holidays
b. in the late afternoons, from Monday to Friday
c. in the mornings and afternoons on school days
17. How does the professor characterize the assistantship?
a. Exciting.
b. Well-paid.
c. Responsible.

DISCUSSION
For items 18-21, you will listen to a discussion among four students and a professor. As you listen,
match each student’s name with their presentation parts and roles. As you listen, match each
student’s name with a strategy they suggest. Some options may be used more than once; some
options may not be used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will be given 30 seconds
to read the question and the alternatives.

Students Presentation Parts and Roles

a. Background information
18. Simon __________ b. Team leader
19. Yoko __________ c. Examples from art, architecture, and
literature
20. Paula __________ d. Bourdieu and Butler
21. Georgia __________ e. Contrasts between modernism and
postmodernism
f. Barthes, Baudrillard, and Derrida

50
LECTURES
Lecture 1
For items 22–25, you will listen to part of a lecture in a physical science class. As you listen, mark
the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
lecture, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

22. Why does the lecturer mention New York Harbor?

a. To exemplify the LIA’s impact on global climate
b. To exemplify the LIA’s impact on world politics
c. To exemplify the LIA’s impact on social life
23. According to the professor, what area did the LIA have the greatest impact upon?
a. Agricultural production
b. Economic activities
c. Human health
24. The French people rioted in the early 1700s because ________________.
a. they were suffering from a shortage of wheat
b. they were against Queen Marie Antoinette
c. many of them were dying of the Bubonic Plague
25. What is true about the LIA?
a. It ended gradually.
b. Its exact duration is unknown.
c. It affected the southern hemisphere.

51
Lecture 2
For items 26–30, you will listen to part of a lecture by a professor of Art. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the lecture,
you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

26. Why does the professor mention the school mascot at the beginning of his talk?
a. To define the word “graffiti”
b. To introduce his topic “graffiti”
c. To warn students against an illegal act
27. Lascaux cave paintings don’t qualify as graffiti because ___________________.
a. they are simple prehistoric illustrations
b. they don’t have characteristic scratches or scrawls
c. they were painted by the cave’s inhabitants.
28. According to the lecture, which probably contributed most to the appearance of gang
graffiti?
a. Urban stress
b. Aerosal spray paint
c. Financial problems
29. Who was Huey Newton?
a. A writer
b. A political activist
c. A gang member
30. How does the lecturer organize the types of graffiti?
a. By function
b. By technique
c. By chronology

52
PRACTICE X
BRIEF TALKS
For items 1-5, you will listen to five one-minute talks and a question related to each. As you listen,
mark the alternative that answers the question or completes the statement. Before you listen to
each talk, you will be given 15 seconds to look at the three alternatives.
1. What is the main idea of talk?
a. Animals have similar emotions and brain chemicals to those in humans.
b. Young animals do not feel and suffer as much as adult animals or humans.
c. Emotions that are related to mood and motivation are caused by brain chemicals.
2. What is the purpose of the speaker?
a. To convince the audience of the necessity of change in literature
b. To provide exemplary writers from modern literature
c. To inform the audience of a past trend in literature
3. What is the purpose of the talk?
a. To give examples from characters in Harry Potter
b. To discuss the reality of the fantastic world of Harry Potter
c. To analyze the reasons why Harry Potter is so successful
4. What is the topic of the talk?
a. How AI can turn into a threat
b. Whether humans can control AI
c. Whether AI can replace humans
5. The speaker’s next point will be related to ____________.
a. peaceful heritages and conflicts arising from them
b. the collaboration of archaeologists and heritage practitioners
c. the direct relationship between heritage and violence

ANNOUNCEMENT
For items 6 and 7, you will listen to a voice message from the academic advisor of the Biomedical
Engineering Society in your group chat. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the
questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the announcement, you will be given 30
seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
6. When will the Biomedical Engineering Society meet again?
a. At 4 pm that day.
b. At 4 pm next Wednesday.
c. At 5 pm next Wednesday.
7. Where will they meet?
a. In a classroom in the Biology Department.
b. In the seminar room in the Biology Department.
c. In the seminar room in the Chemistry Department.

53
INSTRUCTION
For items 8 and 9, you will listen to an assistant in the computer lab giving instructions to a student
about the registration procedure. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or
complete the statements. Before you listen to the instructions, you will be given 30 seconds to look
at the questions and the alternatives.

8. Which of the following is necessary for web registration?

a. An active USC e-mail account
b. A 10-digit USC student ID number
c. An eight-character, alphanumeric password
9. Which of the following is false for course registration?
a. You can view the courses of a department via its link in the “Academic” tab.
b. You can register for a course by clicking on the “Add this Class” button.
c. You have to complete registration by pressing Submit at the top of the page.
CONVERSATIONS
Conversation 1
For items 10-13, you will listen to a conversation between a bookstore sales clerk and a student.
As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before
you listen to the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the
alternatives.

10. What is the student’s purpose in coming here?

a. To pick up a novel
b. To fulfill a course requirement
c. To try on school wear and get a textbook
11. Why does the student decline the clerk’s offer to order a book?
a. Because it is more expensive.
b. Because he has to wait too long.
c. Because it is another edition.
12. Which of the following is true according to the conversation?
a. The student asks for a medium-sized sweatshirt.
b. The school’s motto hasn’t changed since 1956.
c. The school crest represents the love for animals.
13. What will the student probably do after this?
a. Search an online bookstore
b. Pay the tax on the book
c. Ask the cashier to find another edition

54
Conversation 2
For items 14-17, you will listen to a conversation in a professor’s office between a professor and
a student. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements.
Before you listen to the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and
the alternatives.

14. Why does the student visit the professor?

a. To request an extension on a deadline
b. To receive advice about time management
c. To explain his absence from history class
15. Which of the following is true about his roommate?
a. He missed the biology class and he has a final next week.
b. He has some health problems in his family to deal with.
c. He had the flu so needs help to catch up with schoolwork.
16. What is the professor’s attitude toward the student?
a. Cynical
b. Indifferent
c. Compassionate
17. What will the student do?
a. Prepare an outline and a draft.
b. Submit his term paper by Friday.
c. Tell his friends to stick to deadlines.

DISCUSSIONS

Discussion 1

For items 18-21, you will listen to a discussion in a departmental meeting. As you listen, match
each professor with the classes they teach. Some options may be used more than once; some
options may not be used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will be given 30 seconds
to read the question and the alternatives.

Professors Classes
a. Introduction to Literature
18. Heise ____________ b. Modern Fiction
19. Merchant ____________ c. Critical Theory
d. Translation
20. Estok ____________ e. Seminar
21. Knightley ____________ f. Contemporary English Lyrics
g. Victorian Poetry

55
Discussion 2
For items 22-26, you will listen to a discussion among five students about computer games.
Please mark whether each student is for or against computer games, and then match students
with their arguments. Some options may be used more than once; some options may not be used
at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you will be given 30 seconds to read the question and
the alternatives.

Students For Against Arguments

Computer Computer
Games Games
22. Alex ____ a. Games should be regulated by the
government because of their addictive
feature.
23. Mark ____ b. Play-for-free games don’t cause as much
harm as the ones you pay for.
c. Games are responsible for children’s poor
24. Taylor ____ literacy and weak performance.
d. Game developers suffer when people play
pirated games.
25. Linda ____
e. Games are mistakenly blamed for
children’s violent behavior.
26. Jeanie ____ f. Games create an environment that is
conducive to cooperation.

LECTURES

Lecture 1
For items 27–30, you will listen to part of a lecture in the College of Fine Arts. As you listen,
mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to
the lecture, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
27. Why does the lecturer mention Turner’s painting “Dido Building Carthage”?
a. As an example of linear perspective
b. As an example of aerial perspective
c. As an example of a vanishing point
28. How many vanishing points may an object have?
a. less than three
b. three
c. more than three
29. Before the understanding of the physics of perception, how did artists represent the
linear perspective?
a. They drew people who were nearer larger.
b. They placed people who were nearer at the top of the picture.
c. They painted people who were nearer with bright colors.
30. Why did Brunelleschi ask people to look through a peep hole in his picture?
a. To clarify linear and aerial perspectives in Renaissance art
b. To show how perspective can change from a single viewpoint
c. To compare the perspectives in a real scene and in its illustration

56
56
Lecture 2
For items 31–34, you will listen to part of a lecture by a professor of Physics. As you listen, mark
the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
lecture, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

31. The idea of a black hole _________________.

a. was heavily criticized by Pierre LaPlace
b. depended on Newton’s gravitational theory
c. was first proposed by Steven Hawking
32. The ‘singularity’ is different from the ‘event horizon’ in that it _______________.
a. is at the center of the black hole’s core
b. can be calculated mathematically
c. has strong gravitational force
33. The existence of black holes can be proven by searching for ________________.
a. the ‘Schwartzchild radius’
b. celestial objects getting larger
c. objects with increasing speed
34. Why did the professor mention MACHO-96-BL5?
a. To explain the gravitational lens effect
b. To illustrate a black hole that bends space
c. To give an example of the photos taken by the Hubble Telescope

57
PRACTICE XI
BRIEF TALKS
For items 1-5, you will listen to five one-minute talks and a question related to each. As you listen,
mark the alternative that answers the question or completes the statement. Before you listen to
each talk, you will be given 15 seconds to look at the three alternatives.
1. What is the topic of the talk?
a. The amount of silicon needed for plant growth
b. The role of silicon in delaying disease attack
c. The possible benefits of silicon for plants
2. What is the purpose of the talk?
a. To explain how important connecting with the audience is
b. To support Aristotle’s argument that logos is the most powerful tool
c. To classify tools of persuasion according to Aristotle’s view
3. What is the purpose of the talk?
a. To give information about a specific mobile game
b. To explain the characters and playing arenas in a mobile game
c. To discuss the different levels in a specific mobile game
4. What is the topic of the talk?
a. How certain words or phrases may transform over time
b. How the British and the American uses of certain words differ
c. How people can make language mistakes unintentionally
5. What is the topic of the talk?
a. Tarot as the source of a card game
b. The European Tarot as a divination tool
c. The polemical history of Tarot cards
ANNOUNCEMENT
For items 6-8, you will listen to an announcement on Campus FM. As you listen, mark the
alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
announcement, you will be given 30 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
6. Which of the following is false about the first position?
a. The language tutor will not need to leave campus.
b. The language tutor will work two hours every week.
c. The language tutor will help with Spanish homework.
7. Which of the following is true about the second position?
a. The delivery driver will have a fixed schedule.
b. The delivery driver will work only 15 hours per week.
c. The delivery driver will earn $150 or more per week.
8. How can students apply for either position?
a. They should send an e-mail with an attachment.
b. They should call the person advertising the position.
c. They should fill in a form on the university’s website.

58
INSTRUCTION

For items 9 and 10, you will listen to a lab assistant in a chemistry lab giving instructions to
students as to how to carry out an experiment. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the
questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the instructions, you will be given 30
seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

9. Which of the following is false according to the instruction?

a. The lab objective is to see the differences between a mixture and a compound.
b. You may have a small accident unless you use a china dish to heat the mixture.
c. You should wash your hands with soap if you touch any chemical with bare hands.
10. What should you do to produce a black mass from the mixture?
a. Mix and grind it thoroughly but gently
b. Heat it strongly and stir continuously
c. Put it in a glass tube and add iron sulphide

a magnet a china dish a Bunsen watch a pestel and a glass rod

burner glasses mortar

59
CONVERSATIONS
Conversation 1
For items 11-14, you will listen to a conversation between a professor and a student. As you listen,
mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to
the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
11. Why is the student in the classroom?
a. He is waiting for his class to start.
b. He is waiting for his professor.
c. He wants to study quietly.
12. What is the student’s purpose in initiating this conversation?
a. To improve his writing technique
b. To get his grade raised on his essay
c. To get a topic idea from his professor
13. What will the student try to do with his next essay?
a. Contain his subject
b. Write a shorter essay
c. Research more carefully
14. Why does the student say, “Yes, and I can identify!”?
a. He understands Rimbaud’s work.
b. He also enjoys composing poetry.
c. He is not very interested in writing.

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Conversation 2
For items 15-18, you will listen to a conversation between a university student and a professor in
the professor’s office. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete
the statements. Before you listen to the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the
questions and the alternatives.
15. Why does the student come to the professor’s office?
a. To receive help writing a Master’s thesis.
b. To discuss his grade on a class assignment.
c. To ask about how to outline and structure an essay.
16. According to the professor, what is the main weakness of the student’s essay?
a. It lacks a clear thesis statement.
b. It does not include a bibliography.
c. It should have a stronger structure.
17. Why does the professor congratulate the student?
a. Because his essay was well-organized.
b. Because he had the courage to come see him.
c. Because he completed a challenging assignment.
18. Based on the conversation, which statement is true?
a. The essay the student has written deserves a B plus.
b. The student did not outline his paper before writing it.
c. The professor offered to change the student’s grade.

DISCUSSION

For items 19-24, you will listen to a discussion among the members of an academic board. As
you listen, match each professor with their academic duties / plans. Some options may be used
more than once; some options may not be used at all. Before you listen to the discussion, you
will be given 30 seconds to read the question and the alternatives.

Professors Academic duties / plans

19. Smith _________ a. Getting retired

20. Haraway _________ b. Planning to take a sabbatical leave
c. Head of Department
21. Aranaya _________
d. Erasmus Coordinator
22. Eriksen _________ e. Organizing the convention
23. Riley _________ f. Arranging juries

24. Oppermann _________

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LECTURES
Lecture 1
For items 25–30, you will listen to a lecture about horses. As you listen, mark the alternatives that
answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the lecture, you will be given
60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

25. What is the lecture mainly about?

a. Prototypes of early horses
b. The use of horses in the Botai culture
c. How horse domestication began
26. Why does the professor say this: “Thus, the plot thickens”?
a. To highlight his confusion about his lecture notes.
b. To argue that horses were domesticated in Kazakhstan.
c. To emphasize the disparity of scholarly opinions.
27. According to the professor, why is it difficult to determine the origin of horse
domestication?
a. Archaeological excavations are hard to conduct.
b. There is a lack of concrete evidence.
c. DNA comparisons do not reveal full support to theories.
28. What does DNA analysis reveal about the domestication of horses?
a. Domestication appears to have occurred simultaneously in several places.
b. Domestication can be narrowed down to a specific location and time period.
c. Domestication most probably occurred when horses were first used in warfare.
29. All of the following are mentioned in the lecture as prototypes of modern horses except
____________.
a. Draft
b. Shetland
c. Tarpan
30. Why does the professor mention researcher Marsha Levine?
a. To illustrate a theory of gradual horse domestication.
b. To refute the findings of DNA comparisons.
c. To explain the development of Oriental horses.

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Lecture 2
For items 31–35, you will listen to part of a lecture in a Social History class. As you listen, mark
the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the
lecture, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

31. Why does the lecturer tell us that “bread” and “dough” are slang for “money”?
a. To emphasize the importance of his topic
b. To give examples of modern language
c. To show that money is a basic need
32. Which word describes the government’s approach to the bakery industry?
a. Corruption
b. Regulation
c. Collaboration
33. What is a “baker’s dozen”?
a. A recipe
b. Thirteen
c. A punishment
34. The history of bread was strongly influenced by __________________.
a. food shortages in England
b. King Rice in Southeast Asia
c. fluctuations in the British economy
35. Why is the Chorleywood Process useful?
a. It makes bread faster.
b. It makes bread factories possible.
c. It allows better fermentation to take place.

63
PRACTICE XII
BRIEF TALKS
For items 1-5, you will listen to five one-minute talks and a question related to each. As you listen,
mark the alternative that answers the question or completes the statement. Before you listen to
each talk, you will be given 15 seconds to look at the three alternatives.
1. What is the topic of the talk?
a. The overall characterization of the Victorian era in Britain
b. The differences between the Georgian and the Victorian periods
c. The Victorian tendency towards romanticism and mysticism
2. What is the main idea of the talk?
a. Whether the roots of Halloween are pagan or Christian is not certain.
b. Halloween was traditionally celebrated in all pagan countries.
c. Halloween began among early Christians who discarded pagan practices.
3. What is the topic of the talk?
a. The contributions of Nash equilibrium to society
b. The concept of the Nash equilibrium in game theory
c. An application of the Nash equilibrium
4. What is the topic of the talk?
a. The Myth of Sisyphus
b. The Theater of the Absurd
c. The meaninglessness of human life
5. What is the purpose of the talk?
a. To explain how space-time is distorted by massive objects
b. To indicate how Einstein worked on space and time separately
c. To give general information about special and general relativity

ANNOUNCEMENT
For items 6-8, you will listen to a professor’s announcement about an International Essay Contest.
As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before
you listen to the announcement, you will be given 30 seconds to look at the questions and the
alternatives.
6. What are the students required to do in their essay for the contest?
a. Describe the major problems of the 21st century that go beyond national borders
b. Analyze and offer solutions to the ethical issues of the world’s greatest challenge
c. Compare how the world’s greatest challenges affect local communities and the world
7. Which of the following is false about the requirements?
a. The essay can be co-authored.
b. The essay should not be more than 1500 words.
c. The essay can be submitted March 31 at the latest.
8. What is the prize for the second place?
a. $100
b. $250
c. A gift certificate

64
INSTRUCTION

For items 9 and 10, you will listen to an IT Support Specialist giving instructions to an academic
to solve a problem with her computer. As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions
or complete the statements. Before you listen to the instructions, you will be given 30 seconds to
look at the questions and the alternatives.

9. What should the woman first do to speed up her slow computer?

a. Move the not-frequently-used files to an external hard disk
b. Free up some hard disk space by erasing unimportant material
c. Uninstall programs like Visipics that disrupt the operating system
10. Which of the following is true according to the IT technician’s instructions?
a. None of the Microsoft processes can be unmarked in the Startup tab.
b. The automatic launch of programs like Google Update can’t be disabled.
c. Applications such as Pando Media Booster shouldn’t be downloaded again.

CONVERSATION
For items 11-14, you will listen to a conversation between a student and her advisor. As you listen,
mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to
the conversation, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

11. Why does Alice want to see her advisor?

a. To guarantee her graduation
b. To discuss her course requirements
c. To arrange a meeting with the Dean
12. Why does the advisor say, “That’s just great. How did you manage that, Alice?
a. Because she is impressed.
b. Because she is annoyed.
c. Because she is curious.
13. Which of the following can be said about Alice?
a. She is a successful student with an average GPA.
b. She is a borderline student with some A’s.
c. She is a good student with a high GPA.
14. Which courses would Alice rather take this term?
a. Statistics 301 and Global Economics EC 412
b. Econometrics EC 312 and Global Economics EC 412
c. Statistics 201and Statistics 301

65
DISCUSSION
For items 15-18, you will listen to a discussion among a professor and three research assistants.
As you listen, match each assistant with their current responsibilities in the department. Some
options may be used more than once; some options may not be used at all. Before you listen to the
discussion, you will be given 30 seconds to read the question and the alternatives.
Assistants Tasks
15. Laura _______ a. Teach Chemistry 106
16. Mike _______ b. Teach lab courses
17. Elaine _______ c. Assist Quantum Chemistry course
18. Louise _______ d. Mentor second-year students
e. Proctor Reaction Mechanisms exam

LECTURES
Lecture 1
For items 19–24, you will listen to a lecture about transgenic crops, or genetically modified crops.
As you listen, mark the alternatives that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before
you listen to the lecture, you will be given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.
19. The lecturer gives the definition of transgenic crops to ______________.
a. point out the necessity of gene modification in agricultural practices
b. emphasise the difference between a regular crop and a genetically modified crop
c. indicate the similarity of gene modification in animals and humans to that in plants
20. Which of the following is mentioned as one of the purposes of producing GM crops?
a. pest resistance
b. cross-pollination
c. prevention of starvation
21. Many herbicides on the market can be used ____________.
a. once a year
b. only on certain crops
c. in the earlier stages of growth
22. Why did scientists produce rice capable of synthesizing beta-carotene?
a. To find a cure for respiratory diseases.
b. To solve the problem of Vitamin A deficiency.
c. To cross it with a bacterial species.
23. GM tomatoes have been developed ___________.
a. to make use of unsuitable soil for agriculture
b. to produce fruit that is already salty
c. to increase the commercial success of the fruit
24. The lecturer mentions transgenic bananas ___________.
a. to exemplify how GM crops may cause cholera and diarrhea
b. to indicate how GM crops can adapt to different environments
c. to illustrate how GM crops can be used as vaccines

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Lecture 2
For items 25–29, you will listen to a lecture in a science class. As you listen, mark the alternatives
that answer the questions or complete the statements. Before you listen to the lecture, you will be
given 60 seconds to look at the questions and the alternatives.

25. What is the lecture mainly about?

a. The history of integuments
b. The distinction between seeds and nuts
c. The botanical definition of a nut
26. According to the professor, how do botanists define a seed?
a. It is the part of a plant that will reproduce itself when germinated.
b. It is any kernel used in cooking that is found within a shell.
c. It is a plant fruit that does not attach itself to the ovary of a nut.
27. What does the professor mean when he says this: “Clear as a bell, right?”
a. He thinks the explanation is self-evident.
b. He suspects that the scientists are playing a joke.
c. He is acknowledging that the issue is confusing.
28. Why does the professor mention kernels?
a. To compare chestnut seeds with watermelon seeds
b. To highlight the confusion between nuts and seeds
c. To argue against the botanical definition of a nut
29. Why does the lecturer mention almonds?
a. To show that they contain as much oil as coconuts.
b. To indicate their health benefits on the heart and blood.
c. To support the idea that nuts are confused with seeds.

67
CAREFUL READING

68
Text 1.

A For Brian Kurth, a six- or seven-day workweek is nothing unusual. In fact, it’s the
routine for him, and he also admits he doesn’t get much sleep. “I’m usually up until
midnight, and back up at 5 a.m., but it’s not work if you love it,” says Kurth. That’s the
same mentality shared by many entrepreneurs who are fervent to grow and build their
small businesses. It makes sense when you consider that these people, by nature, are
hard workers. That’s not a bad personality trait to have, but when unchecked, it can
harm the individual. When that happens, an energetic hard worker with a lot of
enthusiasm and reliability can slowly transform into a burnt-out workaholic. Kurth
learned this lesson the hard way. He broke up with his partner at a point in his career
when he was juggling his new business, writing a book, and trying to maintain a
relationship – all at the same time! “I had to give up something,” he says. “But I’m not
willing to be a workaholic at the expense of being single the rest of my life. I’ve learned
that it’s important to find that balance in life.”
B While the word ‘workaholic’ tends to have a negative connotation due to the health
and social implications associated with it, some entrepreneurs insist that it’s a lifestyle
that works for them. “I absolutely love what I’m doing, and I have no regrets,” says
Scott Badger, the founder and president of KPI Direct.
C Mobile technology makes it much more difficult for workaholics to “unplug.” Badger
responds to client communications day and night. Due to the nature of his business,
which counsels organizations on how to create multi-channel direct marketing
programs, Badger finds he’s unable to switch into “off” mode. The hard work has paid
off, however. Since 2016, Badger says the company has doubled its employees and
tripled its monthly revenue. “With clients across the globe, I’m tempted to do business
at all hours. I always want more,” Badger says. Likewise, jewelry designer Laura
Rhodes illustrates this modern addiction. “I sleep with my smart phone,” says Rhodes,
who started her Studio City in 2012. She says the company had sales of more than
$350,000 last year and is projecting $500,000 for the next year.
D For entrepreneurs like Badger and Rhodes, the thought of leaving their business for
even one week is quite disturbing. “If someone told me I had to take a week off, I’d go
crazy,” Badger says. Rhodes admits she hasn’t taken a week-long vacation since the
inception of her business. In fact, she doesn’t even have a valid passport. “My goal for
2019 is to get a passport for a European vacation, but right now I feel like I can’t leave
the business for too long.”
E Giving up control of duties is a necessity for many workaholics struggling to find a
work and life balance. For Kurth, it’s all about setting rules and sticking to them. He
says his rules are sharply designed. a) ■ Though not as successfully as Kurth, Rhodes
and Badger have also somewhat managed to find a way to work this out. They are, in

69
 fact, still struggling to find that balance, too. Rhodes made the first move by relocating
her business out of her home and into an office. “I needed to separate my business from
my life,” she says, “but this is just the beginning. I can’t just stop working whenever
it’s necessary.” b) ■ Meanwhile, Badger tries to balance his intense schedule with his
additional roles of husband and father. Though it’s hard, Badger says, he finds ways to
make it work. For instance, to spend more time with his children, Badger is planning
to limit his travel to four days a month. He also created new summer office hours,
closing the door at noon every Friday. “Last year, I picked up my preschool-age boys
and headed to the beach. It was amazing. I would like to do this more often, but I’m
not there, yet.” c) ■
F Psychologists say, “It’s important for all workaholics to have a break. Otherwise, they
may have to see a therapist.” When Badger feels overworked, he escapes for an
afternoon to watch a movie. Rhodes relieves her work-related tensions by exercising
and cooking. Kurth says a change in the environment makes a big difference in his
mental health. At the least for the time being, they seem to have, to one degree or
another, found the balance in their lives.

1. According to paragraph A, when his partner broke up with him, Brian Kurth
____________.
a) had a fervent and furious personality
b) was suffering from incurable insomnia
c) was dealing with a number of tasks

2. The information in paragraphs B and C suggests that although workaholism is

considered unfavorable by many people, ___________.
a) workaholics are reliable and have strong ties with their families
b) there are some others who think it is an acceptable way of life
c) technology provides workaholics with the spare time they need

3. Both Rhodes and Badger think that __________.

a) limiting traveling time abroad is enough to keep a balance
b) being away from work for even one week is impossible
c) they need to get someone to arrange their daily chores

4. Which of the following is mentioned in the text?

a) The unusual retirement plans of some workaholics
b) The company rules that disturb workaholics
c) Some workaholics’ efforts to reduce their workload

70
 5. The text is mainly about ___________.
a) the need for workaholics to achieve a greater work-life balance
b) the psychological reasons why some people turn into workaholics
c) some problems that workaholics have when they give up hard work

6. Where in paragraph E does the following sentence belong?

“The minute my workaholism affects my family or friends in a negative way, I
draw the line.”
a) a
b) b
c) c

7. According to paragraph F, ____________.

a) workaholics need to get rid of their habit by attending therapy sessions
b) different workaholics have different ways of attaining work-life balance
c) Badger and Rhodes use similar methods for relaxation after tiring hours

Text 2.
A It’s amazing just how many medical myths there are to choose from, but one part of
the body seems to attract more than its fair share, and that’s the brain. One of my
favorite brain myths is the idea that we only use 10% of it. It’s an appealing idea
because it suggests the possibility that we could become so much more intelligent,
successful, or creative, if only we could harness that wasted 90%. This might inspire
us to try harder, but unfortunately that doesn’t mean there’s any truth in it.
B First of all, it’s important to ask the question – 10% of what? If it is 10% of the regions
of the brain to which people are referring, this is the easiest idea to quash. Using a
technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging, neuroscientists can place a
person inside a scanner and see which parts of the brain are activated when they do or
think about something. A simple action like clenching and unclenching your hand or
saying a few words requires activity in far more than a tenth of the brain. Even when
you think you are doing nothing, your brain is doing rather a lot – whether it’s
controlling functions like breathing and heart rate, or recalling the items on your to-do
list.
C Yet, maybe the 10% refers to the number of brain cells. Again this doesn’t work. When
nerve cells are going spare, they either degenerate and die off, or they are colonized by
other areas nearby. We simply don’t let our brain cells hang around idly. They’re too
valuable for that. In fact, our brains are a huge drain on our resources. Keeping brain
tissue alive consumes 20% of the oxygen we breathe, according to cognitive
neuroscientist Sergio Della Sala.

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D It is true that nature can sometimes involve some strange designs, but, following Della
Sala’s argument, to evolve to have a brain ten times the size we needed would seem
very odd, when its large dimensions are so costly to our survival. Human brain is
already too big: three times larger than the brain of our closest living relative, the
chimpanzee. (a) The chimpanzee brain uses less than a third of the energy that the
human brain needs, but the two species have the same metabolic rate. (b) What
makes the human brain ‘so expensive’ is the amount of energy it requires to run
every task. (c) In fact, the human brain requires about 22 times as much energy
to run as the equivalent in muscle tissue. As such, why would we waste so much
energy to feed an organ that uses only its 10% to function?
E Still, many people do cling onto the idea that we only use 10% of our brains. The idea
is so prevalent that when the University College London neuroscientist Sophie Scott
was on a first aid course, the tutor assured the class that head injuries were not very
serious because of the 10% “fact.” He was not only wrong about the 10%, but he was
also wrong about the impact of brain damage. Even a small injury can have huge effects
on a person’s capabilities. The first aid tutor probably wasn’t bargaining on instructing
a professor of neuroscience on the course, but Scott put him right.
F So how can an idea with so little biological or physiological basis have spread this
widely? It is hard to track down an original source. The American psychologist and
philosopher William James mentioned in The Energies of Men in 1908 that we “are
making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources.” He was
optimistic that people could achieve more, but he was not referring to brain volume or
quantity of cells, nor was he giving a specific percentage. The 10% figure was
mentioned in the preface to the 1936 edition of Dale Carnegie’s best-selling book
entitled How to Win Friends and Influence People, and sometimes people say that
Albert Einstein was the source. Although Professor Della Sala has tried hard to find
the quote, the results were not verifying any source. Even those who work at the Albert
Einstein archives can find no record of it, so it seems this might be a myth, too.
G Aside from these, there is one more idea that might account for the misunderstanding.
Nine-tenths of the cells in the brain are so-called glial cells. These are the support cells,
the white matter, which provide physical and nutritional help for the other 10% of cells,
the neurons, which make up the grey matter that does the thinking. Perhaps people
heard that only 10% of the cells do the hard graft and assumed that we could attach our
brain capacity to the glial cells, too. However, these are a different kind of cells entirely.
There is no way that they could suddenly transform themselves into neurons, giving us
extra brain power.
H There is a very rare group of patients whose brain scans reveal something
extraordinary, though. In 1980, a British pediatrician called John Lorber mentioned in
the journal Science that he had patients with hydrocephalus who had hardly any brain

72
 tissue, yet could function. This doesn’t of course show us that the rest of us could make
extra use of our brains, but that these people have adapted to extraordinary
circumstances.
I It is, of course, true that if we put our minds to it, we can learn new things, and there is
increasing evidence from the studies conducted on neuroplasticity showing that re-
wiring new information into the brain changes its structure. In other words, it is thanks
to its neuroplastic qualities that the brain is capable of re-formulating and adapting
itself with the encoding of new information. However, as scientists would also agree,
this does not mean that we are tapping into a new area of the brain. We simply create
new connections between nerve cells or lose old connections that we no longer need.
J What I find most intriguing about this myth is how disappointed people are when you
tell them it’s not true. Maybe it’s the figure of 10% that is so alluring because it is so
low that it offers massive potential for improvement. We’d all like to be better, and we
can be better if we try. Yet, sadly, finding an unused portion of our brains isn’t the way
it’s going to happen.

1. The word “harness” in paragraph A is closest in meaning to ______________.

a) capture b) utilize c) detach
2. The word “quash” in paragraph B is closest in meaning to _______________.
a) invalidate b) conceal c) deploy
3. The word “idly” in paragraph C is closest in meaning to _______________.
a) taking one’s time b) doing nothing c) being forgotten
4. Which underlined sentence does not fit in paragraph D?
a) (a)
b) (b)
c) (c)
5. In paragraph E, the author gives the first aid course example in order to show that
______________.
a) Sophie Scott managed to straighten out the misunderstanding caused by the
instructor
b) many people stick to the 10% myth without considering the potential
consequences
c) head injuries inflicting brain damage are actually way more serious than we tend
to think
6. Paragraph F is mainly about _____________.
a) when William James first brought about the issue of 10% in his book
b) whether it was Carnegie or Einstein who articulated the 10% issue
c) what could have caused the 10% myth to disseminate so commonly

73
 7. It can be understood from paragraph G that _____________.
a) 90% of our brain cells are called the neurons, which form the white matter.
b) neurons are important because they provide help and support for the glial cells.
c) glial cells cannot be converted into neurons so as to increase brain capacity.
8. Paragraph H ______________.
a) indicates an exceptional case
b) challenges paragraphs F and G
c) exemplifies scans of brain tissue
9. According to paragraph I, neuroplasticity ______________.
a) offers ways to unblock the other areas in the brain
b) allows the brain to make new connections
c) helps the brain extend its capacity by learning
10. The word “alluring” in paragraph J is closest in meaning to ______________.
a) tempting b) repulsive c) hideous

Text 3.
A Many of the most expensive commercials ever made are those in which an A-list
celebrity flashes a beautiful smile at the cameras. (1) ___ Their recent television
advertisement, the most expensive in British history, cost ten million pounds, and it
features, not the rich and famous, but villagers from the mountains of Argentina.

B The advertisement features a game of dominoes. It begins in a darkened room where

several thousand ordinary dominoes are set up on a specially-designed table. Then, the
falling dominoes head out of the room into the streets, causing progressively larger
objects to tumble. Dominoes knock over books, which in turn knock bigger household
objects such as suitcases, tires, pots of paint, oil drums, and even cars. The final piece
in the chain reaction is a huge tower of books. These flutter open to reveal a structure
in the shape of a pint of Guinness.

C The location chosen for the commercial was Iruya, a village high up in the mountains
of north-west Argentina. (2) ___, which could take up to ten hours. Asked why this
remote destination was chosen for the shoot, the director said that even though it was
the most difficult location they could have picked, it was perfect.

D For one month, the village, population thousand, increased in size by almost thirty
percent. One hundred and forty crew members descended on the village. These
included the world record holders in domino toppling, Weijers Domino productions
from the Netherlands. (3) ___

E Creating this film was no easy task. Preparations for filming took well over a month.
Twenty six truckloads of objects were brought in. These were all chosen to suit the
town and fit in with the people’s way of life. (4) ___ They included 10,000 books, 400
tires, 75 mirrors, 50 fridges, 45 wardrobes, and 6 cars. Setting the objects up took skill

74
 and patience. They needed to be arranged so they would fall over easily, and this
involved balancing them on stones. Some of the sequences had to be reshot 15 times,
and 24 hours of footage was captured. However, the sequence in which six cars fell
over was successfully shot in just one take.

F Filming in this location was not without its difficulties. Firstly, being so isolated, it was
hard to obtain resources at short notice. The second problem was the high altitude.
(5)___ It was also hard to work with the villagers who had no experience of film-
making. Finally, setting and resetting the props caused a good deal of frustration.

G These days, when computer-generated imagery (CGI) is all the rage, it was surprising
that so little of the work was done using computer effects. The only sequence that used
computer graphics was the one in which the tower of books fluttered open to reveal a
pint of Guinness. The prop department did construct a small version on site, but most
of the work was done in a studio in London. Even so, this was no simple matter. They
had to ensure that all the books in the tower had a different appearance.

H Director Nicolai Fuglsig said about the project: “Despite all the challenges, the cast
was fantastic, and it was a really amazing experience.” Whether or not the effort put
into the advert pays off is another matter entirely.

A. There are five gaps in the text, and below are given six options to complete those
gaps. One gap doesn’t need any sentences, and there is one extra sentence. Choose
from A-F, and write the correct letter in the gap.
A Iruya is situated 3000 meters above sea level and the film crew was not used
to working in such conditions.

B Not so with the famous Irish drink company Guinness.

C Getting there involved driving along 48 kilometers of dirt roads and crossing
twelve rivers.

D The human body has both short-term and long-term adaptations to altitude that
allow it to partially compensate for the lack of oxygen.

E Added to this was the total of one hundred and thirty ‘actors’ who were
recruited from a five neighboring towns.

F No sentence needed

B. Answer the following question.

1. Which of the following objects tumbles down in the advertisement?

a) tables
b) fridges
c) board games

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 2. Which of the following is true according to the text?
a) The shooting of some sequences had to be repeated several times.
b) No computer graphics were used in the filming of the advertisement.
c) Many books were brought to the village to form the tower of books.
3. What is the tone of paragraph G?
a) pessimistic
b) approving
c) indifferent

Text 4.
A Charles Darwin said, “It’s not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most
intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” So you’ve sold your home, quit
your job, shunned your colleagues, and abandoned your friends and family. The end of
the world is close, and you ‘know for a fact’ that you are one of the chosen few who
will be swept up from the ‘great flood’ approaching on 21st December at midnight to
be flown to safety on a far off planet. Then, midnight on 21st December comes around,
and there is no flood. No end of the world. No flying saucer to the rescue. What do you
do? Admit you were wrong? Acknowledge that you gave up your position, money, and
friends for nothing? Tell yourself and others you have been a schmuck? Not on your
life.

B Social psychologist Leon Festinger infiltrated a flying saucer doomsday cult in the late
1950s. The members of this cult had given up everything on the premise that the world
was about to self-destruct, and that they, because of their faith, would be the sole
survivors. In the lead up to the fateful day, the cult shunned publicity and shied away
from journalists. Festinger posed as a cultist and was present when the space ship failed
to show up. He was curious about what would happen. How would the disappointed
cultists react to the failure of their prophecy? Would they be embarrassed and
humiliated? What actually happened amazed him.

C Now, after the non-event, the cultists suddenly wanted publicity. They wanted media
attention and coverage. Why? In this way, they could explain how their faith and
obedience had helped save the planet from the flood. The aliens had spared planet earth
for their sake, and now, their new role was to spread the word and make us all listen.
This fascinated Festinger. He observed that the real driving force behind the cultists’
apparently inexplicable response was the need, not to face the awkward and
uncomfortable truth and ‘change their minds’, but rather, to ‘make minds comfortable’
‒ to smooth over the unacceptable inconsistencies.

D Festinger coined the term ‘cognitive dissonance’ to describe the uncomfortable tension
we feel when we experience conflicting thoughts or beliefs (cognitions), or engage in
behavior that is apparently opposed to our stated beliefs. What is particularly
interesting is the lengths to which people will go to reduce the inner tension without
accepting that they might, in fact, be wrong. They will accept almost any form of relief,

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 other than admitting being at fault, or mistaken. Festinger quickly realized that our
intolerance for ‘cognitive dissonance’ could explain many mysteries of human
behavior.

E In a fascinating experiment, Festinger and his colleagues paid some subjects twenty
dollars to tell a specific lie, while they paid another group of subjects only one dollar
to do the same. Those who were paid just one dollar were far more likely to claim, after
the event, that they had actually believed in the lie they were told to tell. Why? Well,
because it’s just so much harder to justify having done something that conflicts with
your own sense of being ‘an honest person’ for a mere pittance. If you get more money,
you can tell yourself: ‘Yeah, I lied, but I got well paid! It was justified,’ but for one
dollar? That’s not a good enough reason to lie, so what you were saying must have
been true in the first place, right?

F Emotional factors influence how we vote for our politicians much more than our careful
and logical appraisal of their policies, according to Drew Westen, a professor of
psychiatry and psychology. This may come as little surprise to you, but what about
when we learn that our favored politician may be dishonest? Do we take the trouble to
really find out what they are supposed to have done, and so possibly have to change
our opinions (and our vote), or do we experience that nasty cognitive dissonance and
seek to keep our minds comfortable at the possible cost of truth?

G Cognitive dissonance is essentially a matter of commitment to the choices one has

made, and the ongoing need to satisfactorily justify that commitment, even in the face
of convincing but conflicting evidence. This is why it can take a long time to leave a
cult or an abusive relationship, or even to stop smoking. Life’s commitments, whether
to a job, a social cause, or a romantic partner, require heavy emotional investment, and
so carry significant emotional risks. If people didn’t keep to their commitments, they
would experience uncomfortable emotional tension. In a way, it makes sense that our
brains should be hard-wired for monitoring and justifying our choices and actions so
as to avoid too much truth breaking in at once and overwhelming us.

H I guess we can’t really develop unless we start to get a grip and have some personal
honesty about what really motivates us. This is part of genuine maturity. If I know I
am being lazy, and can admit it to myself, that at least is a first step to correcting it. If,
however, I tell myself it’s more sensible to wait before vacuuming, then I can go around
with a comfortable self-concept of ‘being sensible,’ while my filthy carpets and
laziness remain unchanged. Cognitive dissonance can actually help me mature, if I can
bring myself, first, to notice it (making it conscious) and second, to be more open to
the message it brings me, in spite of the discomfort. As dissonance increases, providing
I do not run away into self-justification, I can get a clearer sense of what has changed,
and what I need to do about it.
And then I can remember what Darwin had to say about who will survive...

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1. After the spaceship didn’t show up on the fateful day, the members of the flying
saucer doomsday cult ______________.
a) changed their minds about their cult leader due to his inconsistent arguments and
his failure as a prophet
b) felt embarrassed and humiliated because they had believed in such a prophecy and
left everything they had behind
c) unexpectedly wanted media attention to claim that it was their strong beliefs that
saved the planet
2. The main reason why people fight cognitive dissonance is ______________.
a) a need for relief by admitting mistakes
b) a desire to reduce the inner tension
c) a lack of firmly stated beliefs and opinions
3. According to paragraph E, the less money the subjects received to tell a lie,
___________.
a) the more they claimed to believe it
b) the harder they found it to lie
c) the more conflicts they experienced
4. According to paragraph G, we are committed to our choices despite the conflicting
evidence because our commitments ______________.
a) cause us to experience uncomfortable emotional tension
b) require heavy emotional investment
c) are always monitored and justified by our brains
5. According to the text, which of the situations below is not an example of cognitive
dissonance?
a) A man learns that his favored politician is dishonest, but continues to vote for him.
b) A woman doesn’t want to do vacuuming, but convinces herself that if she
doesn’t, her carpet will remain filthy and finally does it.
c) A woman has been dating with her boyfriend for five years. Everyone tells her
that it’s an abusive relationship because he often beats and humiliates her, but she
doesn’t want to leave her romantic partner.
6. In order to become genuinely mature, a person should ______________.
a) employ self-justification for his/her mistakes
b) have enough motivation to overcome laziness
c) be honest with himself/herself
7. By giving the quote from Charles Darwin at the beginning of the text, the writer
implies that ___________.
a) fighting the discomfort caused by cognitive dissonance is a survival mechanism
developed during evolution
b) those who can adapt themselves to change may not survive if they are not strong
or intelligent enough
c) ignoring cognitive dissonance helps us to develop and therefore makes us more
enduring species

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Text 5.
A Slavery is the idea that a human is someone’s property, that he/she can be bought, sold,
and owned, and forced to work without being paid. This concept has been around for
thousands of years, and all major civilizations used slaves at some point. They were
used in many different positions, such as laborers, soldiers, servants, and farmers.
Although the word slavery makes us think of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (from
Africa to the Americas), slavery was not specific to one part of the world. The Romans,
Russians, Aztecs, and Egyptians all kept slaves. The word slave actually comes from
‘slav’ ‒ many Slavic people from Eastern Europe were taken as slaves during conflicts,
or wars. As well as being captured in wars, people could be born as slaves, sold into
slavery, or sold to pay a debt.

B In the past, there were different concepts about human-rights and what was moral or
immoral. It is only in the last 300 years that these ideas have begun to change. Most
people accepted that some types of people were born to be slaves, or that if you won a
war, you could sell your captured enemies. The life of a slave, although difficult, was
not always the end of a person’s life. It was possible for a slave to buy his freedom, for
a slave soldier to become a general, or for a freed slave to become an important member
of society. The Transatlantic Slave Trade ended this possibility.

C Slavery was as common in Africa as in other countries, but in the 15th century, traders
began to export large numbers of slaves to the Middle East. European countries
followed this, exporting Africans to work on plantations in the Caribbean, and North
and South America. A massive number of people were needed, as demand for new
products such as sugar, coffee, and tobacco was very high. In 400 years, an estimated
12 million people were removed from Africa to work as slaves in the Americas or
European colonies.

D Slaves in this system had no opportunity for advancement or release; even if they were
freed, they had few legal rights. In the past, owning slaves in many countries had been
a status symbol, and owners had been usually fair. In this new system, profit was the
most important aspect. As a result, conditions of work and living were also very tough.
Millions died because of mistreatment and difficult working conditions. Some African
slave traders, learning of these conditions, started to oppose the trade.

E A number of African countries, such as the Congo, made the trade illegal, not for moral
but practical reasons – its population was being reduced greatly by the trade. Yet, it
was moral reasons that forced a greater change. A movement in Britain led by the
Quakers* and the MP William Wilberforce pushed the parliament to abolish slavery.
In 1807, the slave trade was abolished, and in 1833, slavery was abolished in all British
colonies.

F In the USA, on the other hand, there was great argument over slavery. Many industries
in the South were dependent on slaves for production, such as cotton, and if freed, the
number of slaves would be almost 50% of the population in some areas. Unfortunately,

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 the civil war between the North and South came before political change. Slavery was
an important issue in this conflict, and was abolished (through the 13th amendment to
the Constitution) at the end of the Civil War in 1865.

G In the 19th Century, newer political ideals of freedom and equality were anti-slavery. It
is ironic that the two countries at the time that were associated with freedom and
equality, the USA and France, still permitted slavery. France didn’t abolish slavery
until 1848, and there were still slaves working in the White House in the same year.
The humanitarian ideal, the idea that all people are brothers, was also important. As
this idea was taken from Christianity, Christians, especially those from newer branches,
such as Quakers and Methodists, were at the center of movements all over the world.
Christian missionaries were often funded by anti-slavery groups.

H Dr. David Livingstone was the most famous British missionary in Africa until 1873,
and pushed for the end to the local slave trade. Unfortunately, he believed it could only
be stopped by foreign countries taking control of African states – mass colonialism.
This led to many other problems.

I Legally, Nigeria was the last country to abolish slavery in 1936. However, in many
parts of the world today, millions of people are working as slaves: children fighting in
the army or working for no pay, women moving from their own countries to work in
the sex industry or in people’s houses, or people working for many years to pay back
a small loan. These are all types of modern slavery. Groups such as the United Nations
or Anti-Slavery International are fighting against this problem – but the world must
first accept that there still is a problem.
* Quakers: members of a historically Christian group of religious movements

1. Which of the following can be inferred form paragraph A?

a) Slavery was more prevalent in the Roman Empire than in Europe.
b) Slavs did not have good combat skills to protect themselves in wars.
c) More slaves were needed to work as laborers, soldiers, servants, and farmers.
2. According to the text, the Transatlantic Slave Trade ___________.
a) was unfair but made it possible for slaves to buy their freedom
b) benefited the soldiers who were being kept as slaves
c) minimized the slaves’ chances of being released
3. According to the text, which of the following is true?
a) The most significant cause of the Civil War in the USA was the slave trade.
b) The main reason why slavery in British colonies was abolished was the decrease in
African populations.
c) Slaves traded to the south of the USA composed an important proportion of the
working population.

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 4. It is inferred from paragraph G that anti-slavery groups ___________.
a) approved of the movements of Christian missionaries
b) forced the USA and France to abolish slavery in their countries
c) belonged to the new branches of Christianity such as Quakers
5. Why does the writer mention Dr. David Livingstone in paragraph H?
a) To emphasize the impossibility of ending slavery
b) To acknowledge his efforts in combating slavery
c) To highlight his misconception about how to stop slavery
6. Which of the following is not compared in the text?
a) ancient slavery and modern slavery
b) slavery in Britain and in the USA
c) the attitudes of Quakers and Methodists towards slavery
7. The information in the text is organized in ___________.
a) chronological order
b) geographical order
c) sequential order

Text 6.
A Boots has reduced the price of “feminine” razors to bring them in line with men’s. The
chemist chain says it’s just an isolated incident, but campaigners say it is part of a “pink
tax” that discriminates against women. The Pink Tax, so named because of the color
of products directly marketed to girls and women, refers to the price difference for
female-specific products compared with the gender-neutral goods or those marketed to
men.

B Campaigners against what’s been dubbed the “pink tax” are celebrating after Boots
said it would change the price of some of its goods. A Change.org petition has already
gathered more than 43,000 signatures. The issue has been raised in Parliament. Paula
Sherriff, Labor MP for Dewsbury, called a debate on the issue on Tuesday. She wants
the government to commission independent research to quantify the extent of the
problem, arguing that it amounts to women paying thousands of pounds more over the
course of their lives.

C Stevie Wise, who launched the petition, was driven by a Times investigation which
claimed that women and girls are charged, on average, 37% more for clothes, beauty
products, and toys. The investigation was inspired by research in the US which found
that women’s products are routinely more expensive than men’s. The New York
Department of Consumer Affairs had compared the prices of 800 products with male
and female versions and concluded that, after controlling for quality, women’s versions
were, on average, 7% more expensive than men’s.

D Boots says the two examples highlighted in the Change.org petition are exceptional
cases, but campaigners are not so sure. “This is a very exciting response,” says Wise.
“We are delighted with Boots’ decision, but we now need to get them to look at all of

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 their products, not just the ones highlighted in the petition. We hope this decision is
just the first of many, and we may broaden our campaign to focus on other retailers as
well.” Wise says that women have been getting in touch with examples of other price
discrepancies from lots of companies and says there seems to be a particular problem
with toys and clothes. Argos has been criticized for identical scooters that cost £5 more
if they were pink rather than blue. Argos said it was an error that had already been
rectified and that it would never indulge in differential pricing.

E Among the examples sent to Wise was Boots selling identical child car seats that cost
more in pink. Another retailer was selling children’s balance bikes which cost more for
a flowery print aimed at girls than a pirate print aimed at boys, but the latter example
already appears to have been tweaked on the retailer’s website, albeit by applying a
£10 discount to the flowery version. With many retailers indulging in complicated
algorithms to calculate price, or frequently changing prices around promotions, it’s
easy for them to argue that what appears to be a gender price gap is in fact an innocent
mistake.

F One of the main things that retailers consider when deciding what to charge is what the
customer is willing to pay, argues Mark Billige, UK managing partner at Simon-
Kucher, a management consultancy that advises companies on things like pricing.
“They have to consider what it costs to make the product and what their competitors
are charging, but in a world where consumers have lots of choices, willingness to pay
becomes very important as people will vote with their wallets if they don’t like the
price of a product. There is something in the fact that women are willing to pay more.
Why, I don’t know, but it will probably have something to do with psychology.”

G When challenged over sexist pricing, both Levi’s and Tesco argued that different
versions of things could have different production costs even if appearing fairly similar.
Prof. Nancy Puccinelli, a consumer psychologist at Oxford University says that her
research suggests that women are actually much more careful shoppers than men, better
able to scrutinize adverts and pricing gimmicks. She wonders if women are perceiving
more value in the more expensive products. “For men, razors are functional, whereas
women may perceive hair removal as more hedonistic, more about self-care, and be
more willing to pay more. But there could also be environmental factors hindering their
choices, like product placement in the store. If products are separated into male and
female sections far away from each other it’s harder to scrutinize prices.” Such a
situation could either be deliberate or accidental, but the campaigners are not
convinced.

H “It’s just the tip of the iceberg,” says the Fawcett Society’s head of policy, Jemima
Olchawski. “It’s been happening in plain sight and, to me, it shows that bias against
women is ingrained across our society. The worst thing about it is that women are
getting ripped off twice. They are paid less than men and are also charged more for
similar products.” The campaign may lead to further changes, but the perennial advice
to shop around remains the same. “There are quite a few comparison websites you can
use to see if there’s a price difference,” says Sally Francis, senior writer at
moneysavingexpert.com. If, as Tesco claims, there are “additional design and

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 performance features,” testing the male and female versions at home should settle
whether they are worth it.

I There is an opportunity for some companies, argues Olchawski. “The finding shows
the power of marketing in our lives, how it shapes our perception of what it means to
be a man or a woman. Some companies could choose not to play into this, not to play
into the stereotypes and rip women off, but launch products more in tune with moves
toward gender equality.”

Part A. Who in the text puts forward the following arguments? Choose from the
alternatives (A-E), and write the answer in the blank. The alternatives may be chosen
more than once or not at all.

1. Women pay 37% more than men on various products. A) Paula Sherriff
____

2. A non-governmental committee should be appointed B) Stevie Wise

to investigate the discrepancies in pricing. ____

3. The reason why women prefer expensive products is C) Nancy Puccinelli

their belief in those products’ quality. ____

4. The scope of the campaign against “pink tax” should D) Jemima Olchawski
be expanded to all products and stores. ____

5. In order to overcome the problem of pink tax, E) Nobody from the above
companies should avoid stereotyping their customers
and marketing products accordingly. ____

Part B. Choose the correct alternatives.

1. How does the information in paragraph E relate to that in paragraph D?

a) It challenges the argument by providing counter examples.
b) It supports the information by providing further examples.
c) It provides solutions to the problem described in the examples.
2. According to paragraph F, which of the following is not a consideration for retailers?
a) the manufacturing cost
b) the pricing trend in the market
c) consumer preference for choices

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 3. Which of the following can be inferred from the text?
a) Without the 43,000 signatures gathered through the petition, the issue wouldn’t have
been raised in Parliament.
b) The fact that female versions of products are more expensive doesn’t mean that they
are of better quality.
c) Male and female products are situated in different sections in a store so that their
prices cannot be compared.

Text 7.
A Collecting ants can be as simple as picking up stray ones and placing them in a glass
jar, or as complicated as completing an exhaustive survey of all species present in an
area and estimating their relative abundances. The exact method used will depend on
the final purpose of the collections. For taxonomy, or classification, long series, from
a single nest, which contain all castes (workers, including majors and minors, and, if
present, queens and males), are desirable to allow the determination of variation within
species. For ecological studies, the most important factor is collecting identifiable
samples of as many of the different species present as possible. Unfortunately, these
methods are not always compatible. The taxonomist sometimes overlooks whole
species in favor of those groups currently under study, while the ecologist often collects
only a limited number of specimens of each species, thus reducing their value for
taxonomic investigations.

B To collect as wide a range of species as possible, several methods must be used. These
include hand collecting, using baits to attract the ants, ground litter sampling, and the
use of pitfall traps. Hand collecting consists of searching for ants everywhere they are
likely to occur. This includes on the ground, under rocks, logs or other objects on the
ground, in rotten wood on the ground or on trees, in vegetation, on tree trunks, and
under bark. When possible, collections should be made from nests or foraging columns
and at least 20 to 25 individuals should be collected. This will ensure that all individuals
are of the same species, and so increase their value for detailed studies. Since some
species are largely nocturnal, collecting should not be confined to daytime. Specimens
are collected using an aspirator (often called a poorer), forceps, a fine, moistened paint
brush, or fingers, if the ants are known not to sting. Individual insects are placed in
plastic or glass tubes containing 75% to 95% ethanol. Plastic tubes with secure tops are
better than glass because they are lighter, and do not break as easily if mishandled.

C Baits can be used to attract and concentrate foragers. This often increases the number
of individuals collected and attracts species that are otherwise elusive. Sugars and
meats or oils will attract different species, and a range should be utilized. These baits
can be placed either on the ground, or on the trunks of trees or large shrubs. When
placed on the ground, baits should be situated on small paper cards or other flat, light-
colored surfaces, or in test-tubes or vials. This makes it easier to spot ants and to capture
them before they can escape into the surrounding leaf litter.

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D Many ants are small and forage primarily in the layer of leaves and other debris on the
ground. Collecting these species by hand can be difficult. One of the most successful
ways to collect them is to gather the leaf litter in which they are foraging and extract
the ants from it. This is most commonly done by placing leaf litter on a screen over a
large funnel, often under some heat. As the leaf litter dries from above, ants move
downward and eventually fall out the bottom and are collected in alcohol placed below
the funnel. This method works especially well in rain forests and marshy areas. A
method of improving the catch when using a funnel is to sift the leaf litter through a
coarse screen before placing it above the funnel. This will concentrate the litter and
remove larger leaves and twigs. It will also allow more litter to be sampled when using
a limited number of funnels.

E The pitfall trap is another commonly used tool for collecting ants. A pitfall trap can be
any small container placed in the ground and filled with a preservative. Ants are
collected when they fall into the trap while foraging. The diameter of the traps can vary
from about 18 mm to 10 cm, and the number used can vary from a few to several
hundred. The size of the traps used is influenced largely by personal preference, while
the number will be determined by the study being undertaken. The preservative used
is usually ethylene glycol or propylene glycol, as alcohol will evaporate quickly, and
the traps will dry out. One advantage of pitfall traps is that they can be used to collect
over a period of time with minimal maintenance and intervention. One disadvantage is
that some species are not collected as they either avoid the traps or do not commonly
encounter them while foraging.

1. Which of the following is false according to paragraph A?

a) Taxonomic research involves comparing members of one group of ants.
b) In ecological investigations, range is the key criterion for collecting ants.
c) A single collection of ants can generally be used for both taxonomic and ecological
purposes.
2. Which of the following is not mentioned regarding hand sampling in paragraph B?
a) place of collection
b) species to collect
c) equipment to use
3. It can be inferred from paragraph B that ___________.
a) Some ant species are more active at night.
b) Not all species are valuable for detailed research.
c) Studies haven’t yet determined which species sting.

Match the following three methods in paragraphs C to E with the statements.

4. Using baits ___ a) Little time and effort is required.
5. Sampling ground litter ___ b) It is a good method for species which are hard
6. Using a pitfall trap ___ to find.
c) It is particularly effective for wet habitats.

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 7. Which of the following is true according to paragraph E?
a) The purpose of the study will determine how big the traps should be.
b) Non-alcoholic preservatives should be used to fill the containers.
c) A pitfall trap makes it more likely to collect more species.
8. Which of the following can be inferred from the text?
a) Not all ant species are attracted to sweet foods.
b) Litter including large leaves will provide fewer species to sample.
c) Where you put the baits will determine your success in collecting ants.
9. The text uses ___________ to outline ant collecting.
a) description and compare-contrast
b) classification and description
c) classification and advantage-disadvantage

Text 8.

A Chronobiology might sound a little futuristic – like something from a science-fiction

novel, perhaps, – but it’s actually a field of study that concerns one of the oldest
processes that life on this planet has ever known: short-term rhythms of time and their
effect on the flora and the fauna.
B This effect can be observed in many forms. Marine life, for example, is influenced by
tidal patterns. Animals tend to be active or inactive depending on the position of the
sun or the moon. Numerous creatures, humans included, are largely diurnal – that is,
they like to come out during the hours of sunlight. Nocturnal animals, such as bats and
possums, prefer to forage at night. A third group is known as crepusculars: they thrive
in the low-light of dawn and dusk and remain inactive at other hours.
C When it comes to humans, chronobiologists are interested in what is known as the
circadian rhythm. This is the complete cycle our bodies are naturally geared to undergo
within the passage of a 24-hour day. Aside from sleeping at night and waking during
the day, each cycle involves many other factors, such as changes in blood pressure and
body temperature. Not everyone has an identical circadian rhythm. “Night people,” for
example, often describe how they find it very hard to operate during the morning, but
become alert and focused by evening, while “morning people” wake up, without
difficulty, early each morning and are alert and active during the first part of the day.
This is a benign variation within circadian rhythms, known as a chronotype.
D Scientists have limited abilities to create durable modifications of chronobiological
demands. Recent therapeutic developments for humans, such as artificial light
machines and melatonin administration, can reset our circadian rhythms, for example,
but our bodies can tell the difference, and health suffers when we breach these natural
rhythms for extended periods of time. Plants appear no more malleable in this respect;
studies demonstrate that vegetables grown in season and ripened on the tree are far
higher in essential nutrients than those grown in greenhouses and ripened by laser.
E Knowledge of chronobiological patterns can have many pragmatic implications for our
day-to-day lives. While contemporary living can sometimes appear to subjugate

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 biology – after all, who needs circadian rhythms when we have caffeine pills, energy
drinks, shift work, and cities that never sleep? – keeping in synch with our body clock
is important.
F The average urban resident, for example, rouses himself at the eye-blearing time of
6:04 a.m., which researchers believe to be far too early. One study found that even
rising at 7:00 a.m. has deleterious effects on health unless exercise is performed for 30
minutes afterward. The optimum moment has been whittled down to 7:22 am.; muscle
aches, headaches, and moodiness were reported to be lowest by participants in the study
who awoke then.
G Once you’re up and ready to go, what then? If you’re trying to shed some extra pounds,
dieticians are adamant: never skip breakfast. This disorients your circadian rhythm and
puts your body in starvation mode. The recommended course of action is to follow an
intense workout with a carbohydrate-rich breakfast; the other way round, and weight-
loss results are not as pronounced.
H Morning is also great for breaking out the vitamins. Although supplement absorption
by the body is not temporal-dependent, naturopath Pam Stone notes that the extra boost
at breakfast helps us get energized for the day ahead. For improved absorption, Stone
suggests pairing supplements with a type of food in which they are soluble and steering
clear of caffeinated beverages. Finally, Stone warns us to take care with storage; high
potency is best for absorption, and warmth and humidity are known to deplete the
potency of a supplement.
I After-dinner espressos are becoming more of a tradition, but to prepare for a good
night’s sleep, we are better off putting the brakes on caffeine consumption as early as
3 pm. With a seven-hour half-life, a cup of coffee containing 90 mg of caffeine taken
at this hour could still leave 45 mg of caffeine in your nervous system at ten o’clock
that evening. It is essential that your body is rid of all traces by the time you are ready
to sleep.
J Evenings are important for winding down before sleep; however, dietician Geraldine
Georgeou warns that an after-five carbohydrate-fast is more cultural myth than
chronobiological demand. This will deprive your body of vital energy needs.
Overloading your gut could lead to indigestion, though. Our digestive tracts do not shut
down for the night entirely, but their work slows to a crawl as our bodies prepare for
sleep. Consuming a modest snack should be entirely sufficient.

1. In paragraph B, the writer mentions “bats and possums” ______________.

a) to demonstrate the rhythms of time in different flora and fauna
b) to compare the activities of diurnal and nocturnal animals
c) to highlight the effect of sunlight on when animals forage
2. A chronotype ______________.
a) indicates the complete cycle of an individual’s activities and sleep in a 24-hour period
b) explains how the body clock influences a person’s daily cycle of sleep and activity
c) refers to a person who is more alert and focused during the day rather than the night

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 3. The word “breach” in paragraph D is closest in meaning to ______________.
a) lose
b) maintain
c) disrupt
4. Which statement is true according to the article?
a) Scientists have been more successful at chronobiological modification in plants than
in humans.
b) Those who get up at 7 may not suffer from some health problems if they do some
exercise right afterwards.
c) Having a carbohydrate-rich breakfast first and then doing an intense workout will
result in weight loss.
5. To improve supplement absorption, it is important to _____________.
a) take the supplement at breakfast early in the morning
b) consume caffeinated drinks along with the supplement
c) choose food that can help dissolve the supplement
6. The writer’s purpose in writing this article is to _____________.
a) suggest healthier ways of eating, sleeping, and exercising
b) describe how modern life has made chronobiology largely irrelevant
c) introduce chronobiology and describe some practical applications

Text 9.
A Over ten million years ago, the waters of the Indian Ocean boiled. Massive volcanoes
erupted miles underneath the surface. Huge amounts of lava were forced up. This
violence and force gave birth to a series of islands, today called the Mascarene Islands,
located over 500 miles to the East of Madagascar, off the coast of Africa. These include
the islands of Reunion, Rodrigues, and the most famous of all ‒ Mauritius.

B Mauritius is just 42 miles long and 29 miles wide, and has only been inhabited since
the 17th century, but already has a rich and varied history and is famous for many things.
Early Arabic maps called the island Dina Mashriq (Eastern Island), and the Portuguese
called it the Island of the Swan when they first discovered it in the early 1500s. The
Dutch, who were the first to try to live there, renamed it Mauritius after Prince Maurice
of Nassau, and under French rule from 1715, Ile de France was the name. With British
rule in 1810, the name changed back to Mauritius, and has remained so, even after
independence in 1968. The island is also known as The Star and Key of the Indian
Ocean because of its geographical position, and a local nickname is The Island of
Rainbows and Shooting Stars – as these are commonly seen from Mauritius.

C Historically, Mauritius was an important location on trade routes, and was one of the
first countries in the world to produce postage stamps. The Blue Penny stamp from
1847 is one of the rarest in the world. However, it was (and is) sugar, introduced to the

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 island in the 1600s, that made the island popular. Mauritius has a perfect climate for
growing sugar cane, and Mauritian sugar is exported throughout the world.

D Today Mauritius is also a famous holiday location for tourists wishing to relax on a
beautiful paradise island. The coral reef surrounding much of it makes it ideal for water
sports, diving, and fishing. Its tropical climate means there are many exotic plants and
flowers to see, such as the orchid or palm tree. Its volcanic origins have also created a
fascinating landscape, with volcanic peaks, craters, colored earths, and waterfalls.

E Music and dance are an important part of the culture and the traditional local dance
(and style of music) is called Sega. This is a very rhythmic joyful dance to the
accompaniment of drums and guitar.

F Because the island was isolated, many plants and animals developed there unlike
anywhere else in the world, the Dodo being the most famous of these. This large,
flightless bird was described by the first Dutch settlers, but by the time they left the
island in 1710, all Dodos were gone. There are many theories for this, as the Dodos
themselves were not good to eat, but most people now think that the animals the sailors
brought with them, such as goats, pigs, and rats, were the cause of this extinction – as
they ate the bird’s eggs on the forest floor.

G Mauritius has been called a rainbow nation because of its huge number of different
ethnic groups. Different nationalities coming from India, China, France, England, and
other African countries to the island over the centuries have brought their own culture,
language, and traditions, and added it to the Mauritian mixture. There are over 80
different religious denominations and more than 20 languages spoken. Unsurprisingly,
there are 11 official public holidays; from the Chinese New Year to the Hindu Maha
Shivaratree festival, part of which involves walking to a lake in the crater of an extinct
volcano. One connecting aspect is the welcoming nature of all Mauritians. It is a
famously friendly and hospitable place.

H In the1970s and 80s, the Government encouraged the growth of the clothing industry
in the country, and the economy grew as a result. Now, there is a far greater project
underway, an effort to turn Mauritius from a sugar-island to a cyber-island. A state-of-
the-art ‘cyber-city’ is being built to provide IT, computing and communication
technologies for local and international companies. The cyber-city is based in a 12-
storey high-tech tower with excellent computing resources and internet connections.
When completed, it will also contain more high-tech offices, a large supermarket, and
a housing development. Perhaps in the future, Mauritius will have more ‘online’
tourists than real ones!

1. According to paragraphs A and B, ___________.

a) people have been living on Mauritius since 1500s
b) rainbows and shooting stars are common sights on Mauritius
c) Mauritius is more famous than the Mascarene Islands

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 2. Which of the following was not a name of the island?
a) Dina Mashriq
b) Maurice of Nassau
c) Ile de France
3. Mauritius has become famous for ___________.
a) its convenient location
b) the Blue Penny stamp
c) its sugar production
4. Which of the following is not mentioned in the text?
a) types of sports that can be done on the island
b) current volcanic activity on the island
c) traditional elements of performing arts on the island
5. According to paragraph what might have led to the extinction of the Dodos?
a) The Dodos couldn’t reproduce because of the animals brought to the island.
b) The Dutch settlers overhunted them as the island was completely isolated.
c) The sailors who were trading animals needed to eat them to survive at sea.
6. Paragraph G is mainly about ___________.
a) hospitality of the Mauritius people
b) the holidays celebrated in Mauritius
c) the cultural diversity in Mauritius
7. Which of the following can be concluded from paragraph H?
a) The Mauritius government has been investing more in technology than in
agriculture recently.
b) The Mauritius government has turned to technological development after the
failure of the clothing industry.
c) The Mauritius government is building the cyber-city to decrease the number of
tourists visiting the island.

Text 10.

A During the first year of a child’s life, parents and carers are concerned with its physical
development; during the second year, they watch the baby’s language development
very carefully. It is interesting just how easily children learn language. Children who
are just three or four years old, who cannot yet tie their shoelaces, are able to speak in
full sentences without any specific language training.

B The current view of child language development is that it is an instinct ‒ something as

natural as eating or sleeping. According to experts in this area, this language instinct is
innate ‒ something each of us is born with. However, this prevailing view has not
always enjoyed widespread acceptance. In the middle of last century, experts of the
time, including a renowned professor at Harvard University in the United States,

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 regarded child language development as the process of learning through mere
repetition. Language ‘habits’ developed as young children were rewarded for repeating
language correctly and ignored or punished when they used incorrect forms of
language. Over time, a child, according to this theory, would learn language much like
a dog might learn to behave properly through training.

C Yet, even though the modern view holds that language is instinctive, experts like
Assistant Professor Lise Eliot are convinced that the interaction a child has with its
parents and caregivers is crucial to its development. The language of the parents and
caregivers act as models for the developing child. In fact, a baby’s day-to-day
experience is so important that the child will learn to speak in a manner very similar to
the model speakers it hears.

D Given that the models parents provide are so important, it is interesting to consider the
role of “baby talk” in the child’s language development. Baby talk is the language
produced by an adult speaker who is trying to exaggerate certain aspects of the
language to capture the attention of a young baby.

E Dr. Roberta Golinkoff believes that babies benefit from baby talk. Experiments show
that immediately after birth, babies respond more to infant-directed talk than they do
to adult-directed talk. When using baby talk, people exaggerate their facial expressions,
which helps the baby to begin to understand what is being communicated. She also
notes that the exaggerated nature and repetition of baby talk helps infants to learn the
difference between sounds. Since babies have a great deal of information to process,
baby talk helps. Although there is concern that baby talk may persist too long, Dr.
Golinkoff says that it stops being used as the child gets older, that is, when the child is
better able to communicate with the parents.

F Professor Jusczyk has made a particular study of babies’ ability to recognize sounds,
and says they recognize the sound of their own names as early as four and a half
months. Babies know the meaning of ‘Mummy’ and ‘Daddy’ by about six months,
which is earlier than was previously believed. By about nine months, babies begin
recognizing frequent patterns in language. A baby will listen longer to the sounds that
occur frequently, so it is good to frequently call the infant by its name.

G An experiment at Johns Hopkins University in the USA, in which researchers went to

the homes of 16 nine-month-olds, confirms this view. The researchers arranged their
visits for ten days out of a two-week period. During each visit, the researcher played
an audio tape that included the same three stories. The stories included odd words such
as ‘python’ or ‘hornbill,’ words that were unlikely to be encountered in the babies’
everyday experience. After a couple of weeks during which nothing was done, the
babies were brought to the research lab, where they listened to two recorded lists of
words. The first list included words heard in the story. The second included similar
words, but not the exact ones that were used in the stories. Jusczyk found the babies
listened longer to the words that had appeared in the stories, which indicated that the
babies had extracted individual words from the story. When a control group of 16 nine-

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 month-olds, who had not heard the stories, listened to the two groups of words, they
showed no preference for either list.

H This does not mean that the babies actually understand the meanings of the words, just
the sound patterns. It supports the idea that people are born to speak, and have the
capacity to learn language from the day they are born. This ability is enhanced if they
are involved in conversation, and, significantly, Dr. Eliot reminds parents that babies
and toddlers need to feel they are communicating. Clearly, sitting in front of the
television is not enough; the baby must be having an interaction with another speaker.

1. Why does the writer mention ‘tying shoelaces’ in paragraph A?

a) To compare the stages of physical and verbal developments of a child
b) To emphasize the importance of support from parents or caregivers
c) To highlight the ease of language learning for younger children
2. From paragraph B, it can be inferred that experts in the 1900s ___________.
a) believed rewards and punishments would help to teach children language
b) worked on an assumption that people possessed an inborn ability to learn language
c) could teach a child to speak more quickly than they could train a dog
3. What is the function of paragraph C?
a) It presents arguments against the information in the previous paragraph.
b) It cites some experts’ opinions to support the previous information.
c) It provides a fresh perspective on children’s language development.
4. Which of the following would Dr. Golinkoff agree with?
a) Babies learn to communicate effectively after they have been exposed to adult-
directed talk for some time.
b) Parents may help their children to differentiate sounds by exaggerating and repeating
words.
c) It is difficult for a baby to understand adult talk once it gets familiar with baby talk.
5. Professor Jusczyk has found that babies ___________.
a) can recognize their parents’ names by six months of age
b) respond more to sounds that they are familiar with
c) who listen to stories are better able to recognize sounds
6. What is the main point of paragraph H?
a) Babies recognize sounds earlier than understanding their meanings.
b) Babies acquire a language by making use of different sources.
c) Babies need to engage in conversations with other people.

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Text 11.
A It might seem a total wonder that a smoker won’t quit after hearing that puffing away
is a leading cause of death. To analyze why this is so and to find out what can be done
about it, scientists have conducted a survey, and as a result, they have come up with a
host of reasons why humans stick to bad habits. Among the reasons why people
continue their fatal practices are the need for social acceptance, innate human defiance,
and inability to truly understand the nature of risk. Some other reasons that accompany
the list above are an individualistic view of the world and a tendency to rationalize
unhealthy habits, along with a genetic predisposition to addiction.

B “We have found that people aren’t changing their behaviors,” said researcher Cindy
Jardine of the University of Alberta. “But,” she added, “it’s not because they haven’t
gotten the information that these are big risks, but because they tend to live for now
and into the limited future, rather than focusing on the long-term consequences.” The
study conducted by Jardine and her team involved two steps; one in 2007, and the other
in 2017. They surveyed the same 1,200 people in Alberta, Canada, in both years about
what they perceived to be risky behaviors. Funnily, not much changed within a decade
as many of the participants still ranked lifestyle behaviors, such as smoking, drinking,
and sun tanning, as more dangerous than ozone depletion and chemical pollution. Some
other questions also revealed that the addicted people were well aware of the risks of
such behavior. For instance, when asked about drinking and driving, most participants
mentioned that they could hurt themselves or somebody else if they did that. Logic
suggests that if people know cigarettes can kill them or drinking and driving could be
lethal, they might quit it. “Yet even with this knowledge,” Jardine said, “people
continue to undertake these lifestyle risks.”

C Jardine suggests several reasons for the contrary findings. For one, when a behavior
like drinking – despite its hazardous effects – is socially accepted or even considered
desirable, people tend to reconcile the fact that it’s bad for them with the idea that
“everybody’s doing it,” so they do it, too. People’s common train of thought behind
such behavior follows the same route. The rationale is social acceptance, as most of the
surveyed people said: “I know this is bad for me but in social circles this makes me
more accepted.” For Jardine, this is a way of rationalizing the bad habit, which they
would like to vindicate anyway – in one way or another. By referring to others who do
the same thing, it’s just easier to justify the act as it helps people to fit in the group they
belong to. Another way to uphold your bad habit is to find misleading examples to
support your case, such as “It hasn’t hurt me yet,” or, “My grandmother smoked all her
life and lived to be 90.” Almost all the participants have responded in the same way to
the questions of whether they would like to quit smoking and of why not.

D By the same token, social and physical environments also play large roles in fueling
poor habits. For example, if you perceive that all of your friends are staying up all
night, baking in the sun every day at the beach, or taking multiple smoke breaks during
work, this will affect whether you also take part in the activities. Following from this,
it can be understood that external factors might glue couch potatoes to the comfort of
their living rooms more than a lack of desire to be healthy. “We tell people they need

93
 to become physically active, but in certain neighborhoods, if you get out and go for a
walk, you could be putting yourself at risk from either traffic that’s not well controlled
or other kinds of things like violence or robberies in your neighborhood,” said Andrea
Gielen of Johns Hopkins University.

E In light of the research, it is clear that guiding people into leading healthy lives is not
that easy. Coming up with successful pro-health campaigns requires more research and
multiple strategies, experts say. As Gielen says, “there’s no single strategy or single
bullet. We’re not going to be able to find a vaccine for healthy behavior.” No matter
how hard the government promotes short TV commercials displaying cancer patients
who have gotten sick due to heavy smoking or obese people who have succeeded in
losing incredible weight by diet control and regular exercise, there will always be
people who are addicted to smoking, overeating, or any other sort of deadly habit. Thus,
it is not possible to disagree with Gielen when she says, “we have to be more creative.
We have to have different kinds of partners and work with many different folks.”

1. Paragraph A supports all of the following ideas except ___________.

a) people find a way of justifying what they do even if they know the lethal
consequences
b) bad habits may be hard to break when people seek a sense of belonging in a social
structure
c) that people are genetically predisposed to commit some deadly practices is a
misconception
2. According to paragraph B, ______________.
a) people’s tendency to quit bad habits increases when they know that they are taking
risks
b) many participants in the survey found sun tanning more harmful than ozone
depletion
c) Jardine and her team carried out a study on two different groups of people
consisting of 1,200 subjects
3. The results of Jardine’s surveys indicate people’s _____________.
a) ignorance of the risks involved
b) concern about the long-term effects
c) desire for social acceptance
4. The topic of paragraph C is _____________.
a) common reasoning of the people who would like to find excuses for their habit
b) social acceptance as a reason to explain how people rationalize their fatal
addictions
c) responses of the participants to the questions in the survey about cigarette
smoking

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 5. According to Paragraph D, one of the reasons that lead people to be confined to their
homes is that _______________.
a) they lack the social skills to participate in activities
b) the outside world poses certain potential threats
c) their friends insist that they do the same things
6. The purpose of paragraph E is to _______________.
a) criticize the government’s policy of TV commercials on health
b) propose to seek alternative methods to help people live healthily
c) draw attention to the cases of the cancer patients and obese people
7. Which of the following is discussed in detail in the article?
a) What people should do in order to lead a healthier life
b) People’s genetic inclination to develop risky habits
c) The role of social and external factors in bad habits

Text 12.

A People trying to give up smoking often use e-cigarettes to help wean themselves off
tobacco. Most experts think they are safer than cigarettes, but a surprising paper was
published recently ‒ it suggests that people who use e-cigarettes are less successful at
giving up smoking than those who don’t. “E-cigarettes WON’T help you quit,”
reported the Daily Mail. “Smokers using vapers are 28% less likely to ditch traditional
cigarettes,” read the paper’s headline. The story was reported on many other websites
around the world, including CBS: “Study: E-cigarettes don’t help smokers quit,” it
said.

B The study causing the fuss was written by researchers at the Center for Tobacco Control
Research and Education at the University of California, and published in one of the
Lancet’s sister journals, Lancet Respiratory Medicine. It is a meta-analysis, which
means the authors reviewed the academic literature already available on the topic. They
sifted out the weaker papers ‒ ones that didn’t have control groups, for example, ‒ and
were left with 20.

C The conclusion? Smokers who use e-cigarettes have a 28% lower chance of quitting
than smokers who don’t use them, according to Prof Stanton Glantz, one of the authors.
While the conclusion is surprising, so is the number of academics who have criticized
the paper. One was Ann McNeill, a professor of tobacco addiction at Kings College
London, whose own research is included in Glantz’s analysis. “This review is not
scientific,” she wrote on the Science Media Centre website, “the information… about
two studies that I co-authored is either inaccurate or misleading… I believe the findings
should therefore be dismissed.” She also expressed her concern at the huge damage
this publication may have, saying many more smokers may continue smoking and die
if they take from this piece of work that all evidence suggests e-cigarettes do not help

95
 you quit smoking, which in fact is not the case. Prof Peter Hajek, director of the
Tobacco Dependence Research Unit at the Wolfson Institute, also called the findings
“grossly misleading.”

D The critics are making three main points. First, the definition of e-cigarettes is a bit
loose. There are many different types ‒ some look like cigarettes, others have tanks for
the vaping liquid, some are disposable and others are multi-use. They all deliver
different doses of nicotine. Many of the papers included in the analysis don’t specify
which type people are using, according to Linda Bauld, a professor of Health Policy at
the University of Stirling. Another point is that the studies vary in the way they measure
how often people use e-cigarettes. “Some only assessed whether a person had ever tried
an e-cigarette, or if they had tried one recently, not whether they were using it regularly
or frequently,” Bauld says.

E Even the paper’s author admits it’s possible that in some of the studies e-cigarettes may
only have been used once, which he says would not be a good predictor of whether
they had affected people’s ability to stop smoking. Another problem is related to the
subjects participating in the studies. You might expect, if you were going to draw
conclusions about how useful e-cigarettes are in helping people quit, to focus on studies
looking at people who are trying to give up. Prof Robert West, who heads a team at
University College London researching ways to help people stop smoking, says this
analysis mashed together some very different studies, only some of which include
people using e-cigarettes to help them quit.

F “To mix them in with studies where you’ve got people using an e-cigarette and are not
particularly trying to stop smoking is mixing apples and oranges,” he says. Some of the
studies track smokers who use e-cigarettes for other reasons ‒ perhaps because
smoking a cigarette in a bar or an office is illegal, and they want a nicotine hit. “With
the studies where people are using electronic cigarettes specifically in a quit attempt,
the evidence is consistent,” says West, referring to two randomized control trials.

G Both are quite small, and one was funded by the e-cigarette industry. They took two
groups of smokers, and gave one real e-cigarettes, and the other a placebo. The studies
reach a broadly similar conclusion to a large, real-world study called the Smoking
Toolkit run by West. West’s investigation follows people in their daily lives and
assesses how successful various methods of giving up smoking are ‒ this includes
nicotine patches, medicines, and going cold turkey. These studies suggest that people
using e-cigarettes to help them quit are 50% to 100% more successful than those who
use no aids at all.

H In his paper, Glantz acknowledges there are limitations to the research that he analyzed.
He agrees there are problems with the way the use of e-cigarettes is measured and
accepts it’s not clear which devices people are using, but he is sticking by his analysis
because he believes he has taken these factors into account. The editor of Lancet
Respiratory Medicine, Emma Grainger, defends the article, too. She says she does not
see a problem with the paper and that it has been through the normal peer-review
process.

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 1. Choose the best heading for paragraph A.
a) Smoking in media
b) E-cigarette advertising
c) Shocking news
2. According to paragraph B, the study on e-cigarettes ______________.
a) was conducted by the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education
b) was based on previous studies with experimental and control groups
c) analyzed 20 studies which were conducted with and without control groups
3. Ann McNeill criticized the research because ______________.
a) the majority of other researches also disagree with this review
b) some information is either incorrect or deceptive
c) the exact scientific definition of e-cigarettes is not provided
4. Which of the following is not mentioned as a weakness that the study failed to take into
consideration?
a) the frequency of smoking e-cigarettes
b) the reason for smoking e-cigarettes
c) the alternatives used together with e-cigarettes
5. Who would say the following?
The quality of the study had been assessed before it was published to ensure that our
journal publishes good science which is of benefit to the entire scientific community.
a) the Daily Mail
b) Stanton Glantz
c) Emma Grainger
6. What is the tone of the writer in the article?
a) critical
b) derisive
c) sentimental

Text 13.
A No one likes to feel left out, ignored by colleagues at meetings, or not be invited to the
big party that everyone is talking about. Imagine not being part of a joke, or worse still,
if the joke is on you. For most people, living the life of an outsider can have a negative
effect on self-esteem and mood. It can even lead to negative behavior. The pull to
belong is extremely strong. Scientists believe that, in part, there is an evolutionary
explanation for why we have this need to belong.
B In the past, people hunted and cooked together in tribes, and each member of the group
would be assigned a role. As each member had a purpose, it meant that in the event of
the loss of one person, the group as a whole would suffer. For this reason, they had a
vested interest in protecting each other. To our prehistoric ancestors, membership in a
group meant the difference between survival and death. Those who were rejected and

97
 excluded from joining a group had to fend for themselves and struggled to stay alive
alone in the wild. Apart from protection, being part of a group also ensured that genes
could be passed on to future generations. Although it is very different now from the
way our primitive ancestors lived, our brains have not had time to evolve to fit today’s
lifestyles. In this day and age, it is no longer a matter of survival to be affiliated to a
tribe or group, but the evolutionary instinct to find protection still lingers.
C This inherent feeling of security that comes with being part of a group is powerful
enough to make people employ both conscious and unconscious strategies to gain
membership. One obvious way people try to be accepted into a group is self-
presentation, which is the act of portraying yourself in the best possible light. An
individual will attempt to outwardly display the characteristics that are important to the
group’s advancement. (a) At the same time, he or she will conceal any parts of
his/her personality that may be seen as undesirable or not useful to a group. (b)
Candidates applying for a job, for example, will promote themselves as motivated,
but are likely to hide the fact that they are disorganized. (c) Having undesired
qualities, such as being disorganized, may affect an employee’s promotion
prospects as well. These conscious tactics that people use are not a surprise to anyone,
but we also use other strategies unknowingly.
D Psychologists Jessica Larkin, Tanya Chartrand, and Robert Arkin suggested that people
often resort to automatic mimicry to gain affiliation into groups, much like our
primitive ancestors used to do. Before humans had the ability to speak, physical
imitation was a method of begging for a place in the group. Now, most people will be
unaware that they are doing it. Larkin and her co-workers decided to test this
hypothesis.
E They took a group of student volunteers and had them play a game called Cyberball, a
ball-tossing arcade game that resembled American football. The volunteers were led to
believe they were all playing against each other, but in actual fact they were not; the
computer was manipulating the game by passing the ball to some volunteers and
excluding others.
F The “accepted” and “rejected” students were then asked if they enjoyed the game and
what they thought of the other players. Participants were then put alone in a room, and
their natural foot movements were filmed. Then, a female entered the room under the
pretense of conducting a fake photo description task. The female deliberately moved
her foot during the task, but not in a way that would be noticeable to the volunteer. It
turned out that the rejected students mimicked the female’s foot movements the most.
This revealed that after exclusion, people will automatically mimic to affiliate with
someone new.
G However, Larkin and her colleagues wanted to go further. They believed that usually,
in the real world, we actually know the people that reject us. How do we behave
towards the group that we know has excluded us? The experiment was repeated with
this question in mind. In the second experiment, only female volunteers played the
Cyberball game, during which they experienced rejection by either men or women.
Then, each volunteer did the fake photo task, but this time with a man and then a
woman. The results clearly indicated that the female students that felt rejected would

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 unconsciously make more of an effort to mimic members of their own in-group – that
is, other women – rather than men. This deep-wired instinct to mimic was not only
directed towards random people, as initially thought, but targeted to specific groups,
the particular group that did the rejecting in the first place.
H To some, it is inconceivable why people will go to great lengths to be accepted into
one of life’s social groups or clubs, enduring rejection and sometimes humiliation in
order to be accepted. You only have to look at college campuses, which are notorious
for strict initiations inflicted on candidates desperately seeking membership, but it
happens and will continue to happen because the desire to belong is a very powerful
force and a fundamental part of human nature.

1. Choose the most suitable heading for paragraph B.

a) Lifestyle transformation from the past to the present
b) The humans’ evolutionary pathway to belonging
c) Tribal membership in prehistoric groups
2. Which underlined sentence does not fit in paragraph C?
a) a
b) b
c) c
3. In the study testing physical imitation for gaining affiliation into groups, _________.
a) female students were excluded by male students in the game
b) all students were given another task after the game
c) only the rejected students were asked for feedback
4. Larkin and her colleagues carried out a second experiment to find out _________.
a) whether, after exclusion, people automatically mimic to affiliate into groups
b) whether people’s manners change towards those who have excluded them
c) whether women and men behave differently when faced with exclusion
5. The tone of the writer in paragraph H can best be described as _________.
a) frustrated
b) skeptical
c) sympathetic
6. It is understood from the text that ___________.
a) being a member of a group is still essential for a person’s survival
b) people break the bond with those that reject them and seek acceptance elsewhere
c) people are not always aware of what they are doing to gain affiliation
7. The writer’s main purpose in writing this article is to ___________.
a) tell the different reasons for group formation throughout time
b) show the unconscious drive behind the need to belong
c) explain what automatic mimicry is by providing examples

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Text 14.

A By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the Earth’s population will have started to live in
urban centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic
trends, the human population will have increased by about three billion people by then.
An estimated 10 hectares of new land (about 20% larger than Brazil) will be needed to
grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming methods continue to be applied
as they are practiced today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that
is suitable for raising crops is in use. Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste
by poor management practices. What can be done to ensure enough food for the world’s
population to live on?

B The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes and
other produce has been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to scale
up this technology to accommodate another three billion people. Many believe an
entirely new approach to indoor farming is required, employing cutting-edge
technologies. One such proposal is for the ‘Vertical Farm.’ The concept is of multi-
story buildings in which food crops are grown in environmentally controlled
conditions. Situated in the heart of urban centers, these farms would drastically reduce
the amount of transportation required to bring food to consumers. Vertical farms would
need to be efficient, cheap to construct, and safe to operate. If successfully
implemented, proponents claim, vertical farms offer the promise of urban renewal,
sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply (through year-round production
of all crops), and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for
horizontal farming.

C It took humans 10,000 years to learn how to grow most of the crops we now take for
granted. Along the way, we despoiled most of the land we worked, often turning
verdant, natural ecozones into semi-arid deserts. Within that same time frame, we
evolved into an urban species, in which 60% of the human population now lives
vertically in cities. This means that, for the majority, we humans have shelter from the
elements, yet we subject our food-bearing plants to the rigors of the great outdoors and
can do no more than hope for a good weather year. However, more often than not now,
due to a rapidly changing climate, that is not what happens. Massive floods, long
droughts, hurricanes, and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying millions
of tons of valuable crops.

D The supporters of vertical farming claim many potential advantages for the system. For
instance, crops would be produced all year round, as they would be kept in artificially
controlled, optimum growing conditions. There would be no weather-related crop
failures due to droughts, floods, or pests. All the food could be grown organically,
eliminating the need for herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. The system would
greatly reduce the incidence of many infectious diseases that are acquired at the
agricultural interface. Although the system would consume energy, it would return
energy to the grid via methane generation from composting non-edible parts of plants.
It would also dramatically reduce fossil fuel use, by cutting out the need for tractors,

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 ploughs, and shipping. Despite such claims, a major drawback of vertical farming,
however, is that the plants would require artificial light. Without it, those plants nearest
the windows would be exposed to more sunlight and grow more quickly, reducing the
efficiency of the system. Single-story greenhouses have the benefit of natural overhead
light: even so, many still need artificial lighting. A multi-story facility with no natural
overhead light would require far more. Generating enough light could be prohibitively
expensive, unless cheap, renewable energy is available, and this appears to be rather a
future aspiration than a likelihood for the near future.

E One variation on vertical farming that has been developed is to grow plants in stacked
trays that move on rails. Moving the trays allows the plants to get enough sunlight. This
system is already in operation, and works well within a single-story greenhouse with
light reaching it from above. It is not certain, however, that it can be made to work
without that overhead natural light.

F Vertical farming is an attempt to address the undoubted problems that we face in

producing enough food for a growing population. At the moment, though, more needs
to be done to reduce the detrimental impact it would have on the environment,
particularly as regards the use of energy. While it is possible that much of our food will
be grown in skyscrapers in future, most experts currently believe it is far more likely
that we will simply use the space available on urban rooftops.

1. Paragraph A mainly ___________.

a) draws attention to an impending problem
b) describes the effects of a recent phenomenon
c) provides statistical information on the issue
2. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph B?
a) Some food plants cannot be grown through indoor farming.
b) Horizontal farming does not use cutting-edge technology.
c) Vertical farming will enable people to eat watermelon in winter.
3. The word “verdant” in paragraph C is closest in meaning to ___________.
a) green
b) dry
c) empty
4. In paragraph C, the writer argues that people ___________.
a) should not sacrifice large areas in urban centers to grow plants for crops
b) remain unresponsive to the destruction of many crops by natural disasters
c) need to take preventive measures against the changing climate immediately
5. How is the information in paragraph D related to that in paragraph C?
a) It provides the advantages of the idea presented.
b) It offers a solution to the problem described.
c) It supports the method offered by providing examples.

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 6. Which of the following is true according to paragraph D?
a) Vertical farms could recycle their crops to produce the energy they need.
b) People may soon find alternative sources to generate light and reduce costs.
c) Fertilizers will still be necessary for certain crops in vertical farms.
7. The writer’s tone in paragraph E is ___________.
a) encouraging
b) concerned
c) objective
8. The most probable development regarding vertical farming is that food will be grown
___________.
a) in skyscrapers
b) on rooftops in cities
c) by using less energy

Text 15.

A Until recently, the thought that there might ever be a cure for ageing seemed
preposterous. Growing older and more decrepit appeared to be an inevitable and
necessary part of being human. Over the last decade, however, scientists have begun
to see ageing differently. Some now believe that the average life-expectancy may soon
be pushed up to 160 years; others think that it may be extended to 200 or 300 years. A
handful even wonder whether we might one day live for a millennium or more.

B Behind this new excitement is the theory that the primary cause of ageing lies in highly
reactive molecules called free radicals, left behind by the oxygen we breathe. Free
radicals react with the molecules in our bodies, damaging DNA, proteins, and other
cell tissues, and are known to be implicated in diseases as diverse as cataracts, cancer,
and Alzheimer’s. The body does its best to protect itself against free radicals by
producing its own chemicals to prevent ageing, such as vitamins D and K, but it is
always fighting a losing battle.

C A year ago, Gordon Lithgow of the University of Manchester discovered a way to help
combat free radicals. Using one of these anti-ageing chemicals, he managed to increase
the lifespan of one species of earthworm by 50%. Despite cautionary words from the
scientists, many welcomed this as the first step towards a drug which would extend
life. Research involving the mutation of genes has also thrown up fascinating results:
after identifying two of the genes that appear to control how long the earthworm lives,
similar genes were found in organisms as various as fruit-flies, mice, and human
beings. When one considers the vast evolutionary distances that separate these species,
it suggests that we may have discovered a key to how ageing is regulated throughout
the entire animal kingdom.

D In June last year, a small American company called Eukarion sought permission to
carry out the first trials of an anti-ageing drug, SCS, on human beings. Although it will

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 initially be used to treat diseases associated with old age, Eukarion said ‘if the effect
of treating diseases of old age is to extend life, everyone’s going to be happy.’

E Some scientists, however, are quick to discourage extravagant speculation. ‘There is

no evidence whatsoever that swallowing any chemical would have an effect on
mammals,’ says Rich Miller of the University of Michigan. ‘And those people who
claim it might need to go out and do some experimenting.’ Some research, moreover,
has produced alarming results. As well as controlling ageing, these genes also partly
control the hormones which regulate growth. The upshot of this is that although the
lives of mutant mice can be extended by up to 80%, they remain smaller than normal.

F Quite apart from these sorts of horrors, the ethical implications of extending human
lifespan are likely to worry many people. Even if the falling birth-rates reported in the
world’s developed nations were to be repeated throughout the world, would this be
sufficient to compensate for massively extended life-expectancy, and would we be
willing to see the demographic balance of our society change out of all recognition?
David Gems, the head of the Centre for Research into Ageing at University College,
London, is enthusiastic about the opportunities opened up by extended life, but even
he observes ‘If people live much longer, the proportion of children would, of course,
be very small. It strikes me that it might feel rather claustrophobic: all those middle-
aged people and very few children or young people.’

G The philosopher John Polkinghorne emphasizes that any discussion of the merits of
life-extending therapies must take into account the quality of the life that is lived: ‘One
would not wish to prolong life beyond the point it had ceased to be creative and
fulfilling and meaningful,’ he says. ‘Presumably, there would have to come a point at
which life ceased to be creative and became just repetition. Clearly, there are only so
many rounds of golf one would want to play.’

H But Polkinghorne, a member of the Human Genetics Commission, also observes that
so far our experience of extended life-expectancy has not resulted in world-weariness.
Throughout the last century, life-expectancy rose consistently, thanks to improved diet,
better hygiene, continuous medical innovation, and the provision of free or subsidized
healthcare. In 1952, the Queen sent out 225 telegrams to people on their 100th birthday;
in 1996, she sent out 5218. ‘Consider also, the lives of our Roman and Anglo-Saxon
ancestors’ he says. By and large, the doubling of human lifespan we have seen since
then has not been a bad thing. Life has not become frustrating and boring. For example,
we now live to see our children’s children, and this is good.’

1. The word “preposterous” in paragraph A is closest in meaning to ___________.

a) plausible
b) unbelievable
c) controversial

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 2. Free radicals ___________.
a) are present in two vitamins
b) escape into the atmosphere when we breathe
c) are a partial cause of certain diseases
3. In the experiment in paragraph C, ___________.
a) genes responsible for aging in fruit-flies were identified
b) the results applied only to the species involved
c) the life of a species was extended by half
4. ___________ draws attention to the possible consequences of prolonging life on the age
composition of the population.
a) Rich Miller
b) David Gems
c) John Polkinghorne
5. Which of the following is true according to the text?
a) Using chemicals to extend life may lead to some side effects.
b) The American company Eukarion has been on trial for its drug, SCS.
c) In the last decade of the 20th century, several hundred British people lived to 100.
6. The purpose of the writer in writing this article is to ___________.
a) inform the reader about the latest research into life-expectancy
b) warn readers against the risks of extending human lifespan
c) explain the highlights and challenges of extending lifespan

Text 16.

A “Rabid vampire bats attack Brazilian children” may sound like something out of the
tabloid Weekly World News, but the headline actually comes from the respected
magazine New Scientist. Even weirder – it’s true.
B Vampire bats have indeed been attacking Brazilian children. In fact, they’ve bitten over
1,300 people since September, and 23 of their victims have died from rabies, a disease
which causes animals and humans to go mad and die. However, beneath the sensational
and bizarre story is more hopeful news about the emerging field of conservation
medicine.
C Conservation medicine is a relatively new discipline referring to the convergence of
ecology and health science, both looking at species and ecosystems, along with human,
plant, and animal health. Actually, there’s a natural connection between the two fields
because the health of individual plants, animals, and people is intimately connected to
the health of the ecosystems in which they are embedded.

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D What does this have to do with bats? Well, thanks to this new discipline, we can now
understand why these bats have started attacking people by analyzing the motives
behind such strange behavior. Indeed, the reason for the recent increase in vampire bat
attacks in Brazil is deforestation. The Amazon forests are being cleared for industry
and agriculture. With their homes gone, the bats are resting closer to humans, and they
have a new and more plentiful supply of slow moving, warm-blooded prey – cattle
(cows and bulls). This has led to larger colonies in smaller areas, turning the region
into an ideal breeding ground for rabies. As a result of being packed into denser
territories, the bats have become more aggressive, and they no longer fear humans.
E What’s worse, rabies isn’t the only disease recently transferred to humans from bats.
Bats are also a natural reservoir for SARS, the respiratory virus that caused panic in
Toronto and tore through Southeast Asia some years ago. Originally, scientists thought
civet cats were the reservoir for SARS, but they now believe the civets were infected
by bats. Bats often don’t eat all of their meals. Fruit bats, for example, chew fruit to
extract the sugars and then spit out what is left. The remnants are eaten by animals
searching for food on the ground. This is probably how the civet cats were infected in
the first place by the SARS virus carried by the bats.
F Scientists now believe that this is how the Nipah virus was spread through pig farms
in Malaysia in the early 2000s, when farms began displacing forests and bats began
roosting in barns. Authorities in Malaysia had to kill one million pigs and over 100
farm workers died from the virus. More recently, in Bangladesh, the Nipah virus was
spread directly to humans when children picked and sold fruit that had been
contaminated with partially digested bat dinners. Researchers also believe fruit
dropped by bats may have spread the Hendra virus in Australia and the Ebola virus
among primates in Africa.
G Yet, before we get out the pitchforks and torches to hunt down these winged terrors,
consider what ecologist Andrew Dobson wrote in an analysis in the journal Science:
“Assuming we can control these diseases by simply controlling bats is both naive and
short-sighted. Instead, we must recognize that increased spillover-mediated pathogen
transmission from bats to humans may simply reflect an increase in their contact
through anthropogenic modification of the bat’s natural environment.”
H In other words, as humans continue to modify and destroy bat habitat, we will continue
to run into these problems. To solve them, we must focus on conservation and learning
more about bat ecology and immunology – about which we currently know very little.
Ultimately, minimizing the conditions that lead to disease outbreak is much more
effective than dealing with the problem after it has already occurred.
I In nature, everything is connected, and while people tend to think that human society
is somehow excluded from nature, like some sort of observer, we are in fact deeply

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 embedded in the natural world. Because of this, our actions can have profound,
unforeseen, and mysterious repercussions. The new field of conservation medicine can
help unlock those mysteries and help us build a healthier world.

1. According to paragraph A, the statement that reads “Rabid vampire bats attack
Brazilian children” _________________.
a) requires a lot of respect from scientific magazines
b) seems unbelievable but scientifically accurate
c) is a weird piece of news published by a tabloid
2. Paragraph B mostly presents _______________.
a) factual information on the topic
b) the writer’s opinions on the topic
c) speculations about the topic
3. How does the information in paragraph D relate to that in paragraph C?
a) It specifies the information by drawing parallels.
b) It challenges the information by mocking the story.
c) It paraphrases the information by rewording it.
4. According to the information in paragraph E, which of the following best
describes the lineage of the SARS infection?
a) the civet cat  the fruit  the bat
b) the fruit  the bat  the civet cat
c) the bat  the fruit  the civet cat
5. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph F?
a) Bangladeshi children got infected by the Nipah virus after eating contaminated
fruit.
b) If people hadn’t destroyed forests, they might not have been infected by bats.
c) The Nipah virus caused more deaths and damage than the Hendra or Ebola
viruses.
6. According to the article, _____________.
a) there will be more problems caused by bats unless humans continue to modify
their habitat
b) Dobson thinks the best way to control diseases transferred to humans is to
control bats
c) more research needs to be done in the field of bat ecology and immunology
7. It can be inferred from paragraph I that the writer of the article ____________.
a) has an overall holistic approach towards nature
b) believes humans must be excluded from the natural world
c) is critical about the concept of conservation medicine

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 8. The writer’s purpose in writing this article is to _____________.
a) warn the reader about the diseases transferred to humans from bats
b) inform the reader of the possible benefits of conservation medicine
c) underline the effects of bat attacks on different parts of the world

Text 17.
A Music is music, whether composed by angels or monsters. Alma Mahler was a monster,
no doubt, but she was a very intriguing monster. She outlived her husband Gustav
Mahler, the famous composer, by 50 years, destroying all but one of her letters to him,
and suppressing or falsifying many of the ones he wrote to her because she feared that
she would probably be judged too harshly by future generations. While making a
playlist for her own funeral, she preferred not to include any of Mahler’s musical pieces
– perhaps to take one final revenge on the man with whom she remained married for
years, but whom she actually despised.

B Born Alma Maria Schindler, in 1878, in Vienna, the brilliant and beautiful composer
led a very controversial life and was influenced by several musicians, thinkers, and
artists of her time. The little Alma was introduced to the greatest works of German
literature by her father, who read her Goethe. An older admirer of Alma sent her boxes
filled with European literary classics including Stendhal’s and Ibsen’s books and
writings. She must have been an enchanting dinner guest: her deafness in one ear forced
her to lean into conversations, ensuring maximum attention and intimacy. This is what
made her seemingly genuine and her speech heartfelt. The angelic beauty and candor
Alma appeared to possess, however, were not among her defining qualities.

C Indeed, Alma had a notoriety for her pathological cruelty, narcissism, and especially
for the way she carried herself as if the world had owed her something in return for her
talent and attractiveness. These provocative characteristics were some of the traits her
admirers and enemies alike recognized in Alma, along with her anti-Jewish attitude, all
such traits being also shared by her hero, Richard Wagner, the German composer, who
was also a passionate follower of Nietzsche, like Alma. Given the impact of both
Wagner and Nietzsche on the development of German National Socialism, it was no
surprise that Alma too was filled with hatred towards Jews, which contributed highly
to her monstrosity. Siegfried Lipiner, one of Gustav Mahler’s favorite intellectual
adversaries, with whom the young Alma discussed Plato’s famous work Symposium,
might have empathized with her liking for Nietzsche, but he found her “malicious,
unproductive, and arrogant,” while he described her as “lacking in warmth, devoid of
naturalness, sincerity, and good sense.”

D Not everyone was on the same page, though. Her many admirers felt understood,
valued, and were deeply affected and emotionally sustained by her energy and
commitment to them. This was total, until she had had enough, which always happened.
Her marriages – to Gustav Mahler, Walter Gropius, and Franz Werfel – and her many
relationships, including those with Gustav Klimt (who gave her her first kiss, at 17),
her composition teacher Alexander Zemlinsky (her first lover), and painter Oskar

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 Kokoshka (perhaps the only man she really loved), have made her one of the 20th
century’s most famous women for whom songs were written and composed. In fact,
she is the source of inspiration for Zemlinsky’s Die Seejungfrau, which means “The
Mermaid” in English.

E This hostile muse was a woman who needed to be surrounded by creative genius, so
the young Alma Schindler married Gustav Mahler in 1902 when she was 22, already
pregnant with their first child. He, 19 years her senior, idolized her. She greatly admired
him, the eminent conductor of the Hofoper (Court Opera), but she was never really a
fan of his music, except for the sixth and seventh symphonies and the well-known Das
Lied von der Erde. She was attracted to his enormous energy, dynamism, and childlike
innocence, but it does not seem that she was ever “in love” with him. In one astonishing
and lengthy letter that he penned before their marriage, Mahler wrote to Alma that if
she were ugly, men would not care for her intellect or artistic talent. Perhaps as a
response to Mahler’s belittling opinion of her, speaking near the end of her life to writer
Elias Canetti (who met her when he was involved with her daughter, Anna), Alma did
not speak very highly of Mahler, either. She described Gropius, her second husband,
as “the true Aryan type. The only man who was racially suited to me. All the others
who fell in love with me were little Jews. Like Mahler. I go for both kinds.”

F The obvious quarrelling tone in both Mahler’s letter and Alma’s words on her deathbed
signify what is today known as the Alma Problem, an issue of concern to musicologists,
historians, and biographers who deal with the lives and works of Gustav Mahler and
Alma as his wife. After Mahler’s death, for half a century, Alma was the principal
authority on the mature Mahler’s values, character, and day-to-day behavior, and her
two books quickly became the central source material for Mahler scholars and music-
lovers alike. Unfortunately, as scholarship has investigated the picture she sought to
paint of Mahler and her relationship with him, her accounts have increasingly been
revealed as unreliable, false, and misleading, and evidence of deliberate manipulation
and falsification can no longer be ignored. The fact that these deeply flawed accounts
have nevertheless had a massive influence ‒ leaving their mark upon several
generations of scholars, interpreters, and music-lovers, and becoming a foundation of
the critical and popular literature on Mahler ‒ constitutes the “Alma Problem.”

G The main reason why Alma was described as a monster and a source of a problem,
therefore, has partly been due to her own cruelty and overconfidence, and partly to
Mahler’s restriction on the way she led her life. Living with Mahler was demoralizing
for a woman who was used to a glamorous social life. Their days were regulated like
clockwork. For 10 months of the year, Alma was expected to fetch her husband from
the Court Opera almost every evening, whether he was conducting or not, whether she
was pregnant or not, and on foot. Then, the Mahlers and their two children would
retreat to Toblach, on the Italian/Austrian border for the summer, where he spent his
time composing. Her own composing, meanwhile, was at Mahler’s insistence,
disregarded. “The role of composer, the worker’s role, falls to me; yours is that of a
loving companion and understanding partner … I’m asking a very great deal – and I
can and may do so because I know what I have to give and will give in exchange.” Not
predictably, Alma gave in to this request. She became his transcriber and offered him

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 the most meticulous support. However, later on, this evil ban on her composing created
insurmountable problems. “I sit down at the piano, dying to play, but musical notation
no longer means anything to me. My eyes have forgotten how to read it. I have been
firmly taken by the arm and led away from myself. And I long to return to where I
was.” Five weeks after suffering a painful birth to her first child, Alma wrote these
desperate words: “I have been ill for a long time. But for several days and nights, I
have been weaving music in my mind, so loud and persistent ... Gustav lives his life,
and I too must live his life. My child doesn’t need me. In any case, I can’t keep myself
solely busy with that.”

H At the crisis point in the Mahler’s marriage, the three hammer blows, as he called them,
– Alma’s affair with the young architect Walter Gropius, the death of their five-year-
old daughter, and the discovery of his heart defect, – Mahler was advised by the famous
psychiatrist Sigmund Freud to encourage his wife to return to composing. On this piece
of advice, Mahler begged Alma to review her songs, even editing and publishing them
for her, meanwhile criticising himself for his selfishness. Given the maddened state of
his mind when he revised them, no doubt worsened by his silent agreement with the
ongoing affair, it is impossible to imagine what he actually altered. Thus, only 14 of
Alma’s compositions survive today. Although they were never dated, it is often
assumed that they were early songs. After Mahler’s death, as far as we know, Alma did
not return to composing, nor did she discuss any other works she may have written,
despite publishing her songs. She claimed to have lost the will to create anything new,
having been sucked dry from living and working with such a demanding and neurotic
genius.

I Looking into the technicalities of the remaining songs, it is possible to witness that
Alma’s music is in part voluptuous, coquettish, Wagnerian in intensity and harmony,
yet intimate, sensual, charming, and surprising. a) ■ She clearly has the rare gift of
melody, but her harmonic language is formed from the influences of her teacher
Zemlinsky, and of Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg, with whom, later on, she also
had affairs. b) ■ Evidently, her pieces are word paintings of what she experienced
throughout her life as the pieces are delicate, sensual, and beautiful. As such, perhaps
Alma’s music is the only real tool for access we can have to her life story. c) ■ She
doctored or deliberately falsified letters and her diaries before their publication many
years later, presenting the version of herself she wanted people to see. It is not, of
course, very difficult to understand why she chose not to be represented as the woman
that Mahler imprisoned in his own intellectual world, but rather desired to be perceived
in the way she viewed herself.

1. Which statement is true according to paragraph A?

a) Alma did not allow Gustav Mahler’s music to be played in his funeral.
b) Alma and Gustav Mahler were passionately in love with each other.
c) Alma lived much longer than her husband Gustav Mahler did.

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2. In paragraph B, what does the writer attribute Alma’s apparent sincerity to?
a) Her knowledge of German literature
b) Her ability to hear with one ear only
c) Her beauty, attentiveness, and honesty
3. How does the information in paragraph D relate to paragraph C?
a) It challenges the information in paragraph C.
b) It exemplifies the information in paragraph C.
c) It confirms the information in paragraph C.
4. Which of the following cannot be concluded from paragraph E?
a) Gustav Mahler’s energetic personality was appealing to Alma.
b) Gustav Mahler found Alma unpleasant and intellectually incapable.
c) Gustav Mahler and Alma Schindler were not of the same origin.
5. The purpose of paragraph F is _______________.
a) To explain what lies beneath the famous “Alma Problem”
b) To show how “Alma Problem” had an insulting effect on Mahler
c) To exemplify various arguments against “Alma Problem”
6. The tone of the author in paragraph G is mostly __________________.
a) pitiful b) scornful c) indifferent
7. From paragraph H, we understand that ___________________.
a) Anna claimed Mahler had a negative impact on her creativity
b) Freud gave Mahler false advice and ruined the couple’s marriage
c) Mahler never tolerated Anna’s relationship with Walter Gropius
8. Where in paragraph I does the following sentence belong?
Her voice in her diaries and presence in Mahler’s letters are famously – notoriously
– unreliable.
a) c
b) b
c) a

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Text 18.
A To detectives, the answers lie at the end of our fingers. Fingerprinting offers an accurate
and infallible means of personal identification. The ability to identify a person from a
mere fingerprint is a powerful tool in the fight against crime. It is the most commonly
used forensic evidence, often outperforming other methods of identification. These
days, older methods of ink fingerprinting, which could take weeks, have given way to
newer and faster techniques like fingerprint laser scanning, but the principles stay the
same. No matter which way you collect fingerprint evidence, every single person’s
print is unique. So, what makes our fingerprints different from our neighbor’s?
B A good place to start is to understand what fingerprints are and how they are created.
A fingerprint is the arrangement of skin ridges and furrows on the tips of the fingers.
This ridged skin develops fully during fetal development, as the skin cells grow in the
mother’s womb. These ridges are arranged into patterns and remain the same
throughout the course of a person’s life. Other visible human characteristics, like
weight and height, change over time, whereas fingerprints do not. The reason why
every fingerprint is unique is that when a baby’s genes combine with environmental
influences, such as temperature, it affects the way the ridges on the skin grow. It makes
the ridges develop at different rates, buckling and bending into patterns. As a result, no
two people end up having the same fingerprints. Even identical twins possess dissimilar
fingerprints.
C It is not easy to map the journey of how the unique quality of the fingerprint came to
be discovered. However, the use of fingerprinting can be traced back to some ancient
civilizations, such as Babylon and China, where thumbprints were pressed onto clay
tablets to confirm business transactions. Whether people at this time actually realized
the full extent of how fingerprints were important for identification purposes is another
matter altogether. One cannot be sure if the act was seen as a means to confirm identity
or a symbolic gesture to bind a contract, where giving your fingerprint was like giving
your word.
D Despite this uncertainty, there are those who made a significant contribution towards
the analysis of fingerprinting. History tells us that a 14th-century Persian doctor made
an early statement that no two fingerprints are alike. a) ■ Later, in the
seventeenth century, Italian physician Marcello Malpighi studied the distinguishing
shapes of loops and spirals in fingerprints. In his honor, the medical world later named
a layer of skin after him. b) ■ He took fingerprints from the local people as a form of
signature for contracts, in order to avoid fraud. His fascination with fingerprints
propelled him to study them for the next 20 years. He developed the theory that
fingerprints were unique to an individual and did not change at all over a lifetime. In
1880, Henry Faulds suggested that fingerprints could be used to identify convicted
criminals. c) ■ He wrote to Charles Darwin for advice, and the idea was referred on to
Darwin’s cousin, Sir Francis Galton. Galton eventually published an in-depth study of
fingerprint science in 1892.
E Although the fact that each person has a totally unique fingerprint pattern had been
well documented and accepted for a long time, this knowledge was not exploited for
criminal identification until the early 20th century. In the past, branding, tattooing, and

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 maiming had been used to mark the criminal for what he was. In some countries,
thieves would have their hands cut off. France branded criminals with the fleur-de-lis
symbol. The Romans tattooed mercenary soldiers to stop them from becoming
deserters.
F For many years, police agencies in the Western world were reluctant to use
fingerprinting, much preferring the popular method of the time, the Bertillon system,
where physical measurements of certain body parts were recorded to identify a
criminal. The turning point was in 1903, when a prisoner by the name of Will West
was admitted into Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. Amazingly, Will had almost the
same Bertillon measurements as another prisoner residing at the very same prison,
whose name happened to be William West. It was only their fingerprints that could tell
them apart. From that point on, fingerprinting became the standard for criminal
identification.
G Fingerprinting was useful in identifying people with a history of crime and who were
listed on a database. However, in situations where the perpetrator was not on the
database and a crime had no witnesses, the system fell short. Fingerprint chemistry is
a new technology that can work alongside traditional fingerprinting to find more clues
than ever before. From organic compounds left behind on a print, a scientist can tell if
the person is a child, an adult, a mature person, or a smoker, and much more. It seems,
after all these years, fingers continue to point the way.

1. How does the writer introduce the topic “fingerprinting” in paragraph A?

a) By comparing it with older methods of personal identification
b) By describing various processes of getting fingerprints
c) By highlighting its importance in crime investigation

2. Where in paragraph D does the following sentence belong?

“It was, however, an employee for the East India Company, William Herschel, who
came to see the true potential of fingerprinting.”
a) a
b) b
c) c
3. Which of the following is mentioned in the text?
a) how fingerprints are formed
b) how doctors studied fingerprints
c) how tattoos change fingerprints
4. Why does the author mention “William West” in the text?
a) to describe the practice of Bertillon measurements for convicts in prison
b) to compare the Bertillon system and fingerprinting in identifying criminals
c) to explain why fingerprinting was accepted as an identification method

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 5. It can be inferred from the text that _____________.
a) businesspeople in ancient China used fingerprints to confirm their identities
b) tattoos were used in ancient times to deter soldiers from becoming war traitors
c) it is impossible to get information about criminals unless their fingerprints are on the
database

Text 19.

A Culture is a huge factor in determining whether we look someone in the eye or the mouth
to interpret facial expressions, according to a new study. For instance, in Japan, people
tend to look to the eyes for emotional cues, whereas Americans tend to look to the mouth,
says researcher Masaki Yuki, a behavioral scientist at Hokkaido University in Japan.
This could be because “the Japanese, when in the presence of others, try to suppress their
emotions more than Americans do,” Yuki notes. In any case, as Yuki also contends, “the
eyes are more difficult to control than the mouth, so they probably provide better clues
about a person’s emotional state even if he or she is trying to hide it.”

B As a child growing up in Japan, Yuki was fascinated by pictures of American celebrities.

“Their smiles looked strange to me,” Yuki admits. “They opened their mouths too
widely, and raised the corners of their mouths in an exaggerated way.” Japanese people
tend to shy away from overt displays of emotion, and rarely smile or frown with their
mouths, Yuki explains, because the Japanese culture tends to emphasize conformity,
humbleness, and emotional suppression – traits that are thought to promote better
relationships. Thus, when Yuki entered graduate school and began communicating with
American scholars over e-mail, he was often confused by their use of emoticons such as
smiley faces :) and sad faces, or :(. It took him some time before he finally understood
that they were faces. Japanese emoticons tend to emphasize the eyes, such as the happy
face (^_^) and the sad face (;_;). “After seeing the difference between American and
Japanese emoticons, it dawned on me that the faces looked exactly like typical American
and Japanese smiles and frowns,” he said.

C Intrigued, Yuki decided to study this phenomenon. First, he and his colleagues asked
groups of American and Japanese students to rate how happy or sad various computer-
generated emoticons seemed to them. As Yuki and his team predicted, the Japanese gave
more weight to the emoticons’ eyes when gauging emotions, whereas Americans gave
more credence to the mouth. For example, the American subjects rated smiling
emoticons with sad-looking eyes as happier than the Japanese subjects did. Then, he and
his colleagues manipulated photographs of real faces to control the degree to which the
eyes and the mouth were happy, sad, or neutral. _____________. The researchers found

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 that Japanese subjects judged expressions based more on the eyes than the Americans,
who looked to the mouth.

D Interestingly, however, both the Americans and Japanese tended to rate faces with so-
called “happy” eyes as neutral or sad. This could be because the muscles that are flexed
around the eyes in genuine smiles are also quite active in sadness, said James Coan, a
psychologist at the University of Virginia. Coan’s research, following the one conducted
by Yuki and his team, has shown that the expressive muscles around the eyes provide
key clues about a person’s genuine emotions. In this regard, Coan further concluded that
because Japanese people tend to focus on the eyes, “they could be better,” overall, than
Americans “at perceiving people’s true feelings.”

E Although understanding others’ real feelings might be a very useful skill, it could also
have potential detriments, as Yuki points out: “Would you really want to know if your
friend’s, lover’s, or boss’s smile was not genuine? In some contexts, maybe it is better
not to know.”

1. According to paragraph A, the main difference between the Japanese and the
Americans while interpreting facial expressions is that ______________.
a) the Japanese have difficulty in understanding someone’s true feelings
b) the Japanese reveal their real emotions only when they are with others
c) the Japanese often search for more clues from the eyes than the mouth
2. It can be understood from paragraph B that _____________.
a) Yuki was not exposed to the American use of emoticons until he was a graduate
student
b) Yuki found the American use of emoticons quite unrealistic as they didn’t show
the eyes
c) Yuki studied the similarity between the pictures of American and Japanese
celebrities
3. The word “credence” in paragraph C probably means ___________.
a) assistance
b) importance
c) opposition
4. Which of the below fits best into the blank in paragraph C?
a) Again, the results verified what Yuki and his team foresaw.
b) The results were, however, not as they had previously expected.
c) According to the results, Americans looked more to the eyes.
5. In paragraph D, James Coan’s research is mentioned in order to ____________.
a) show contrast with the findings of Yuki and his team’s research
b) provide support for the findings Yuki’s research came up with
c) exemplify the conclusions of the research by Yuki and his team

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 6. The word “detriments” in paragraph E can be best replaced by ____________.
a) drawbacks
b) regressions
c) ignorances

Text 20.
A Innovation is key to business survival, and companies put substantial resources into
inspiring employees to develop new ideas. There are, nevertheless, people who work
in luxurious, state-of-the-art centers designed to stimulate innovation, but still find that
their environment doesn’t make them feel at all creative. On the other hand, there are
also those who don’t have a budget, or much space, but who innovate successfully.
B For Robert B. Cialdini, Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, one
reason that companies don’t succeed as often as they should is that innovation starts
with recruitment. Research shows that the fit between an employee’s values and a
company’s values makes a difference to what contribution he or she will make, and
whether two years after starting, he or she is still at the company. Studies at Harvard
Business School show that, although some individuals may be more creative than
others, there is potential in every individual to be creative in the right circumstances.
C One of the most famous photographs in the story of Rock’n’Roll emphasizes Cialdini’s
views. The 1956 picture of singers Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry
Lee Lewis jamming at a piano in Sun Studios in Memphis tells a hidden story. Sun’s
“million-dollar quartet” could have been a quintet. Missing from the picture is Roy
Orbison, a greater natural singer than Lewis, Perkins, or Cash. Sam Phillips, who
owned Sun, wanted to revolutionize popular music with songs that fused black and
white music, as well as country and blues. Presley, Cash, Perkins, and Lewis
instinctively understood Phillips’s ambition and believed in it. Orbison wasn’t inspired
by the goal, and only ever achieved one hit with the Sun label.
D “The value fit matters,” says Cialdini, “because innovation is, in part, a process of
change, and under that pressure we, as a species, behave differently; when things
change, we are hard-wired to play it safe.” Managers should, therefore, adopt an
approach that appears counterintuitive ‒ they should explain what stands to be lost if
the company fails to seize a particular opportunity. Studies show that we invariably
take more gambles when threatened with a loss than when offered a reward.
E Managing innovation is a delicate art. It’s easy for a company to be pulled in conflicting
directions as the marketing, product development, and finance departments each get
different feedback from different sets of people, and without a system which ensures
collaborative exchanges within the company, it’s also easy for small “pockets of
innovation” to disappear. Innovation is a contact sport. You can’t brief people by just
saying, “We’re going in this direction, and I’m going to take you with me.”
F Cialdini believes that this “follow-the-leader syndrome” is dangerous, not least because
it encourages bosses to go it alone. “It’s been scientifically proven that three people
will be better than one at solving problems even if that one person is the smartest person

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 in the field,” he says. To prove his point, Cialdini cites an interview with molecular
biologist James Watson. Watson, together with Francis Crick, discovered the structure
of DNA, the genetic information carrier of all living organisms. When asked how they
had cracked the code ahead of an array of highly accomplished rival investigators,
Watson said: “Crick and I had succeeded because we were aware that we weren’t the
most intelligent of the scientists pursuing the answer. The smartest scientist was called
Rosalind Franklin, who was very intelligent, but she rarely sought advice.”
G Teamwork taps into one of the basic drives of human behavior. “The principle of social
proof is so pervasive that we don’t even recognize it,” says Cialdini. “If your project is
being resisted, for example, by a group of veteran employees, ask another old-timer to
speak up for it.” Cialdini is not alone in advocating this strategy. Research shows that
peer power, used horizontally not vertically, is much more powerful than any boss’s
speech. Authority doesn’t have to inhibit innovation, but it often does. The wrong kind
of leadership will lead to what Cialdini calls “captainitis,” the regrettable tendency of
team members to opt out of team responsibilities. He calls it captainitis because, he
says, “crew members of multi-pilot aircraft exhibit a sometimes deadly passivity when
the flight captain makes a clearly wrong-headed decision.” This behavior is not unique
to air travel but can happen in any workplace where the leader is overbearing. At the
other end of the scale is the Memphis design collective of the 1980s, a group of young
designers for whom “the only rule was that there were no rules.” This environment
encouraged a free interchange of ideas, which led to more creativity with form,
function, color, and materials that revolutionized attitudes to furniture design.
H Many theorists believe the ideal boss should lead from behind, taking pride in
collective accomplishment and giving credit where it is due. Cialdini says, “Leaders
should encourage everyone to contribute and simultaneously assure all concerned that
every recommendation is important to making the right decision and will be given full
attention.” The frustrating thing about innovation is that there are many approaches,
but no magic formula. However, a manager who wants to create a truly innovative
culture can make his or her job a lot easier by recognizing these psychological realities.

1. According to paragraph A, __________.

a) the innovative strategies developed by employees are a result of the resources put
into designing luxurious work-centers.
b) innovation is crucial while designing the work-space because it supports stimulation
in business life.
c) although companies heavily invest in developing stimulating workplaces, some
employees may still lack innovation.
2. The research at Harvard Business School mentioned in paragraph B __________.
a) verifies the results of Robert B. Cialdini’s research at Arizona State University
b) shows how much contribution an employee can make to his/her company
c) indicates that appropriate conditions can possibly boost creativity in everyone

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 3. The example of the “million-dollar quartet” underlines the writer’s point about ______.
a) recognizing talent
b) having a shared objective
c) being an effective leader
4. It can be understood from paragraph D that to get the best results, managers
should __________.
a) clarify what is to be missed if a certain opportunity is not taken
b) encourage their employees to innovate by offering some rewards
c) play it safe when there is a higher risk of losing opportunities
5. By referring to James Watson and Francis Crick, the writer wants to highlight that to
achieve success, it is necessary to __________.
a) be conscious of your own limitations
b) be determined to outperform your brighter rivals
c) select intelligent partners for a joint ambition
6. Paragraph G is __________.
a) critical of authority use
b) indifferent to teamwork
c) skeptical of peer power
7. In paragraph H, the writer suggests that it is important for employees to __________.
a) be aware of their company’s goals
b) feel that their contributions are valued
c) understand why certain management decisions are made

Text 21.

A Will the robot revolution begin in nursery school? Researchers introduced a state-of-
the-art social robot into a classroom of 18- to 24-month-olds for five months as a way
of studying human-robot interactions. The children not only came to accept the robot,
but treated it as they would a human buddy - hugging it and helping it - a new study
says. “The results imply that current robot technology is surprisingly close to achieving
autonomous bonding and socialization with human toddlers,” said Fumihide Tanaka, a
researcher at the University of California, San Diego.

B The development of robots that interact socially with people has been difficult to
achieve, experts say, partly because such interactions are hard to study. “To my
knowledge, this is the first long-term study of this sort,” said Ronald Arkin, a roboticist
at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who was not involved with the study. “It is
groundbreaking and helps to forward human-robot interaction studies significantly,”
he said.

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C The most successful robots so far have been storytellers, but they have only been able
to hold human interest for a limited time. For the new study, researchers introduced a
toddler-size humanoid robot into a classroom at a UCSD childhood education center.
Initially, the researchers wanted to use a 22-inch-tall model, but later they decided to
use another robot of the QRIO series, the 23-inch-tall (58-centimeter-tall) machine
originally developed by Sony. Children of toddler age were chosen because they have
no preconceived notions of robots, said Tanaka, the lead researcher, who also works
for Sony. The researchers sent instructions about every two minutes to the robot to do
things like giggle, dance, sit down, or walk in a certain direction. The 45 sessions were
videotaped, and interactions between toddlers and the robot were later analyzed.

D The results showed that the quality of those interactions improved steadily over 27
sessions. The toddlers began to increasingly interact with the robot and treat it more
like a peer than an object during the first 11 sessions. The level of social activity
increased dramatically when researchers added a new behavior to QRIO’s repertoire:
If a child touched the humanoid on its head, it would make a giggling noise. The
interactions deteriorated quickly over the next 15 sessions, when the robot was
reprogrammed to behave in a more limited, predictable manner. Finally, the human-
robot relations improved in the last three sessions, after the robot had been
reprogrammed to display its full range of behaviors. “Initially the children treated the
robot very differently than the way they treated each other,” Tanaka said. “But by the
end, they treated the robot as a peer rather than a toy.”

E Early in the study some children cried when QRIO fell, but a month into the study, the
toddlers helped QRIO stand up by pushing its back or pulling its hands. “The most
important aspect of interaction was touch,” Tanaka said. “At first, the toddlers would
touch the robot on its face, but later on, they would touch only on its hands and arms,
like they would with other humans.” Another robotlike toy named Robby, which
resembled QRIO but did not move, was used as a control toy in the study. While
hugging of QRIO increased, hugging of Robby decreased throughout the study.
Furthermore, when QRIO laid down on the floor as its batteries ran down, a toddler
would put a blanket over his silver-colored “friend” and say “night-night.”

F “Our work suggests that touch integrated on the time-scale of a few minutes is a
surprisingly effective index of social connectedness,” Tanaka says. “Something akin
to this index may be used by the human brain to evaluate its own sense of social well-
being.” He adds that social robots like QRIO could greatly enrich classrooms and assist
teachers in early learning programs. Hiroshi Ishiguro, robotics expert at Osaka
University in Japan, stated that the study revealed the possibilities of small, almost
autonomous humanoid robots for toddlers. “Nowadays, robots can perform a variety
of functions that were thought to be incident to people only, and soon, we’ll have
electronic baby-sitters and peer-robots in every kindergarten,” said Ishiguro, who was
not involved with the study but has collaborated with its authors on other projects.

G Now this study has taken a new direction ‒ the researchers are now developing
autonomous robots for the toddler classroom. “I cannot avoid underlining how great
potential it could have in educational settings, assisting teachers and enriching the

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 classroom environment,” Tanaka said. However, some scientists don’t share his
opinion.

H Arkin, the Georgia Tech roboticist, said he was not surprised by the affection showed
by the toddlers toward the robot. “Humans have a tremendous propensity to bond with
artifacts with any or all sort, whether it be a car, a doll, or a robot,” he said. But he also
cautioned that researchers don’t yet understand the consequences of increased human-
robot interaction. “Just studying how robots and humans work together can give us
insight into whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for society,” Arkin said. “What
are the consequences of introducing a robot artifact into a cadre of children? How will
that enhance, or potentially interfere with, their social development? It might make life
easier for the teacher, but we really don’t understand the long-term impact of having a
robot as a childhood friend, do we?”

1. According to paragraph D, ______________.

a) the more behaviors QRIO displayed, the more social toddlers became towards it
b) the more predictable QRIO’s behaviors were, the more interactive toddlers got
c) the more QRIO made a giggling noise, the more toddlers touched it
2. Which idea does the information about Robby support?
a) Robots can assist teachers and enrich the classroom environment.
b) Robots without movement do not attract the attention of children much.
c) Robots are seen as a friend and so taken care of by children.
3. It can be inferred from the text that ______________.
a) the children were observed and recorded at school twice a week for five months
b) the researchers preferred the QRIO robot as children were familiar with it
c) the children’s attitudes towards the robot changed throughout the study
4. Which paragraph emphasizes the significance and novelty of the conducted
study?
a) Paragraph A
b) Paragraph B
c) Paragraph G
5. Which of the following would Ronald Arkin agree with?
a) The study that was conducted on toddlers shows the robot’s limitations as a friend.
b) The long-term impact of having a robot as a childhood friend can be negative.
c) People have a natural tendency to bond with objects that resemble humans.

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Text 22.

A More than a quarter of the country’s 2.4 million bee colonies have been lost — tens of
billions of bees, according to an estimate from the Apiary Inspectors of America, a
national group that tracks beekeeping. So far, no one has been able to exactly say what
is causing the bees to become disoriented and fail to return to their hives.
____________________. People have blamed genetically modified crops, cellular
phone towers, and high-voltage transmission lines for the disappearances. Or was it a
secret plot by Russia or Osama bin Laden to bring down American agriculture? Or, as
some blogs have asserted, was it the rapture of the bees, in which God recalled them to
heaven? Researchers have heard it all.
B “Some theories are really unbelievable,” say two entomologists, Diana Cox-Foster,
from Pennsylvania State University, and Jeffrey S. Pettis, from the United States
Department of Agriculture, as they are trying to find answers to explain “colony
collapse disorder,” the name given for the disappearing bee syndrome. “Clearly there
is an urgency to solve this,” Dr. Cox-Foster says. “We are trying to move as quickly as
we can.” The most likely suspects are a virus, a fungus, or a pesticide. As there are
other bee colonies collapsing elsewhere in the world, like some countries in Europe, as
well as Guatemala and parts of Brazil, the entire world is struggling for answers.
C More recently, however, genetic testing at Columbia University has revealed the
presence of multiple micro-organisms in bees from hives or colonies that are in decline,
suggesting that something is debilitating their immune system. The researchers have
found, in the affected bees, some fungi that are found in humans whose immune
systems have been suppressed by the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
or by cancer. “That is extremely unusual,” Dr. Cox-Foster says. Meanwhile, samples
were sent to an Agriculture Department laboratory in North Carolina this month to
screen for 117 chemicals. Particular suspicion falls on a pesticide that France banned
out of concern that it may have been decimating bee colonies. Concern has also
mounted among public officials. So far, colony collapse disorder has been found in 27
States, according to Bee Alert Technology Inc., a company monitoring the problem. A
recent survey of 13 States by the Apiary Inspectors of America showed that 26 percent
of beekeepers had lost half of their bee colonies between September and March.
D But why are we so worried about the loss of these bee colonies? Well, honeybees are
arguably the insects that are most important to the human food chain. They are the
principal pollinators of hundreds of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and nuts. While
agriculture depends so heavily on bees as pollinators, bee colonies have been
increasingly under stress as more beekeepers have resorted to crisscrossing the country
with 18-wheel trucks full of bees in search of pollination work. These bees may suffer
from a diet that includes artificial supplements, which are in fact mixtures similar to

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 energy drinks and power bars. In several states, suburban developments have limited
the bees’ natural forage areas. However, so far, the researchers have discounted the
possibility that poor diet alone could be responsible for the widespread losses. They
have also set aside for now the possibility that the cause could be bees feeding from a
commonly used genetically modified crop, known as the BT corn, because the
symptoms typically associated with toxins, such as blood poisoning, are not showing
up in the affected bees. Yet, researchers have emphasized today that feeding
supplements produced from genetically modified crops, such as high-fructose corn
syrup, need to be studied.
E The scientists say that definitive answers for the colony collapses could be months
away. However, recent advances in biology and genetic sequencing are speeding the
search. Computers can decipher information from DNA and match pieces of genetic
code with particular organisms. Luckily, a project to sequence some 11,000 genes of
the honeybee was completed late last year at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston,
giving scientists a huge head start on identifying any unknown pathogens in the bee
tissue. “Otherwise, we would be looking for the needle in the haystack,” Dr. Cox-Foster
says.
F Following these developments, at the University of Illinois, using the knowledge
gained from the sequencing of the bee genome, a research team will try to find which
genes in the collapsing colonies are particularly active, perhaps indicating stress from
exposure to a toxin or pathogen. Working in close collaboration with the Illinois team,
Dr. Chris Mullin, a Pennsylvania State University professor and insect toxicologist, has
recently sent a set of samples to a federal laboratory in Raleigh, which has screened for
117 chemicals. Of greatest interest are the “systemic” chemicals that are able to pass
through a plant’s circulatory system and move to the new leaves or the flowers, where
they would come in contact with bees. One group of chemical compounds found during
the screening process is called neonicotinoids. These are commonly used pesticides
employed to treat corn and other seeds against pests. One of the neonicotinoids,
imidacloprid, is commonly used in Europe and the United States to treat seeds, to
protect residential foundations against termites and to help keep golf courses and home
lawns green.
G In the late 1990s, French beekeepers reported large losses of their bees and complained
about the use of imidacloprid, sold under the brand name Gaucho. The chemical, while
not killing the bees outright, was causing them to be disoriented and stay away from
their hives, leading them to die of exposure to the cold, French researchers later found.
The beekeepers labeled the syndrome “mad bee disease.” Thus, the French government
banned the pesticide in 1999 for use on sunflowers, and later for corn, despite protests
by the German chemical giant Bayer, which said its internal research showed the
pesticide was not toxic to bees. (a) The chemical diversity found in nature has

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 always been a significant source of motivation for drug design and development.
(b) Subsequent studies by independent French researchers have disagreed with
Bayer. (c) To support her case, Alison Chalmers, an eco-toxicologist for Bayer
CropScience, has said at the meeting today that bee colonies had not recovered in
France as beekeepers had expected. “These chemicals are not being used anymore,”
she has said of imidacloprid, “so they certainly were not the only cause.” However,
among the pesticides being tested in the American bee investigation, the neonicotinoids
group “is the number-one suspect,” Dr. Mullin has said. He hopes the complete results
of the toxicology screening will be ready within a month.

1. Which of the following statements should replace the blank in paragraph A?

a) As with any great mystery, a number of theories have been posed, and many seem
to be more science-fiction than science.
b) Some of the culprits might be genetically modified organisms, the waves
transmitted by cellular phones, and communication technologies that use
broadcast lines and radio waves.
c) Scientists, however, have come up with fully supported theories to explain the
reason behind these disappearances.
2. Dr. Cox-Foster suggests that _____________.
a) genetically modified crops may have caused bees to disappear
b) previous theories about bees are sufficient but not specific enough
c) bees could have disappeared because of a fungus
3. The investigations into the collapsing bee colonies _____________.
a) found 117 chemicals in bees’ organisms when they were tested
b) blamed France for using a pesticide causing bees to die
c) may confirm the theories of Dr. Cox-Foster about disappearing bees
4. The word “debilitating” in paragraph C is closest in meaning to ___________.
a) heartening b) weakening c) responding
5. In comparison to paragraph D, the tone in paragraph E is more _____________.
a) discouraging b) hopeful c) indifferent
6. The text mainly discusses ______________.
a) the causes which might have led honeybees to decrease in number over time
b) how harmful and inappropriate it is to rely on honeybees for agriculture
c) the effects that “colony collapse disorder” will have on the future of agriculture
7. Which underlined sentence does not fit in paragraph G?
a) (a)
b) (b)
c) (c)

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Text 23.
A In recent years, we have all been exposed to dire media reports concerning the
impending demise of global coal and oil reserves, but the depletion of another key non-
renewable resource continues without receiving much press at all. Helium – an inert,
odorless, monatomic element known to ordinary people as the substance that makes
balloons float and voices squeak when inhaled – could be gone from this planet within
a generation.
B Helium itself is not rare; there is actually a plentiful supply of it in the cosmos. In fact,
24% of our galaxy’s elemental mass consists of helium, which makes it the second
most abundant element in our universe. Because of its lightness, however, most helium
vanished from our own planet many years ago. Consequently, only a miniscule
proportion – 0.00052%, to be exact – remains in the earth’s atmosphere. Helium is the
by-product of millennia of radioactive decay from the elements thorium and uranium.
The helium that remains on the planet is mostly trapped in subterranean natural-gas
bunkers and is commercially extracted through a method known as fractional
distillation.
C The loss of helium on Earth would affect society greatly. Defying the perception of it
as a novelty substance for parties and gimmicks, the element actually has many vital
applications in society. Probably the most well-known commercial usage is in airships
and blimps (non-flammable helium replaced hydrogen as the popular lifting gas after
the Hindenburg catastrophe in 1932, during which an airship burst into flames and
crashed to the ground, killing some passengers and crew), but helium is also
instrumental in deep-sea diving, where it is blended with nitrogen to mitigate the
dangers of inhaling ordinary air under high pressure. Additionally, it is used as a
cleaning agent for rocket engines and as a coolant for superconducting magnets in
hospital MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanners.
D The possibility of losing helium forever poses the threat of a real crisis because its
unique qualities are extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible, to duplicate. Helium is
even cheerfully derided as a “loner” element since it does not adhere to other molecules
like its cousin, hydrogen. According to Dr. Lee Sobotka, helium is the “most noble of
gases, meaning it’s very stable and non-reactive for the most part … it has a closed
electronic configuration, a very tightly bound atom. It is this coveting of its own
electrons that prevents combination with other elements.” Another important attribute
is helium’s unique boiling point, which is lower than that for any other element. The
worsening global shortage could render millions of dollars of high-value and life-
saving equipment totally useless. The dwindling supplies have already resulted in the
postponement of research and development projects in physics laboratories and
manufacturing plants around the world. There is an enormous supply and demand
imbalance partly brought about by the expansion of high-tech manufacturing in Asia.
E The source of the problem is the Helium Privatization Act (HPA), an American law
that requires the US National Helium Reserve to liquidate, or sell, its helium assets in
the next five years, regardless of the market price. Although intended to settle the
original cost of the reserve by a US Congress ignorant of its ramifications, this policy
may mean that global helium prices will be so artificially deflated that few can be

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 bothered recycling the substance or using it cautiously. Deflated values also mean that
natural-gas extractors see no reason to capture helium. Much is lost in the process of
extraction. As Sobotka notes, “the government had the good vision to store helium, and
the question now is: Will the corporations have the vision to capture it when extracting
natural gas, and will consumers have the wisdom to recycle? This takes long-term
vision because present market forces are not sufficient to compel prudent practice.” For
Nobel-prize laureate Robert Richardson, the US government must be prevailed upon
to repeal its privatization policy as the country supplies over 80% of global helium,
mostly from the National Helium Reserve. For Richardson, a 20- to 50-fold increase in
prices would provide incentives to recycle.
F A number of steps need to be taken in order to avert a costly crisis in the coming
decades. Firstly, all existing supplies of helium ought to be conserved and released only
by permit, with medical uses receiving priority over other commercial or recreational
demands. Secondly, conservation should be obligatory and enforced by a regulatory
agency. At the moment, some users, such as hospitals, tend to recycle diligently, while
others, such as NASA, squander massive amounts of helium. Lastly, research into
alternatives to helium must begin in earnest.

1. In paragraph A, the writer compares “helium” with “coal and oil reserves” to
______________.
a) criticize the media for distorting facts about helium
b) stress that helium is also getting depleted
c) give examples of non-renewable resources
2. Which of the following is true according to paragraph B?
a) Almost one fifth of the elemental mass in our galaxy is composed of helium.
b) Helium is so light that Earth’s gravity is not strong enough to hold on to it.
c) Helium decays due to the natural radioactive process of uranium and thorium.
3. Paragraph C is mainly about ______________.
a) how helium began to be used commercially
b) various uses of helium in society
c) the 1932 Hindenburg catastrophe
4. The word “dwindling” in paragraph D is closest in meaning to ___________.
a) fluctuating
b) leaping
c) shrinking
5. Which of the following does the writer support by referring to Robert Richardson in
the article?
a) The Helium Privatization Act should be strictly enforced in order to recycle
helium.
b) The US government has to work with leading market forces to capture helium.
c) The country’s new policy will fail to encourage people to preserve helium.

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 6. From paragraph F, we understand that NASA _________.
a) is not so cautious as some other institutions in conserving helium
b) may officially be obliged to regulate the use of helium in the US
c) will carry out research in order to find new non-renewable resources

Text 24.

A Have you ever wanted to scream and run away because you hate your job? Have you
ever called in sick simply because you feel extremely worn-out and depressed? Have
you felt that you get no accomplishment no matter how hard you work? If you say yes
to these questions, you may be suffering from a serious emotional problem. Many
people, especially those who are forced to work under pressure, manifest the same
symptoms, which indicate a condition called “burnout.”
B Unlike what many people believe, burnout does not simply mean acting like a spoiled
child. On the contrary, it is “a state of exhaustion or frustration in the individual’s inner
resources that results from work or work relationships that fail to produce the expected
rewards,” as first defined by psychologist Herbert J. Freudenberger. According to
Freudenberger, some individual factors such as gender, age, education, and marital
status may play a role in the person’s experience of burnout. Yet, the most important
causes are often related to workload, control system, and lack of rewards.
C Aside from Freudenberger, other psychologists like Christina Maslach also studied
burnout. Maslach lists the three most important aspects of burnout as emotional
exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. The first one,
emotional exhaustion, means a decrease in individual’s emotional and physical
resources. Individuals experiencing emotional exhaustion feel emotionally fatigued.
The second aspect, depersonalization, refers to the negative and strict attitudes toward
people and being indifferent to the job itself. It shows itself through the individual’s
negative and intolerant responses to service receivers or coworkers. The people who
undergo depersonalization treat people as if they were objects. The third aspect,
reduced personal accomplishment, is the individual’s tendency to evaluate
herself/himself negatively in terms of personal achievement. It presents itself as a
reduced sense of success in the job itself as well as in their personal relations at work.
D The consequences of burnout are numerous. Some of these consequences are decreased
job performance, job dissatisfaction, a tendency to be sick without reason, and
increased injury in occupational accidents. Individuals experiencing burnout are also
more likely to suffer physical problems such as fatigue, sleeplessness, lack of appetite,
and headache. In addition to such physical problems, psychological problems such as
defenselessness and sensitiveness are also seen. These may unfortunately pave the way
for even more severe results as in the case of healthcare employees who suffer different

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 symptoms of burnout. In fact, several studies have shown that decreased staffing in
hospitals brings about an overload of work and duties. This is a primary trigger for
burnout, and it poses a serious threat to patient safety.
E Two surveys conducted on nurses working in two different private hospitals can be
used as support. One of the studies found that errors in medication and treatments are
perceived by nurses to be a result of the nursing shortage. In the other study, a 67%
increase in medication errors was reported to be due to understaffing. When the number
of nurses on duty is insufficient, the workload on the currently employed nurses was
doubled, or in some cases, tripled. Inevitably, this led to common complaints among
most of the nurses about depersonalization, extreme sensitiveness, and a general
inclination toward loss of attention. As such, in addition to causing harm to the patients,
medication and treatment errors caused moral distress for 73% of the nurses involved
in one hospital, and 61% in the other.
F Like nurses, patient services employees are also quite likely to experience burnout due
to their intense interrelationship with patients. The duties of patient services department
are welcoming the patients and patients’ relatives, directing and accompanying them
to the relevant departments, preparing patient reports, receiving the payments, and
executing discharge and funerals when it is necessary. Therefore, the effort given by
these employees bears importance as it directly influences patient satisfaction. In a
questionnaire carried out in 2017 on the employees of patient services in a private
hospital, it was concluded that burnout is an important issue that needs to be prevented
for patient services employees because it puts a lot of important matters at risk.
G All in all, burnout should be taken seriously. Providing periodic consultancy to both
new employees and current employees and offering training opportunities to
employees to maintain harmony might contribute to the prevention of burnout within
organizations. Building healthy communication, listening to employee problems, and
planning certain activities to boost morale and avoid stressful work environment may
increase employee motivation. Increasing employees’ communication skills, especially
in jobs where human interaction levels are high, may also help decrease burnout levels.
Developing reward systems might also influence employees in a positive way, and
providing psychological support to the employees who are in need might also
strengthen employees’ mental health and may render them psychologically strong.

1. The word “manifest” in paragraph A is closest in meaning to _____________.

a) demonstrate
b) aggravate
c) observe

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2. Choose the best heading for paragraph B.
a) What is Burnout?
b) Symptoms of Burnout
c) Exhaustion in Burnout
3. What is true according to paragraph C?
a) Maslach learned from Freudenberger that burnout can be categorized under three
levels.
b) A person who experiences depersonalization believes that s/he is incapable of
achievement.
c) The emotionally exhausted individual may behave as if s/he’s drained of feelings.
4. How does paragraph F relate to the information in paragraph E?
a) It gives a challenging viewpoint on the information.
b) It exemplifies the information by giving more details.
c) It supports the information with a similar case in point.
5. Paragraphs D and G respectively focus on ____________.
a) Causes / Effects
b) Effects / Solutions
c) Solutions / Causes

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 EXTRA PRACTICE FOR CAREFUL READING

Text 1.
A When Karl Kim immigrated to the United States from Korea as a teenager ten years
ago, he had a hard time learning English. Now, he speaks it fluently, and recently he
had a unique opportunity to see how the human brain adapts to a second language. Kim
is a graduate student in the lab of Joy Hirsch, a neuroscientist at Memorial Sloan-
Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He and Hirsch have recently found evidence
that children and adults do not use the same parts of their brain when learning a second
language.

B The researchers used an instrument called a functional magnetic resonance imager to

study the brains of two groups of bilingual people. One group consisted of those who
had learned a second language as children. The other consisted of people who, like
Kim, learned their second language later in life. When placed inside the MRI scanner,
which allowed Kim and Hirsch to see which parts of the brain were getting more blood
and were thus more active, people from both groups were asked to think about what
they had done the day before, first in one language and then the other. They were not
allowed to speak out loud, because any movement would disrupt the scanning.

C Kim and Hirsch looked specifically at two language centers in the brain – Broca’s area
in the left frontal part, which is believed to manage speech production, and Wernicke’s
area, in the rear of the brain, thought to process the meaning of language. Both groups
of people, Kim and Hirsch found, used the same part of Wernicke’s area no matter
what language they were speaking. However, their use of Broca’s area differed.

D People who learned a second language as children used the same region in Broca’s area
for both languages. On the other hand, those who learned a second language later in
life made use of a distinct region in Broca’s area for their second language, a region
near the one activated for their native tongue.

E How does Hirsch explain this difference? “When language is being hardwired during
development,” says Hirsch, “the brain may intertwine sounds and structures from all
languages into the same area.” However, once the wiring is complete, the management
of a new language, with new sounds and structures, must be taken over by a different
part of the brain.

F A second possibility is simply that language is acquired differently as children than it

is as adults. “If you watch mothers or family members teaching an infant to speak,”
says Hirsch, “it’s very tactile, very auditory, it’s very visual. There are a lot of different
inputs. It’s very different from sitting in a high school class.”

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1. Kim and Hirsch __________.
a) have discovered that regardless of their age, people have great difficulty while
learning a second language
b) are working towards a master’s degree in neurology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center
c) have determined that children and adults use different parts of their brains when
learning a second language
2. Kim and Hirsch used two groups of bilinguals, those who learned a second language
at an early age and those who learned one later in life to compare __________.
a) the thought patterns that each group used when speaking
b) the structure of the brains of the two groups of bilinguals
c) their brain activity when thinking in the two languages
3. The researchers discovered that depending on when they learned their second
language, bilinguals differed in the way they __________.
a) managed speech production
b) used Wernicke’s area in their brain
c) processed the meaning of language
4. According to the findings, people who learn a second language at an older age
__________.
a) make use of the same region in Broca’s area for both their first and second
languages
b) use a separate region in Broca’s area for the management of the new language
c) begin to use their Wernicke’s area to process information in the second language
5. While explaining the difference between the two groups of bilinguals, Hirsch
touches upon all of the following except __________.
a) the way the brain functions while learning a new language
b) the methods families employ to teach young children how to speak
c) the fact that some sounds and structures may be difficult to produce
6. The writer’s aim in writing this text is to __________ the reader.
a) inform b) persuade c) entertain
7. The best title for this text would be __________.
a) The Functions of the Brain
b) The Bilingual Brain
c) The Language Learning Process

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Text 2.
A PONOI, Russia—I was sitting in the dark cabin of an Aeroflot helicopter 5,000 feet
over the barren tundra, flying 185 miles southeast from Murmansk to the Kola
Peninsula in the north- western corner of Russia. My fellow travelers and I were
crammed together on two benches that ran the length of both sides of the helicopter,
our mountain of baggage on the floor between us. I was here because my new
husband’s greatest joy in life is fishing, particularly salmon fishing, and he would like
to make me a fisherman, too. Thinking that I should try at least once to like it, I had
even attended the Wulff School of Fishing to learn how to use the fishing tackle (the
equipment used for fishing). Half the time, I could get the fishing rod into the water at
a point close to where I wanted it, but not at any great distance. I was still very short
on experience, though, when I journeyed above the Arctic Circle in June 1994 to fish
in what many claim is one of the world’s greatest salmon rivers. I later learned that in
the first six weeks of the 1994 season, more than 4,000 fish were caught and released.

B Many in our group were repeaters, eager to try the river again and again in different
seasons under different conditions. They talked of nothing but salmon, rods, and flies.
We were 18 men and 2 women ‒ myself and an Irish banker who later became the life
of the party. She was already an excellent angler, or fisherman ‒ a point my husband
wanted me to reach. During our six days, she caught two of the largest fish. Most of
the men were over 50 and notably wealthy ‒ fishing in the choice corners of the world
such as the Arctic costs a lot. Not content with fishing only during the day, they would
take advantage of June’s nearly constant daylight and the proximity of what was called
the “main pool” (actually, the only pool in the river accessible on foot) to fish all night,
too.

C Among the team was the Finnish chef, Mika Repo, who cooked imaginatively and well.
Salmon was the only local food, and its use was limited as the camp stuck religiously
to the catch-and-release philosophy; all but enough fish for supper were returned to the
river. There was a different salmon dish nightly, followed by heaping platters of meat,
potatoes, and vegetables, topped off with dessert.

D For the fishermen, the days quickly assumed a pattern. They went out in any weather,
well- insulated with multilayered clothing. The day’s fishing assignments would be
posted at 9 A.M., after an abundant breakfast. Without hesitation, the crowd arose and
gathered their rods and reels, backpacks, sweaters, cameras, and binoculars. A moment
later, there were cries of “good luck,” “get a big one today,” and my favorite, “tight
line,” repeated over and over until all had disappeared. I had never thought that I would
get used to going fishing every day and even find it fun.

E Along a 100-mile stretch of river, the camp had 15 fishing locations, all with different
characteristics so that the frustrations ‒ or joys ‒ encountered one day won’t be
repeated the next. Each locale had its own guide with his own approach to the river and
to fishing so that the fishermen could constantly learn new techniques and theories.
Under the poor conditions of our visit, we did not do badly. Among 20 rods, we caught

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 a total of 757 fish. The top rod caught 66 and the lowest (other than mine) 27. I came
in last with 5, each weighing about 5 pounds.

1. The writer took the fishing trip because ___________.

a) she needed hands-on experience to complete the fishing course
b) fishing in the Arctic Circle was her greatest joy in life
c) her new husband wanted her to share his favorite hobby
2. The tone of the writer in paragraph B is ______________.
a) critical
b) sarcastic
c) observant
3. According to paragraph C, meals served onboard were ___________.
a) inadequate as the fish that was caught was later released
b) rich despite the limited use of salmon and local food
c) supposed to be eaten after holding a religious ceremony
4. Paragraph D mostly describes __________.
a) everyone’s daily routine on the fishing trip
b) the writer’s critique of the others’ fishing craze
c) the words of encouragement used by the anglers
5. Which of the following is correct according to paragraph E?
a) They kept changing locations to avoid repeating the previous day’s
experiences.
b) They had one guide who knew all the different locations and fishing
techniques.
c) Due to the conditions of their trip, they could hardly learn new techniques
and theories.
Text 3.
A Did you know that graphite and diamond actually have the same chemical
composition? Most people are surprised to learn that both are pure carbon. Although
they are exactly the same in chemical composition, they are entirely different
substances. Diamond has a brilliant sparkling shine while graphite is black and dull.
Graphite is not the best conductor of electricity, but it conducts electricity to some
extent, whereas diamond does not do this at all. They also differ completely in texture.
Diamond is the hardest natural substance on Earth while graphite is one of the softest
minerals. The difference in texture is mainly due to the way the carbon atoms stick to
each other. In graphite, carbon atoms weakly bind with each other. In diamond,
however, they are bound very strongly. This is why diamond is so hard. Finally,
graphite is found everywhere while diamond is very rare.

B Where and how does diamond form? The formation of diamond requires very high
temperatures and pressures. Such high temperatures and pressures can only be found

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 400 kilometers deep down underground. It is impossible for man to dig so deep below
the surface. Thanks to volcanic eruptions, diamonds are made available to us. That’s
why the most productive diamond mines are those near extinct volcanoes. However,
diamond can also be found in rivers. This diamond is carried by erosion. Such sources
are plentiful in the Congo region.

C What are the main characteristics of diamond? Most diamond crystals are eight-sided,
but sometimes they exist in cubes. Even though diamond is the hardest substance, a
blow of a sharp-edged tool will split it. This property is used when making jewelry. To
give diamond a form, it is cut. There are various cuts for diamonds, which vary in
shape. These shapes have different names such as: the Brilliant, the Marquise, or the
Emerald. Each of these has fifty-eight cut sides.

D What makes some diamonds more valuable than others? The value of the diamond
depends on four things: its color, its clarity, its cut, and its carat. Although there are
diamonds that are yellow, blue, orange pink and green, the most valuable ones are
either colorless or blue. A diamond has to be crystal clear and also be cut carefully to
reflect light. And finally, the larger the diamond, the more valuable it is. That is, the
higher the carat, the more precious the diamond. Carat is a measurement that depends
on the weight of the diamond. The world’s largest diamond, which was found in 1905
in South Africa, is known as the ‘Star of Africa,’ with a weight of 621.35 grams at
3,106.75 carats.

E Natural diamonds are very rare, but scientists have discovered ways to produce
artificial diamonds of every size. To do this, diamond dust and carbon are processed in
high-pressure reaction cells. The reason for producing artificial diamonds is that they
have a variety of uses in the industry. For example, they are placed on tips of drilling
machines that are used to dig in the soil through hard layers of rock. This is important
especially for engineers who drill for petroleum.

1. The main idea of paragraph A is that ___________.

a) the chemical compositions of diamond and graphite are exactly the same
b) carbon atoms bind very strongly in diamond, while in graphite, they don’t
c) diamond and graphite are different substances with a similar composition
2. Which of the following is not a property of diamond?
a) It is a good conductor.
b) It is a very hard substance.
c) It may have various colors.
3. The diamond that exists in the Congo region ___________.
a) is extracted by a 400-kilometer digging process
b) has been brought there by erosion
c) is obtained from mines

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 4. Diamonds bear different names such as the “Marquise” according to their ___________.
a) size b) carat c) shape
5. A diamond that doesn’t reflect light ___________.
a) has not been cut carefully
b) lacks fifty-eight cut sides
c) is not as hard as it should be
6. The formation of natural diamond and the production of artificial diamond are similar in
that ___________.
a) they take a very long time
b) they need high pressure
c) they need high temperatures

Text 4.

Sneezing and sniffling? Perhaps the problem isn’t a cold but mould. It’s more dangerous
than you think.
A Deena Karabell had lived in her New York City apartment for 15 years, so when she
fell ill in 1983, she never suspected that her apartment itself could be to blame. Over
the next 15 years, she grew progressively weaker. Finally, in the spring of 1998, she
lost 16 kilos and went into anaphylactic shock three times. She literally lay dying in
her bedroom when a hired nurse noticed a strong smell of mould in the closet.
Suddenly, things became clear. Karabell’s family moved her out immediately. Today
‒ at a safe distance from the mould ‒ she is almost back to normal. “People are amazed
at my recovery,” she says.

B Moulds have been an underrecognized health problem, but the situation is changing.
Health-care professionals now know that moulds can cause allergies, trigger asthma
attacks, and increase susceptibility to colds and flu. Anyone with a genetic inclination
can become allergic if they’re exposed to high enough levels repeatedly. Last year, Dr.
David Sherris at the Mayo Clinic performed a study on 210 patients with chronic sinus
infections and found that most had allergic fungal sinusitis. “The common medical
opinion was that mould accounted for 6 to 7 percent of all chronic sinusitis,” says
Sherris. “However, we found that it was 93 percent ‒ the exact reverse.”

C More rarely, moulds appear to cause problems like Karabell’s. This young woman was
clearly a victim of what was thought to be an allergy; yet such problems aren’t just
allergies, but reactions to toxins. Certain moulds produce poisons in order to kill fungi
and bacteria. Risks of toxicity increase with the amount of mould ‒ and flooding and
leaks can supply the moisture that moulds need to thrive.

D If you believe you have a mould-related illness, you should immediately consult an
allergist or an environmental-health specialist. If you can see or smell mould in your
house, that’s a good clue. This will at least help the specialist confirm the diagnosis
and proceed accordingly. The best remedy of all is simply to get rid of the mouldy areas

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 on the wall. The small grey spots on the surface of a damp wall can be removed with
a weak solution of chlorine bleach. Wear rubber gloves, open the windows for
ventilation and throw out the sponge afterwards. A face mask could also be a good
idea. “Dead or alive, mould still contains the proteins that provoke allergies,” says J.
David Miller, a mould specialist at Carleton University in Canada.

E If your home has more extensive water damage, seek professional help. You may need
to fix leaks, replace mouldy walls and improve ventilation. “Beware of humidifiers in
forced-air heating systems. Moulds build up there as nobody thinks that they should be
cleaned regularly,” says Jack Spengler of Harvard University. For people who wish to
get more information on this issue, there are guidelines at several websites on the
Internet.

1. According to paragraph A, when Deena Karabell’s health worsened in 1998,

_______________.
a) her family took her immediately to the hospital
b) the hired nurse noticed how much weaker she grew
c) it was her apartment that was responsible for her illness
2. Which of the following is true according to paragraph B?
a) People can catch a cold or flu more easily if they are exposed to moulds.
b) Asthma attacks in people with flu are mainly caused by exposure to moulds.
c) Moulds generally cause people to develop a genetic tendency to have allergies.
3. Dr. Sherris’ study at Mayo Clinic revealed that _______________.
a) 6 to 7 percent of the patients with chronic sinus infections had allergic fungal sinusitis
b) a small minority of the 210 patients who had allergic sinusitis developed infections
c) the role of moulds in allergic sinusitis turned out to be much stronger than expected
4. According to paragraph C, _______________.
a) Karabell’s case was more prevalent among young women with sinusitis than thought
b) fungi and bacteria can produce toxins which might cause mould to form
c) moulds are very likely to spread in environments with high levels of moist
5. According to paragraph D, if one thinks his illness could be related to mould, _____________.
a) s/he should wear rubber gloves and a face mask to avoid direct contact with moulds
b) s/he’s recommended to have the diagnosis confirmed by a specialist
c) the best remedy is to avoid consuming proteins which provoke allergies
6. Paragraph E mostly displays _______________.
a) a cause-effect relationship
b) a problem-solution model
c) a description

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Text 5.
A The killer sea waves known as tsunamis are so quiet in their approach from afar and so
seemingly harmless that until recently, their history has been one of surprise attack.

B Out in the middle of the ocean, the distance between tsunami wave crests can be 100
miles and the height of the waves no more than three feet: Mariners can ride one and
suspect nothing. At the shoreline, the first sign is often an ebbing of the waters that
leaves fish stranded and slapping on the bottom. However, this is not a retreat but rather
a gathering of forces. When the great waves finally do strike, they rear up and batter
harbor and coast, inflicting death and damage.

C These seismic sea waves ‒ or tidal waves, as they are sometimes called ‒ bear no
relation to the moon or tides, and the “tsunami,” Japanese for “harbor wave,” relates to
their destination rather than their origin. The causes are various: undersea or coastal
earthquakes, deep ocean avalanches or volcanoes. Whatever the cause, the wave
motion starts with a sudden jolt like a whack from a giant paddle that displaces the
water, and the greater the undersea whack, the greater the tsunami’s devastating power.

D In 1883, Krakatoa Volcano in the East Indies erupted, and the entire island collapsed
in 820 feet of water. A tsunami of tremendous force ricocheted around Java and
Sumatra, killing 36,000 people with walls of water that reached 115 feet in height.

E In 1946, a tsunami struck first near Alaska and then, without warning, hit the Hawaiian
Islands, killing 159 people and inflicting millions of dollars of damage. This led to the
creation of the Tsunami Warning System, whose nerve center in Honolulu keeps a
constant watch with the aid of new technology. If the seismic sea waves are confirmed
by the Honolulu center, warnings are transmitted within a few hours to all threatened
Pacific points. While tsunami damage remains unavoidable, lives lost today are more
likely to be in the tens than in the thousands. Tsunamis have been deprived of their
most deadly sting ‒ surprise.

1. The author’s main point in this passage is that _________.

a) seismic sea waves today are better predicted than in the past
b) it is possible to avoid the damage caused by killer sea waves
c) we need better equipment to track the movements of tsunamis
2. According to the passage, seismic sea waves _________.
a) are named “tsunami” for the origin of the wave in the harbor
b) are called tidal waves because of their relation to the moon
c) originate far from the place where they strike
3. In paragraph C, why does the author mention “a giant paddle”?
a) To make a comparison b) To draw a conclusion c) To give a definition

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 4. According to the passage, which one of the following is NOT among the possible causes
of seismic sea waves?
a) earthquakes near a coastline b) tides c) volcanoes
5. The tone of this article can best be described as _________.
a) informative b) exaggerated c) depressing
6. According to the passage, the Tsunami Warning System was created because of the
_________.
a) availability of new technology
b) occurrence of the 1946 tsunami
c) loss of millions of lives

Text 6.
A Almost everyone has at least one. Most people have several, but definitions of ‘friend’
vary from person to person. For some, a friend is someone who plays cards with you
every Friday night. For others, a friend is someone who has known you all your life;
someone whose family knows you, too. Others reserve the term for someone who
knows your innermost secrets. What one person defines as a friend, another calls an
acquaintance, and vice versa.

B If definitions of friendship can vary so much within a single culture, imagine the
differences between cultures. However, interestingly, there have been very few cross-
cultural studies on the topic. Writing in 1970, anthropologist Margaret Mead compared
notions of friendship in the United States, France, Germany, and Great Britain. She
says: “For the French, friendship is a one-to-one relationship that demands a keen
awareness of the other person’s intellect, temperament, and particular interests. A
friend is someone who draws out your own best qualities... Your political philosophy
assumes more depth, appreciation of a play becomes sharper, taste in food is
accentuated... enjoyment of a sport is intensified.”

C In contrast to the French, says Mead, friendship in Germany has more to do with
feelings. Young Germans form bonds early and usually incorporate their friends into
their family life. According to Mead, between French friends, who have chosen each
other because their points of view are congenial, lively disagreement and sharpness of
argument are the breath of life. However, for Germans, whose friendships are based on
mutuality of feeling, deep disagreement on any subject that matters to both is regarded
as a tragedy. As a result of their expectations of friendship, young Germans who come
to the United States often have difficulty making friends with Americans, “who view
friendship more tentatively...,” reports Mead. These friendships are “subject to changes
in intensity as people move, change their jobs, marry, or discover new interests.”

D The British follow another pattern. According to Mead, the basis for friendship among
the British is shared activity. Unlike German relationships, British friendships usually
remain outside the family. Mead compares this type of friendship to a dance whose
partners must stay in step with each other. Americans who have made English friends

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 comment that, even years later, “you can take up just where you left off.” Seeing each
other after a long time, friends are like a couple who begin to dance again when the
orchestra strikes up after a pause.

E Studies of American friendships indicate that, like the French and British, people in the
United States often form friendships around interests although there might be some
disagreements. They have friends who enjoy sports, friends who go shopping with
them, and friends who share a hobby. However, like the Germans, they also form long-
lasting friendships which are based on feelings rather than simply focusing on common
interests. In fact, the variety of relationships that Americans call friendships can
confuse people from other cultures, especially when Americans say things like, “I just
made a new friend yesterday.” However, the term does not seem to confuse Americans,
who know very well the difference between friends and acquaintances. According to a
1970 survey in a US magazine, Psychology Today, those who answered the survey
“found it easy to distinguish between close and casual friends and reported they have
more close friends than casual ones.”

F Although different people and cultures emphasize different aspects of friendship, there
is one element which is always present, and that is the element of choice. We may not
be able to select our families, our co-workers, or even the people that ride the bus with
us, but we can pick our friends. As Mead puts it, “A friend is someone who chooses
and is chosen.” It is exactly this freedom of choice, without the legal ties of marriage,
which makes friendship such a special and unique relationship.

1. According to paragraphs A and B, the definition of a friend _______________.

a) has been studied extensively at a cross-cultural level
b) may be perceived differently by each individual
c) is better provided by French people than the British
2. By looking at paragraph B, it can be said that the French _______________.
a) base their friendship on each other’s political philosophies
b) have a good knowledge of their friends’ abilities and interests
c) believe that friendships should be based on feelings
3. Paragraph C mostly displays ______________.
a) a comparison and contrast model
b) an offering of a solution to a problem
c) a cause and effect relationship
4. The English _______________.
a) form bonds not only with their friends but also with their friends’ families
b) believe that friends should bring out the best qualities in each other
c) remain good friends despite not seeing each other very often

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 5. Paragraphs D and E suggest that Americans believe that _______________.
a) they often tend to have fewer casual friends
b) they can make good friends with Germans
c) disagreements are vital in friendships
6. We can understand from paragraph E that Germans _______________.
a) give more importance to emotions in friendships
b) generally make friends on a temporary basis
c) base their friendships on shared interests and hobbies
7. The main idea in paragraph F is that ___________.
a) people in various cultures view friendship from distinct perspectives
b) marriage is also a form of friendship because it has legal ties between people
c) friendship is a matter of choice, and therefore, it is special in its own way

Text 7.
A With its past bans on long hair and chewing gum, Singapore has earned a reputation
for unsubtle attempts at social engineering. At first glance, the campaign launched by
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in his National Day Rally speech, urging Singaporeans
to “go forth and reproduce,” may seem another Big Brother exercise. The government
plans to spend large sums of tax money so as to persuade Singaporeans to reproduce
more. The campaign has already aroused negative reactions at home as well as abroad.

B In fact, Singapore may be leading the developed world to a more realistic view of the
relationship between economics and demography. The fertility rate, the number of
children born per woman of reproductive age, has declined 35% in Singapore since
1970. The government’s new financial encouragements for paid maternity leave for
third children and state-funded child care centers may be just the beginning.
Eventually, we may see large tax and pension penalties for those who, voluntarily, do
not reproduce. And why not? This is not a question of forcing people to have or ‒ as in
the case of China’s dangerous one-child policy ‒ not to have children. The question is
whether to create a link between costs and benefits for society as a whole. All that
economics is concerned about is making choices among scarce resources. Children are
a short-term cost and a long-term benefit.

C In most of the world over the past century, people have been in abundance. Now, they
are increasingly scarce in most wealthy societies. Despite Asian “family values,” Hong
Kong and Singapore’s fertility rates are among the lowest in the world, similar to
Italy’s, which are at the bottom of the West European fertility league. The average
woman in Singapore has only 1.5 children, compared with the 2.1 needed to achieve a
stable level of population. Taiwan and South Korea, too, are close to the European
norm. Japan already has one of the world’s oldest populations.

D Despite the wonders of technology, there is no escaping that people are ‒ or should be
‒ the most important factor of production. That is even more the case in advanced
societies than in developing ones. However much money we save today, our standard

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 of living in retirement will primarily be determined by the productivity of our
individual national economies. That is directly related to the availability of the human
factor of production. If you deliberately do not bear ‒ and invest in ‒ offspring, who
will create wealth when you are past working age, you should not expect the same
pension or health care in old age as those who do. Liberal immigration policies could
help change the situation, but most Asian nations would find it difficult, at least
politically, to absorb large numbers from other cultures.

E It seems that pro-population increase policies are now as needed in some countries as
birth control is in others. Yet, self-styled “liberals,” who were once at the forefront of
family-planning campaigns, now suggest that government measures to raise birth rates
are an attack on individual liberty. Later retirement is a partial answer to the problems
of aging populations and increased longevity. Immigration is a partial answer to low
birthrates. However, given their responsibilities for ensuring minimum standards of
health and welfare, and for creating conditions for economic stability, governments do
have reason to ensure that there is some link between able-bodied people’s input and
output. The issue is not just one of having children who, one hopes, will take some
responsibility for their parents’ care in old age. The essential point is that governments
should have policies on demography, as they do on education, considering the long-
term needs of their society and nation. Let us hope that Singapore’s petty-minded
approach to chewing gum does not prevent others from seeing the wisdom of this new
campaign to have more children.

1. According to paragraph A, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong ___________.

a) made a speech suggesting that Singaporeans pay higher taxes
b) is trying to encourage Singaporeans to have more children
c) launched a campaign against the Big Brother exercises in Singapore
2. Paragraph B mainly ___________.
a) supports the new policy introduced by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong
b) disputes the idea of trying to increase the fertility rates in Singapore
c) criticizes the primary points of the speech given by the prime minister
3. Paragraph C introduces fertility rates from different countries in order to
____________.
a) emphasize the worldwide tendency towards a decline in population
b) show that the average Singaporean woman should have 2.1 children
c) indicate the difference between Asian and European countries
4. In relation to paragraphs B and C, the function of paragraph D is to ___________.
a) shift the focus of the text to the role of advanced technology in economic
development
b) provide support for the argument that economic development depends on
humans
c) draw attention to the liberal immigration policies which can prove useful in
Asian economics

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 5. Liberal immigration policies ___________.
a) might provide Asian nations with younger generations to increase the
productivity rate
b) would be the wrong choice for Asian nations as large numbers would affect
their cultures
c) have been adopted in Asia to enhance the productivity of individual national
economies
6. The writer would most probably agree with the idea that ___________.
a) it is the child’s responsibility rather than the government’s to see to the well-
being of his/her aging parents in their retirement
b) Singapore’s policy regarding birth rates is not an attack on individual
liberties, but a wise solution to the future of the nation
c) imposing family-planning methods to increase or decrease birth rates is
obviously an assault on human rights
7. A petty-minded approach in paragraph E refers to an approach where
___________.
a) great importance is attached to serious issues such as the country’s economic
policies and the society’s moral values
b) unusual life styles and habits which others might disapprove of are most
often tolerated by a country’s government
c) unimportant and small matters cause annoyance and offence, which shows a
limited and often selfish mind

Text 8.

A Ten years ago, rich countries dominated the world economy, accounting for around
two-thirds of global gross domestic product (GDP). Since then, that share has fallen to
just over half. In another decade, it could be down to 40%. The majority of global
economic output will be produced in the emerging world. The pace of this major
change shows these countries’ success. Thanks to globalization and good policies,
virtually all developing countries are catching up with their richer peers. Between 2002
and 2008, more than 85% of developing economies grew faster than America’s,
compared with less than a third between 1960 and 2000. This “rise of the rest” is a
remarkable achievement, which has brought with it an extraordinary improvement in
living standards for the majority of people on the planet. However, there is another,
less happy explanation for the rapid shift in the global center of economy: the lack of
growth in the big rich economies of America, Western Europe, and Japan.
B The next few years could later be remembered as much for the inactivity of the West
as for the emergence of the rest, for three main reasons. The first is the severe degree
of the recession of 2008-09 and the weakness of the recovery that followed. For the
advanced economies as a whole, the crash that followed the global financial crisis was
by far the deepest since the 1930s. It has left behind an unprecedented level of

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 unemployed workers and underused factories. Although the economy stopped going
backward in most countries in 2010, the recovery is turning out to be too weak to put
that idle, or unused, capacity back to work quickly.
C The second reason to worry about idleness has to do with slowing supply. The level of
demand for goods and services determines whether economies run above or below their
“trend” rate of growth. However, that trend rate itself depends on the supply of workers
and their productivity. Across the rich world, the supply of workers is about to shrink
as the number of retired people rises. In Western Europe, the change will be especially
conspicuous. Over the coming decade, the region’s working-age population, which
until now has been rising slowly, will shrink by some 0.3% a year. In Japan, the pace
of decline will more than double, to around 0.7% a year. America’s situation is far
more favorable, but the growth in its working-age population will be less than a third
of the post-war average in the next 20 years.
D The third reason to worry about the rich world’s stagnation is that the effects of the
financial crisis and the weakness of the recovery could themselves damage economies’
high potential. Long periods of high unemployment tend to reduce the pool of potential
workers rather than increase it. The unemployed lose their skills, and demoralized
workers drop out of the workforce. Optimists point to America’s experience over the
past century as evidence that recessions, even severe ones, need not do permanent
damage. After every crisis, the US economy eventually bounced back. Despite a lack
of demand, America’s productivity grew faster in the 1930s than in any other decade
of the 20th century. Today’s high unemployment may also be preparing the ground for
more efficient production processes. Most other economists, however, think that rich
economies’ capacity has already experienced some damage.
E The longer that demand remains weak, the greater the damage is likely to be. Japan’s
experience over the past 20 years holds a lesson in it, especially for fast-ageing
European economies. The country’s financial disaster in the early 1990s contributed to
a fall in workers’ productivity improvements. Soon afterwards, the working-age
population began to decrease. The result was a persistent combination of weak demand
and shrinking supply. To avoid Japan’s fate, rich countries need to foster growth in two
ways: by supporting both short-term demand and long-term supply. Unfortunately,
today’s policymakers often see these two strategies as alternatives rather than parts of
the whole.

141
1. It is clear from paragraph A that _____.
a) the contribution of poor countries to global GDP is expected to plunge
b) the GDP of the United States could fall to 40% in the next ten years
c) the share of rich countries in global GDP has been on the decrease
2. According to paragraph B, the recession of 2008-09 was a period that ____.
a) caused production to stop decreasing in many countries
b) resulted in the worst decline in developed economies since the 1930s
c) featured a high unemployment rate that gradually started to fall
3. It can be understood from paragraph C that ____.
a) the working population of Europe is expected to rise in the coming decades
b) the supply of workers increases with the rising number of retired people
c) the population increasingly consists of old people in rich countries
4. It is clear from paragraph D that ____.
a) unskilled workers are no longer accepted into the workforce in developed
countries
b) the damage that rich countries have recently suffered is gradually being overcome
c) some economists believe the US will emerge from the latest crisis with a success
5. Which of the following is true according to paragraph E?
a) Japan’s model of recovery from recession can be fully applied in Western
countries.
b) Promoting short-term demand and long-term supply separately would be a
mistake.
c) A prolonged period of weak demand could lead to a shrinking population of
workers.

142
SEARCH READING

143
Search Reading 1

Fill in the blanks with information extracted from the text. Keep your answer as short as possible.

1. At the Potsdam Conference at the end of World War II, it was decided that Germany, along
with its capital Berlin, would be _________________________________________ zones
and separately occupied by the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.
2. From the late 1950s to the early 1960s, about three million East Germans, who felt
suppressed by the unlivable conditions, were able to leave East Germany thanks to
_________________________________________.
3. Although the East German government claimed that East Germans welcomed the Wall,
they couldn’t express their true feelings due to __________________________
__________________.
4. Between 1961 and 1980, the Berlin Wall was transformed four times, starting out as a
barbed-wire fence with concrete posts. In the final version, the wall’s
_________________________________________ reached a height of 12 feet and a width
of 4 feet.
5. Checkpoint Charlie attracts moviemakers and authors who are creating work related to this
time period as it was the most famous checkpoint and became ______________
___________________________ after the construction of the Berlin Wall.
6. With the Shiessbefehl order in 1960, East German soldiers were commanded to shoot
anyone trying to escape through the Todeslinie as well as those who tried to get closer to
_________________________________________ without warning.
7. New exodus points for East Germans were opened after communism started to weaken,
and revolutions against the Soviet Union rose in countries such as
_________________________________________.
8. Although it preceded by one year _________________________________________, the
reunification of Germany is thought to be what marked the end of Cold War.

144
 THE 28-YEAR HISTORY OF THE BERLIN WALL
Erected in the dead of night on August 13, 1961, the Berlin Wall, known as Berliner Mauer in
German, was a physical division between West Germany and East Germany. Its purpose was to
keep disaffected East Germans from fleeing to the West.
When the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989, its destruction was nearly as instantaneous as its
creation. For 28 years, the Berlin Wall had been a symbol of the Cold War and the Iron
Curtain between Soviet-led Communism and the democracies of the West.
A Divided Germany and Berlin
At the end of World War II, the Allied powers divided conquered Germany into four zones. As
agreed at the Potsdam Conference, each was occupied by either the United States, Great Britain,
France, or the Soviet Union. The same was done with Germany’s capital city, Berlin.
The relationship between the Soviet Union and the other three Allied powers quickly disintegrated.
As a result, the cooperative atmosphere of the occupation of Germany turned competitive and
aggressive. One of the best-known incidents was the Berlin Blockade in June of 1948, during
which the Soviet Union stopped all supplies from reaching West Berlin by land.
Although an eventual reunification of Germany had been intended, the new relationship between
the Allied powers turned Germany into West versus East, and democracy versus Communism.
In 1949, Germany became officially independent when the three zones occupied by the United
States, Great Britain, and France combined to form West Germany (the Federal Republic of
Germany, or FRG).
The zone occupied by the Soviet Union quickly followed by forming East Germany (the German
Democratic Republic, or GDR).
This same division into West and East occurred in Berlin. Since the city of Berlin had been situated
entirely within the Soviet Zone of Occupation, West Berlin became an island of democracy within
Communist East Germany.
The Economic Differences
Within a short period of time after the war, living conditions in West Germany and East Germany
became distinctly different.
With the help and support of its occupying powers, West Germany set up a capitalist democracy.
The economy experienced such rapid growth that it became known as the “economic miracle.”
With hard work, individuals living in West Germany were able to live well, buy gadgets and
appliances, and travel as they wished.
Nearly the opposite was true in East Germany. The Soviet Union had viewed its zone as a spoil of
war. They had stolen factory equipment and other valuable assets from that zone and shipped them
back to the Soviet Union. When East Germany became its own country in 1949, it was under the
direct influence of the Soviet Union, and a Communist society was established. The economy of
East Germany dragged, and individual freedoms were severely restricted.
Mass Emigration from the East
Outside of Berlin, East Germany had become sealed off from the West in 1952. By the late 1950s,
no longer able to stand the repressive living conditions, many people living in East Germany would

145
head to West Berlin. Although some of them would be stopped on their way, hundreds of thousands
made it across the border.
Between 1949 and 1961, it is estimated that nearly 2.7 million people fled East Germany. The
government was desperate to stop this mass exodus. The obvious leak was the easy access to West
Berlin.
Once across, these refugees were housed in warehouses and then flown to West Germany. Many
of those who escaped were young, trained professionals. By the early 1960s, East Germany was
rapidly losing both its labor force and its population.
With the support of the Soviet Union, there had been several attempts to simply take over West
Berlin. Although the Soviet Union even threatened the United States with the use of nuclear
weapons over this issue, the United States and other Western countries were committed to
defending West Berlin.
Desperate to keep its citizens, East Germany knew that something needed to be done. Famously,
two months before the Berlin Wall appeared, Walter Ulbricht, Head of the State Council of the
GDR (1960-1973) said, “Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten.” These iconic words
mean, “No one intended to build a wall.” After this statement, the emigration of East Germans
only increased. Over those next two months of 1961, nearly 20,000 people fled to the West.
The Berlin Wall Goes Up
Rumors had spread that something might happen to tighten the border of East and West Berlin.
No one was expecting the speed ‒ nor the absoluteness ‒ of the Berlin Wall.
Just past midnight on the night of August 12-13, 1961, trucks with soldiers and construction
workers rumbled through East Berlin. While most Berliners were sleeping, these crews began
tearing up streets that entered into West Berlin. They dug holes to put up concrete posts and strung
barbed wire all across the border between East and West Berlin. Telephone wires between East
and West Berlin were also cut, and railroad lines were blocked.
Berliners were shocked when they woke up that morning. What had once been a very fluid border
was now rigid. No longer could East Berliners cross the border for operas, plays, soccer games, or
any other activity, nor could they commute to West Berlin for well-paying jobs. No longer could
families, friends, and lovers cross the border to meet their loved ones. The wall divided friends,
families and loved ones, causing people on both sides to lose their livelihoods if trapped on the
wrong side. Whichever side of the border one went to sleep on during the night of August 12, he
was stuck on that side for decades.
Over the years, propaganda from the East German government would say that the people of East
Germany welcomed the Wall. In reality, the oppression they suffered and the potential
consequences they faced kept many from speaking out to the contrary.
The Size and Scope of the Berlin Wall
The total length of the Berlin Wall was 91 miles (155 kilometers). It ran not only through the center
of Berlin, but also wrapped around West Berlin, entirely cutting it off from the rest of East
Germany.
The wall itself went through four major transformations during its 28-year history. It started out
as a barbed-wire fence with concrete posts. Just days later, on August 15, it was quickly replaced

146
with a sturdier, more permanent structure. This one was made out of concrete blocks and topped
with barbed wire.
The first two versions of the wall were replaced by the third version in 1965. This consisted of a
concrete wall supported by steel girders.
The fourth version of the Berlin Wall, constructed from 1975 to 1980, was the most complicated
and thorough. It consisted of concrete slabs reaching nearly 12 feet high (3.6 meters) and four feet
wide (1.2 meters). It also had a smooth pipe running across the top to prevent people from climbing
over it.
By the time the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, there was a 300-foot No Man’s Land and an additional
inner wall. Soldiers patrolled with dogs and a raked ground showed footprints. The East Germans
also installed anti-vehicle trenches, electric fences, massive light systems, 302 watchtowers, 20
bunkers, and even minefields.
The Checkpoints of the Wall
Most of the border between East and West consisted of layers of preventative measures, with little
more than a handful of official openings along the Berlin Wall. These checkpoints were for the
infrequent use of officials and others with special permission to cross the border.
The most famous of these was Checkpoint Charlie, located on the border between East and West
Berlin at Friedrichstrasse. Checkpoint Charlie was the main access point for Allied personnel and
Westerners to cross the border. Soon after the Berlin Wall was built, Checkpoint Charlie became
an icon of the Cold War. It has frequently been featured in movies and books set during this time
period.
Escape Attempts and the Death Line
The Berlin Wall did prevent the majority of East Germans from emigrating to the West, but it did
not deter everyone. During the history of the Berlin Wall, it is estimated that about 5,000 people
made it safely across.
Some early successful attempts were simple, like throwing a rope over the Berlin Wall and
climbing up. Others were brash, like ramming a truck or bus into the Berlin Wall and making a
run for it. Still, others were suicidal as some people jumped from the upper-story windows of
apartment buildings that bordered the Berlin Wall.
In September 1961, the windows of these buildings were boarded up and the sewers connecting
East and West were shut off. Other buildings were torn down to clear space for what would become
known as the Todeslinie, the “Death Line” or “Death Strip.” This open area allowed a direct line
of fire, so East German soldiers could carry out Shiessbefehl, a 1960 order that demanded shooting
if anyone tried to escape through it. Twenty-nine people were killed within the first year.
As the Berlin Wall became stronger and larger, the escape attempts became more elaborately
planned. Some people dug tunnels from the basements of buildings in East Berlin, under the Berlin
Wall, and into West Berlin. Another group saved scraps of cloth and built a hot air balloon and
flew over the Wall.
Unfortunately, not all escape attempts were successful. Since the East German guards were
allowed to shoot anyone nearing the eastern side without warning, there was always a chance of

147
death in any and all escape plots. It is estimated that somewhere between 192 and 239 people
died at the Berlin Wall.
The 50th Victim of the Berlin Wall
One of the most infamous cases of a failed attempt occurred on August 17, 1962. In the early
afternoon, two 18-year-old men ran toward the Wall with the intention of scaling it. The first of
the young men to reach it was successful. The second one, Peter Fechter, was not.
As he was about to scale the Wall, a border guard opened fire. Fechter continued to climb but ran
out of energy just as he reached the top. He then tumbled back onto the East German side. To the
shock of the world, Fechter was just left there. The East German guards did not shoot him again
nor did they go to his aid.
Fechter shouted in agony for nearly an hour. Once he had bled to death, East German guards
carried off his body. He became the 50th person to die at the Berlin Wall and a permanent symbol
of the struggle for freedom.
Dismantling of Communism
The fall of the Berlin Wall happened nearly as suddenly as its rise. There had been signs that the
Communist bloc was weakening, but the East German Communist leaders insisted that East
Germany just needed a moderate change rather than a drastic revolution. East German citizens
succumbing to the lure of the Western city or the rest of democratic Europe did not agree. The
proximity of West Berlin, offering the prosperity and freedom that the East lacked, was a constant
bane to the GDR’s leadership.
Communism began to falter in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia in 1988 and 1989. As
revolutions against the Soviet Union rose through the 1980s, Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev
(1985-1991) was attempting to save his country and decided to move away from close
relationships with many of its satellites. Meanwhile, people in the GDR started to demand greater
personal and political freedoms, as well as that of movement, and protesters insisted they be
allowed into the West. Hungary and then Czechoslovakia opened their borders to East Germany,
so new exodus points were opened to East Germans who wanted to flee to the West. Defectors
began to drain from the country, and the Government found it increasingly difficult to refuse the
calls to open legal crossings.
In East Germany, protests against the government were countered by threats of violence from its
leader, Erich Honecker. In October 1989, Honecker was forced to resign after losing support from
Gorbachev. He was replaced by Egon Krenz, who decided that violence was not going to solve the
country’s problems. Krenz also loosened travel restrictions from East Germany.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
November 9, 1989 is considered to be the date the wall “fell,” but the structure was not completely
taken down that night.
When the border was eventually opened, it was almost by accident. East Berlin’s Communist Party
spokesman, Günter Schabowski, announced that East Germans would “immediately” be allowed
to travel directly to West Germany on November 9 in a broadcast that was seen across the country
at 7 pm.

148
When the GDR attempted to backtrack later that evening, calling on citizens to queue at the
migration office the next day, it was too late, and thousands of East Germans, who were in shock,
were already on their way to the barricades.
Were the borders really open? East Germans tentatively approached the border and indeed found
that the border guards were letting people cross.
Very quickly, the Berlin Wall was inundated with people from both sides. Some began chipping
at the Berlin Wall with hammers and chisels. There was an impromptu and massive celebration
along the Berlin Wall, with people hugging, kissing, singing, cheering, and crying.
More than two million people from East Berlin visited West Berlin that weekend to participate in
a celebration that was, one journalist wrote, “the greatest street party in the history of the world.”
People used hammers and picks to knock away chunks of the wall ‒they became known as
“mauerspechte,” or “wall woodpeckers,”‒ while cranes and bulldozers pulled down section after
section. Soon the wall was gone, and Berlin was united for the first time since 1945. “Only today,”
one Berliner spray-painted on a piece of the wall, “is the war really over.”
The Berlin Wall was eventually chipped away into smaller pieces (some the size of a coin and
others in big slabs). The pieces have become collectibles and are stored in both homes and
museums. There is also now a Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse.
Reunification of East and West Germany
After the Berlin Wall came down, talks between East and West German officials, joined by
officials from the United States, Great Britain, France, and the USSR, started, and the two
reunified into a single German state on October 3, 1990. Two months following reunification, all-
German elections took place, and Helmut Kohl became the first chancellor of the reunified
Germany. Although this action came more than a year before the dissolution of the Soviet Union,
for many observers, the reunification of Germany effectively marked the end of the Cold War.

149
Search Reading 2

Fill in the blanks with information extracted from the text. Keep your answer as short as possible.

1. The main energy centers that align the spine and are connected to main organs or glands are
called chakras, a word that is derived from a/an ____________________________
_____________, meaning wheel or disk.
2. Prana, provided by the chakras, helps people to stay/be ________________________
_________________.
3. Chakras and a house’s electricity power are similar in that both receive their power from an
outside source. However, while the house receives its electrical power from a central power
source in the city, chakras are recharged for free thanks to _____________________
____________________ in the atmosphere.
4. People feel stable and safe when their root chakra is balanced; however, if it is blocked, there
may be symptoms such as _________________________________________.
5. _________________________________________ are a result of a blocked second chakra.
People may also experience emotional problems and sexual guilt in this case.
6. In order to achieve balance in both the third chakra and the fourth chakra, we need to show
_________________________________________, but in the former, to the others, while to
ourselves in the latter.
7. The chakra that controls such body parts as _______________________________________
is the fifth chakra, Vishuddha.
8. Because many of us have a closed Third Eye, we lack the spiritual experiences and physically
suffer from such problems as _________________________________________.

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 CHAKRAS

What is a chakra?

Throughout our body, we have main energy centers, which are connected to major organs or glands
that govern other body parts. Each of these main energy centers is referred to as a chakra. Chakra
is an old Sanskrit word that literally translates to wheel or disk. In yoga
and traditional South Asian medicine, this term refers to wheels of energy throughout the body.
The chakras align the spine, starting from the base of the spine through to the crown of the head.
To visualize a chakra in the body, you can imagine a swirling wheel of energy where matter and
consciousness meet. This invisible energy, called Prana, is the vital life force, which keeps us
vibrant, healthy, and alive.

Chakras, or whirling energy centers, are very important parts of the energy body. It is said that
there are a hundred chakras in total, which are the key to the operation of our being. Just as the
visible physical body has vital and minor organs, the energy body has major, minor, and mini
chakras. It is believed that we have seven main chakra centers and that each main center is
connected to our being on several different levels: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. They
control and energize the major and vital organs of the visible physical body. Each chakra governs
a main organ or gland, which is then connected to other body parts that resonate with the same
frequency. They are just like power stations that supply life energy, or prana, to different organs.
When the power stations malfunction, the corresponding vital organs become sick or diseased
because they do not have enough life energy to operate properly. Not only are they associated with
our physical health, but they each control aspects connected to our emotional, mental, and belief
systems, too.

How do chakras function?

If you are a healthy, balanced person, the seven chakras provide exactly the right amount of energy
to every part of your body, mind, and spirit.

Chakras are like invisible, rechargeable batteries. They are charged and recharged through contact
with the stream of cosmic energy in the atmosphere in much the same way that your home is
connected to a central power source within a city – the only difference is that this cosmic energy
source is free. They regulate the flow of energy throughout the electrical network (meridians) that
runs through the physical body. The body’s electrical system resembles the wiring in a house. It
allows electrical current to be sent to every part, and it is ready for use when needed.

However, if one of the chakras is too open and spinning too quickly, or if it is too closed and
moving slowly, the person’s health will suffer. The main causes of chakra malfunction are stress,
fear, and anxiety. Chakras can become blocked due to suppressed negative emotions and upsets in
life such as loss, conflict, or an accident. When blocks accumulate, a disruption in energy flow to
the chakra will result, and when the body’s “energy system” cannot flow freely, it is likely that
problems will occur. The corresponding organ or system in the body will eventually be affected,
and emotional, mental, and physical diseases will manifest themselves.

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What is energy and why does it affect our chakras?

Sunlight is our main source and provider of light, heat, and energy. It consists of energies in the
form of electromagnetic waves, and part of this electromagnetic energy includes cosmic rays,
gamma rays, x-rays, visible light rays, infrared rays, micro-waves, and short and long waves (radio
waves). We utilize many of these energies in our daily lives; however, we seem not to put much
emphasis on the visible light rays. We refer to them as the visible light rays because, of all the
energies mentioned above, we can visually see light rays. Light consists of the seven color
energies: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. We can see these seven colors in a
rainbow, drop of rain or dew, and even in a snowflake.

Color and light are inseparable. Each color of the visible light rays has a different wavelength and
vibrational frequency, which affects us differently. Red has the longest wavelength and the slowest
vibrational frequency, which we innately recognize as warm and stimulating, whereas violet has
the shortest wavelength and the fastest frequency which we recognize as a cool and calming
energy. We receive light and color information through our eyes, which then stimulates the retina
and its cells, rods, and cones. These impulses, which travel through the optic nerve to the visual
cortex of the brain via the pituitary gland, trigger other glands and their hormone secretions to
various parts of the body. Many body functions are stimulated or retarded by light and the different
colors of light, and thus affect our chakra system. Light can also enter through our skin and our
breath, or through various colored foods, herbs, vitamins, aromatherapy, minerals, clothing, and
décor. We need light energy for nourishing our brain, our emotions, and our physical body, as well
as our light bodies and especially our chakras.

The Seven Chakras

There are seven main chakras, each of which has specific physical, psychological, emotional,
spiritual, and energetic characteristics. These seven chakras can be first categorized into three
groups: chakras of matter, the connecting chakra, and chakras of spirit.

The first three chakras, starting at the base of the spine, are chakras of matter, and they are more
physical in nature. The fifth to seventh chakras belong to the third group, chakras of spirit. They
are in the upper body and govern mental properties. The fourth chakra is the connection between
matter and spirit. Located at the heart center, the fourth chakra, anahata, is at the middle of the
seven, and unites the lower chakras of matter and the upper chakras of spirit. The fourth is also
spiritual but serves as a bridge between our body, mind, emotions, and spirit.

The First Chakra: Root or Base Chakra (Muladhara)

The official name of this chakra, muladhara, comes from the words Mula, which means root, and
Dhara, which means support. Its color is red. This chakra is located at the very base of the spine,
near the tailbone. It goes up to just below the belly button. Its role is to connect all of our energy
with the Earth, which is called grounding. Since it is associated with the element of earth, it is
mainly related to our basic survival needs, such as food, water, shelter, and air. When this chakra
is balanced, we feel stable, safe, supported, and grounded. Blockage may manifest itself as
paranoia, fear, procrastination, and defensiveness.

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Our root chakra gets a lot of use, so having an overactive one is very common. An overactive root
chakra will shout messages of survival, even when no real threat is there; thus, it will cause
problems like anxiety and uneasiness. Physically, we might have symptoms of digestive problems,
lower back issues, hip pain, ovarian cysts in women or prostate issues in men. Praying or
meditating may help to balance an overactive chakra. Also, volunteering and acts of kindness can
guide overactive energy away from the root chakra into other energy centers in the body.

On the other hand, if our survival needs have generally been taken care of, this chakra may be
underactive. If that is the case, we may experience frequent daydreaming or trouble concentrating.
To energize an underactive first chakra, reconnecting to the earth might help. Gardening,
swimming, or even playing in the leaves can energize our root chakra.

The Second Chakra: Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana)

The second chakra is the sacral chakra, or svadhisthana, which translates to “the place of the self.”
It is associated with the element of water, and its color is orange. It is located above the pubic
bone, below the navel, and is responsible for our creative expression. At this energetic center,
we experience creativity, sexuality, playfulness, joy, abundance, and a connection to
desire. Through a strong sense of desire, we are able to pursue our passions. When our second
chakra is balanced, we will relish the pleasurable things life has to offer, without overdoing them.
The blockage of the second chakra may manifest itself as emotional problems, compulsive or
obsessive behaviors, and sexual guilt.

The sacral chakra is often overactive when we face things like addiction and gluttony. If we find
ourselves enjoying things that aren’t nourishing for our soul or health, then our sacral chakra is
probably out of balance. Symptoms include addiction, obesity, hormone imbalances, and
restlessness. To balance our second chakra, it is helpful to draw energy away from pleasure by
asking before each action whether it is really healthy or nourishing.

The sacral chakra may be underactive if we have spent a lot of time focusing on very practical
things without enjoying the fruits of our labor. Symptoms of this include depression, impotence,
decreased sex drive, and a lack of passion and creativity. To energize our second chakra, we should
simply enjoy life by creating a piece of art or eating a healthy and enjoyable snack, for example.

The Third Chakra: Solar Plexus (Manipura)

The third chakra is the Solar Plexus, or Manipura, which translates to “lustrous gem.” It is the area
from the navel to the breastbone. It is associated with the element of fire, and its color is yellow.
The third chakra is our source of personal power, motivation, will, and ability to express our
deepest desires. When our third chakra is balanced, we feel a sense of wisdom, decisiveness, and
personal power. Blockage may show up as anger, frustration, lack of direction, or a sense of
victimization.

The Solar Plexus chakra becomes overactive when the power we have over our own lives extends
into the lives of others. When this chakra is too energized, we may feel a need to control and
micromanage, or a lack of compassion or empathy. As a result, we may suffer from digestive issues
or imbalances in our internal organs like the appendix, pancreas, liver, and kidneys. To balance

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our third chakra, we should practice opening up our heart with love and compassion, and meditate
on sending love and kindness from our heart to all those around us.

When our personal power is taken away from us, we may be left with a lack of energy in this
chakra. When this happens, we may feel indecisive, insecure, timid, and needy. To energize
our Solar Plexus, we should think of the things that we are good at and create our own personal
affirmations.

The Fourth Chakra: Heart (Anahata)

Anahata translates to “unhurt.” This chakra is located at the center of the chest and governs our
heart, lungs, and arms. It is associated with the element of air. Its color is green. This chakra is
where our love, compassion, and kindness are empowered. You may think of the arms as a physical
expression of the heart chakra, where we connect to others through handshakes and warm
embraces. When our fourth chakra is balanced, we are able to equally feel love for ourselves and
others. Even when tough things happen, we can still see the compassion and kindness in others.
Blockage can show itself as problems in the immune system, lung, or heart, or take the form of
inhumanity, lack of compassion, or unprincipled behavior.

When the heart chakra becomes overactive, we lose our personal boundaries and start to make
unhealthy choices, all in the name of love. We may find ourselves always putting the needs of
others before our own. Symptoms include a fast heart rate, palpitations, heartburn, and
interpersonal relationship issues.

To balance the fourth chakra, we should focus some love back on ourselves by, for example, taking
a relaxing bath or treating ourselves to a massage.

Many people have an underactive fourth chakra. When the heart chakra is underactive, we feel
that it is hard to get really close to anyone. It is like building a wall around our heart and not letting
anyone in. Physically, we may feel out of touch with our body and suffer from circulation
problems. Energizing the heart chakra may take a lot of work. It first begins by loving ourselves.
We should show appreciation for ourselves, and give ourselves the love that we want others to
give to us. Then, we should spread that compassion to those around us.

The Fifth Chakra: Throat (Vishuddha)

The fifth chakra is the Throat chakra, or Vishuddha, which translates to “very pure.” Its color is
blue or turquoise. This chakra is located at the base of the throat, governing the neck, thyroid, jaw,
mouth, and tongue. It is associated with the element of space or ether. This is our source of verbal
expression and the ability to speak our highest truth. When this chakra is open, we communicate
clearly with authenticity and practice intuitive listening. Speaking with a balanced Throat chakra
will enlighten and inspire those around us. Blockage can show up as creative blocks, dishonesty,
or general problems in communicating our needs to others.

Our fifth chakra becomes overactive when we have spent a lot of time trying to make our voice
heard. We may speak loudly if we feel ignored or invalidated while expressing ourselves, so we
may often be told we have a loud voice. Physically, we may suffer from throat pain, frequent

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infections, cavities, or mouth ulcers due to an overactive fifth chakra. Balancing it is as easy as
thinking before we speak.

Sometimes, we have been ignored and marginalized so much that we react in an opposite way –
we shut down our voices and never speak our truth. If we have an underactive Throat chakra, we
have probably been called shy or quiet. We may find ourselves unable to express our emotions or
struggling for words when we try to speak our truth. Physical symptoms often include digestive
issues, since energy diverted away from the Throat chakra often ends up being “swallowed” or
sent down to the third chakra. To energize our fifth chakra, we should speak our truth, and we
should practice expressing our emotions and truths when we are alone.

The Sixth Chakra: The Third Eye (Ajna)

The Sanskrit name for the third eye chakra is Ajna, which means “command” and “perceiving.”
The Ajna chakra is located between the eyebrows. Its color is indigo. It governs our pituitary gland,
lower brain, eyes, and skull. This chakra is used to question the spiritual nature of our life. It is
associated with our intuition, wisdom, intellect, knowledge, understanding, and imagination. A
balanced third eye is a beautiful thing, and it is really what we are trying to achieve when we start
on a path to spiritual development. An open sixth chakra may experience lucid dreaming or
moments of clairvoyance. We feel guided, able to trust in the process of life, and believe our
presence is an integral part of the fabric of life. Blockage may appear as problems like lack of
foresight, mental rigidity, “selective” memory, and depression.

It is very unlikely your sixth chakra is overactive. Most of us are very in tune with our physical
reality and find it difficult to receive information outside of it. That being said, if one has an
overactive third eye, he or she is likely to spend most of the time engrossed in psychic activities
like tarot card readings, astrology, and paranormal experiences. When our third eye chakra is
overactive, those activities become overwhelming and distract us from living a human experience,
so we should take some time to remind ourselves that we are a creature of the Earth. We can, for
instance, go to the beach and feel the sand between our toes.

Most people have an underactive sixth chakra. We live in a world that often dismisses intuitive
development. Because of this, we close off our third eyes and ignore our own psychic experiences.
Doing so can cause us to feel disconnected from spiritual experiences. We may have physical
problems like headaches or allergies. Energizing our third eye will take some practice. We will
need to devote some time to quiet, solitary meditation.

The Seventh Chakra: Crown (Sahaswara)

The seventh chakra is the Crown, or Sahaswara, which translates to “thousand petaled.” This
chakra is pure consciousness energy. Its color is violet, and it is located at the top of our head. This
is the chakra of enlightenment and spiritual connection to our higher selves, others, and, ultimately,
to the divine. Blockage is seen as psychological problems. Achieving a balanced crown chakra is
the goal of every spiritual warrior, and it is not easy to achieve this goal. It can be thought like the
Buddhist concept of “achieving nirvana.” Once you achieve it, you’re not really human of anymore
– you’ve conquered suffering and death.

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It’s not possible to have an overactive crown chakra. Because it is the seat of universal energy, it
is innately infinite. In other words, you can’t exist in the material world and be overcome with
consciousness energy.

An underactive seventh chakra means you’re human. It feels exactly like being a human. Some
people may be closer to achieving it, while others may be far away. In any case, practicing spiritual
development and balancing your other chakras will bring you closer to experiencing the
consciousness energy in your crown chakra.

Conclusion

The benefit of learning about your own chakra system is for you to understand that when all parts
of you are communicating equally and working in alliance with each other, you will have little or
no energy disorders. Nowadays, we live in a fast world and often forget about our “whole.” We
put too much emphasis on independence and very little on interdependence. Our chakras are
interdependent with each other for harmony and balance. Your mind alone cannot nurture your
whole being, nor can a proper food diet solve all your problems. It is important to understand that
“all of you” has to be understood in order to keep “your house” in order.

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Search Reading 3
Fill in the blanks with information extracted from the text. Keep your answer as short as possible.

1. The merchant class in England grew richer due to the incredible development in trade and
commerce. This class, which recently turned wealthy, had earlier been ignored by the
writers of the previous generations, and the literature produced by those writers did not
appeal to their _________________________________________.
2. The middle-class and upper-class women of the 18th century read novels in their free time
because they could not participate in such “manly” activities as ______________
___________________________.
3. Due to its validation of capitalistic ideas and viewing humans as beings of economic use,
Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe was blamed by many critics for
_________________________________________.
4. In the second book of Gulliver’s Travels, the main character is a dwarf in the land of giants,
known as Brobdingnag, where the giants represent animality, while Gulliver symbolizes
_________________________________________.
5. In his satirical work Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from
Being a Burden to Their Parents or the Country, Swift attacked England, and in order to
solve the hunger problem of the Irish, he ironically suggested that the Irish should sell
_________________________________________.
6. The second epistolary novel of Samuel Richardson, regarded a masterpiece, is entitled
Clarissa Harlowe. The main focus of the plot in this novel is a woman who shows immense
effort to break free from _________________________________________.
7. Henry Fielding’s first novel, An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews is critical
of _________________________________________, and it is written as a reaction to
Samuel Richardson’s Pamela.
8. Laurence Sterne’s novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is
considered very unconventional. One reason for this is that it reminds the reader of the
style of the modernist writers. In addition to this, the novel reflects the perception of time
as proposed by Henri Bergson, which was developed in ____________________
_____________________.

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 THE FLOURISHING OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL

Introduction

The novel, commonly defined as “a type of fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically
representing character and action with some degree of realism,” began to develop during the 18th
century as a genre. The term novel derives from the Latin ‘novus’ and from the Italian ‘novella.’
It was in opposition to the term ‘romance,’ referring to a chivalric story in verse. It was used to
refer to a prose fiction which was new because it told stories about recent events.

The Reasons for the Development of the Novel Genre

There were many causes which brought about the development of the novel: expansion of the
reading public, growth of a new middle class, the changing status of women in society, and
economic reasons. The English middle-class people could now afford to purchase books, and
women had more time for reading because, after the industrial revolution, they had much more
free time at home: they could buy in shops the products which were handmade in the houses before.
Publishing became a profitable business thanks to the spread of literacy and of reading as a form
of entertainment among the wealthy middle class. The professional writers began to appear. They
did not have rich patrons but earned their living by writing essays and books. This new situation,
together with the creation of the circulating libraries, which lent books in return for a small
subscription fee, increased the numbers of readers. Broadly speaking, however, it is possible to
look at some major developments that led to the flourishment of the novel as a genre. The following
reasons could be thought of as a more detailed summary of what has been presented above.

a) Rise of Middle Class

The literature of the 17th century flourished under the patronage of the upper classes. The 18th
century in the social history of England is characterized by the rise of the middle-class. Because
of tremendous growth in trade and commerce, the England merchant class was becoming wealthy,
and this newly rich class wanted to excel in the field of literature, too. This class was neglected by
the high-born writers, and their tastes and aspirations were left aside by the literature of the earlier
generations. These tastes and aspirations were now expressed by the novelists of the time. The
novel was, in fact, the product of middle-class. With the rise of middle-class, hence, the rise of the
novel was quite natural.

b) Growth of Newspapers and Magazines

In the 18th century, the appearance of newspapers and magazines attracted a large number of
readers from the middle-class. These new readers had little interest in the romances and the
tragedies which had previously interested the upper-class. Thus, a need for a new type of literature
rose; a literature that would express the new ideas of the 18th century, and this new type of literature
was none but novel.

c) Rise of Realism

The 18th-century literature was characterized by the spirit of realism. Romantic features like
enthusiasm, passion, and imagination declined in this period. Reason, intellect, correctness, and

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satirical spirit were the main characteristics of 18th-century literature. The English novel had all
these characteristics.

d) Role of Women

In the 18th-century, women of upper classes and the middle classes could partake in a few activities
of men. They could not engage themselves in administration, politics, hunting, or drinking. Hence,
in their leisure time, they used to read novels.

e) Decline of Drama

The decline of drama also contributed to the rise of the novel in the 18th century. In this century,
drama lost its fame that it had in the Elizabethan Age (1558-1603). It did not remain an influential
literary form. Hence, some other genre had to take its place and its place was filled by the English
novel after 1740. Thus, the decline of drama led to the rise of the English novel.

The Characteristics of the 18th-century Novel

The 18th-century novel was labeled as realistic novel. The characters were real people with
ordinary names and surnames; they were described in their daily routines; the settings were real
geographical places and the contents were taken from real stories. The novelists tried to meet the
needs of their middle-class readers who wanted to read about ordinary people because they enjoyed
seeing themselves as the protagonists of the stories. They were the ones who bought the books,
and consequently, the authors’ point of view was the same as the readers’.

The most important novelists of the time were: Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, Samuel Richardson,
Henry Fielding, and Laurence Sterne. Some of them devoted themselves to writing because, as an
effect of the Test Act of 1673, being Roman Catholics or Dissenters, they were forbidden to hold
any important position in society and chose to become novelists or journalists.

Daniel Defoe is considered the pioneer of the novel, and arguably, the first novelist in English
literature as well as the first journalist. His The Review is considered the first newspaper. He
interpreted the likes and interests of the emerging middle-class and depicted the 18th-century
world. Defoe’s characters were common men and women with whom his middle-class readers
could identify themselves. All the characters of his novel narrate their individual struggles for
survival in a difficult world, from Moll Flanders, a prostitute, thief, and incestuous wife, to
Robinson Crusoe, Colonel Jack, Captain Singleton, and Roxana.

His novel The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner is
regarded by many literary scholars as the first English novel. The novel is a true realistic novel. It
is based on the real story of a Scotch sailor, Alexander Selkirk, who had lived alone for four years
on the Isle of Juan Fernandez in the Pacific after a shipwreck. The story is told in the first person
singular in the form of a diary. Robinson Crusoe is the first narrative in which the character is not
a hero, but an average man. Defoe went on with the Puritan ideas that had survived even after the
collapsing of the Puritan Republic of the Commonwealth. Robinson, a shipwrecked merchant who
remained on a desert island for about twenty-eight years, is considered the true puritan man: he
showed industry, colonizing spirit, courage, and initiative, and was seen by the readers as the
personification of their own qualities: practical-minded, resourceful, and religious. He organized

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his life on the island and succeeded through hard labor in surviving in a difficult situation
exploiting all what the place offered. Further, he not only made the native man Friday to accept
him as master but also made him use his language and converted him to Christianity. Many critics
charged this novel with being an imperialistic novel because it contained an affirmation of
capitalism and saw man as an economic animal. Robinson was considered by those critics as the
first capitalist hero in English literature, because he looked at everything in economic terms:
produced more than he needed, kept from the ship a lot of things, expanded his power on the whole
island, and eventually became rich. They pointed out that when Robinson managed to go on board
the ship which had been carried within a reaching distance, he also kept some money which, of
course, was of no use on a desert island.

Jonathan Swift was the greatest satirist of his age. Using irony and satire, he tried to change his
own society and attacked it at all levels. Together with Alexander Pope and others, he established
the Scriblerus Club, an association of witty writers who satirized their contemporaries. People of
his own time failed to see the irony and, sometime, they cried shame. An Anglican priest, Swift
was appointed Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, where he was later buried. A Latin
epigraph he had composed himself was placed over his tomb: “The body of Jonathan Swift, Doctor
of Sacred Theology, Dean of this Cathedral Church, is buried here where fierce indignation can
no more lacerate his heart…”

Swift is remembered for his Gulliver’s Travels, a novel that, like Robinson Crusoe, is nowadays
regarded as a book for children and as an anticipation of the modern fantasy novel. Actually, the
book was intended to be a bitter satire of his own country. Swift himself wrote to Pope that it “was
intended to vex the world rather than divert it.” The novel satirizes the follies and the vices of
politicians and scholars and is a very serious comment on politics, on learning, and on all mankind.
It shows Swift’s bad opinion on people. He is very intolerant of people in general, and once he
wrote to Pope: “I heartily hate and detest that animal called man.” He maintains that man is not a
reasonable animal, but an animal endowed with reason, which he is not always able to use in the
right way. Gulliver’s Travels tells the various imaginary voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a surgeon
on a ship, to various strange lands where he meets several man-like creatures. The philosophical
basis of the whole novel lies in the contrast between rationality and animality. In the first book, he
is shipwrecked near Lilliput, where he meets a race of tiny people, only six inches tall, and he is a
giant among them. Rationality is represented by the Lilliputians with their organized society and
their deep knowledge of mathematical science in contrast with Gulliver, described as a big body.
In the second book, the situation is reversed: he is in Brobdingnag, the land of giants, and he is a
dwarf among them. The giants embody animality, while Gulliver embraces rationality. In the third
book, he visits the flying island of Laputa, inhabited by scientists concerned with abstract ideas.
He visits the University of Lagado, where he meets the “projectors,” who work on new scientific
odd plans: take sunbeams out of cucumbers, melt ice into gunpowder, and so on. They are
presented in a decadent way: badly dressed, long hair and beard, very dirty, and even as beggars.
Animality is seen in the scientists while rationality is seen in man. In the last book, he is in the
land of the Houyhnhnms, intelligent horses that can talk. They are perfectly rational and virtuous.
They have man-like slaves, the Yahoos, who are bestial, irrational, and vicious. Gulliver himself
is seen by the Houyhnhnms as a Yahoo. In these various countries, Gulliver explains to the
inhabitants about life in Europe and in particular in England. What Gulliver says is how things
should be, not how they are, and so his words become an ironical attack on what he is describing.
In the first book, he attacks the English Government and the hypocrisies of the party system.

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Catholic Religion is ironically attacked, too. Swift comments the dispute over whether an egg
should be broken, to be eaten, at the big end or at the little end: “all true believers shall break their
eggs at the most convenient end.” In the second book, he attacks the judicial and the political
system in Britain aiming at stressing the hypocrisy and corruption practiced in the Institutions. In
the third book, there is an attack on science and on members of the Royal Society while in the
fourth and last, he attacks man. When he comes home after his rescue, he cannot accept the
humankind any longer. The human beings appear to him like the Yahoos, and he goes to live in a
stable with the company of horses.

Swift was not insensible to the sufferings of the Irish, and he was indignant at their exploitation
by the British Government. The Irish lived on bad conditions. He wrote and published a work in
defense of Ireland, entitled Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from
Being a Burden to Their Parents or the Country. It was a new attack against the English. Using
satire, he explained that the misery of the starving Irish could be easily relieved by selling their
children to the rich as food. There was also another benefit for the Irish: It should have solved the
problem of overpopulation of Ireland, too. It was of course a provocation, but at the times some
foreign readers took it as an actual and serious one, and there was quite a scandal.

Samuel Richardson is considered the inventor of the epistolary novel (letter and diary formatted
novel) and the father of the novel of sentimental analysis. He introduced psychological studies of
the characters, especially women. He started his career as a novelist quite late in his life when
some booksellers asked him to help the uneducated in their correspondence writing a sequence of
letters dealing with everyday subjects. Among these letters were to be included some to instruct
pretty servant-girl to protect their virtue. He liked this idea also because, when he was at school,
he used to be the adviser of girls who wanted to correspond with their sweethearts. He decided to
make a novel from the letters, and wrote Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded. He chose an actual case he
had heard of, in which a virtuous 15-year-old maidservant, who worked in a rich household, had
resisted her master’s advances.

In the novel, the story is told through a series of letters from Pamela Andrews to her parents and
their answers to her. She asked for advice to defend herself from her master, Mr. B., who wanted
to seduce her. Published in November 1740, the novel had an instant success, and it was followed
by a second edition in February 1741, a third in March, and even a fourth in May. As we can see,
Pamela originated from the realistic moral problem for many young girls who worked as maids:
how to resist the advances of their rich masters. Pamela celebrates the middle-class value of
chastity before marriage in opposition to the lasciviousness of the aristocracy. The theme of the
persecuted maiden attracted many readers. The readers divided into “Pamelists,” who were for
Pamela, and “Anti-Pamelists,” who criticized her. Pamelists maintained that she was a poor and
simple girl who tried to keep herself honest and chaste. Anti-Pamelists, instead, maintained that
her behavior was not guided by purity but by utilitarianism: she was a cunning girl, who used her
virtue to climb the social ladder, and she provoked her master to make him marry her. In the 18th
century, many people thought that virginity was not a value for a poor girl to defend and that it
was her duty as a servant to please her master. Not all women considered chastity and honesty
virtues to be defended.

Pamela is considered the first best-seller in English literature. It had a happy ending: Pamela
married Mr. B. This pleased the readers, women above all, which helped its success. Clarissa

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Harlowe, his second epistolary novel, is considered Richardson’s masterpiece. It deals with a
woman who tries hard to escape from a combined marriage to a man she does not like. She finds
refuge at a nobleman’s who seduces and rapes her. Clarissa refuses to marry him and eventually
lives as an outcast condemned by society.

Richardson’s success in his own age is mostly due to the subject matter of his novels, and to the
technique of narration he used. As far as the former, that is the theme of women who defend their
virtues from the advances of a powerful man, it appealed to a vast audience, above all women who
constituted the larger part of the reading public. The other element was the suspense created by
the technique that Richardson used. He himself defined it as “writing to the moment.” This
technique is a bit similar to the one used in modern soap operas: each letter dealing with the present
has got elements whose consequences will happen in the next letter, thus letting the reader wait.

Henry Fielding was the first English novelist to introduce the burlesque element in the novel. He
defined his novels as “comic epic poem in prose.” The mock epic is a parody of the epic because
it treats trivial things as if they had great importance. The protagonist is involved in a series of
apparently dangerous adventures. Fielding was different from Defoe and Richardson. He belonged
to the aristocracy, and unlike them, he did not believe in sexual chastity above all other virtues.
The aristocracy regarded uninhibited sexuality with indulgence and considered other virtues as
courage, generosity, and loyalty above it. His first novel, An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela
Andrews, is to be considered as a reaction against the hypocrisy of the time as well as a reaction
to Richardson’s Pamela. Fielding wanted to ridicule the Puritan view of morality. The “Shamela”
in the title is a pun on the words of “shame” and Pamela. In his second novel, Joseph Andrews, he
wanted at first to parody Richardson’s Pamela, but he put aside this idea and wrote a story based
on the life and adventures of Joseph, Pamela’s brother, and a friend of his. The situation is reversed,
and we have a young man who works at a lady’s service. The lady wants to seduce him after her
husband’s death. Joseph, who is chaste and virtuous, refuses her advances.

Tom Jones, Richardson’s best novel, is a picture of the life of the lower and upper classes of the
18th century society. Fielding depicts human weaknesses with humor and irony, and stresses his
tolerant attitude towards them. Tom is an unheroic character and has all the limits of the ordinary
man. Fielding’s novels are considered picaresque in style, written in imitation of Cervantes.
(Picaresque novels come from Spain and deal with the adventures of a rascal of low social class;
they are usually humorous, full of action, and excitement).

Laurence Sterne, in his own time, was considered an anti-novelist because he did not follow the
canons of the realistic novel. He is the closest novelists to the modern ones of all 18th-century
novelists. His novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman was written in
instalments in nine volumes between 1759 and 1767. Also known for its short title, Tristram
Shandy, this novel does not respect the 18th-century canons of the realistic novel. It is
unconventional and very difficult to summarize. For example, it recalls the stream of
consciousness technique of modernist writers such as Joyce and Woolf, who came to presence
much later than Sterne. Moreover, Tristram Shandy has no plot, no time scheme; it is full of the
author’s interventions, digressions, comments, asides, long quotations, unusual devices, and
eccentric typographical characteristics as black pages (to mourn a friend’s death), as well as
marbled pages, white pages, asterisks, arabesques, and a little hand with printed finger to direct
the reader’s attention to a point. When a digression takes places, the author shifts from the main

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theme of the novel to other topics which are not related with what the character is going to do or
say.

Aside from these strange qualities, the novel plays with the concept of time. The time of the story
is interrupted to be resumed at the end of the digression. The temporal dimension is non-existent
and clock time is abandoned for psychological time. The digressions allowed Sterne to tell the
reader about the events of the past, or of the future, in whatever order he pleased. The story is told
in the first person singular by the main character, Tristram Shandy, who remembers particular
events of his past and present life. It starts with a flashback: We meet Tristram in the first volume
as an adult, but his birth happens in the third volume. We may suppose that Sterne was influenced
by John Locke’s theory of the “Association of Ideas.” Tristram himself defined Locke’s Essays as
“a history book…. of what passes in a man’s own mind.” Sterne made a distinction between time
of the clock, that is the chronological time, and time of the mind – an idea which only appeared
philosophically in the 20th century with Henri Bergson. Organizing his plot, Sterne goes backwards
and forwards in time, thus disrupting the chronological order. Thus, it is possible to argue that
Sterne anticipated Bergson’s theory of the time, known as “la Durée,” which was an important
element in 20th-century writing. Bergson thought that each individual lives moments and
experiences that cannot be measured in fixed periods of time since the mind has its own time
different from the conventional one of the external world. Likewise, the same idea appears in
Tristram Shandy, too.

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Search Reading 4
Fill in the blanks with information extracted from the text. Keep your answer as short as possible.
Text I.
1. Although some cues that we receive at first sight might prove useful in certain cases, Dr.
Zayas warns us that basing our judgments on these cues all the time may prevent us from
_________________________________________.
2. According to the findings of the research conducted by Dr. Zayas and her team, the woman
whose photographs were rated by the participants didn’t have any prejudices formed
against the participants before she met them in person. However, she probably noticed the
clues in the way they behave because the first impressions of the participants might have
been _________________________________________.
Text II.
3. Cognitive dissonance can be described as the phenomenon that occurs with feelings of
discomfort, when a person’s strong viewpoints _____________________________
____________. In order to refrain from those uncomfortable feelings, we try to justify
ourselves.
4. The case of the two partners, A and B, is an example of how cognitive dissonance works.
Instead of accepting his/her own judgmental mistake, which would cause damage to his/her
self-esteem, partner A chooses to blame partner B, thinking that B has
_________________________________________ because this is the easiest way to save
himself/herself from responsibility.
5. The three ways to overcome the difficulties presented by cognitive dissonance and
confirmation bias are _________________________________________.
Text III.
6. Understanding confirmation biases is really crucial since they not only influence the way
people collect information, but they also make an impact on ____________________
_____________________.
7. With his rule-discovery task, Wason proved that people tend to look for supporting
information to verify their pre-formed ideas. However, such prejudice may hamper
_________________________________________. It can also cause us to make bad or
misguided decisions.
8. Several psychologists made observations related to the subject. Among them, Groopman’s
suggestions are perhaps the most striking because they involve medical doctors and their
hypotheses. To solve the problem, Groopman argues that medical education must comprise
_________________________________________ so as to raise awareness among new
doctors towards such prejudices.

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Text I.
First Impressions Shape Our Relationships More Than We Realize, Study Says

Introduction

We tend to stick with our snap judgments, according to researchers, and may miss opportunities
to let people show us their true selves. Even though we were taught not to “judge a book by its
cover,” we all do it – especially when meeting someone for the first time. Most of us would like
to believe that we revise those snap judgments later, after we’ve spent some time with the new
person. But according to a new study, we’re less open to changing our minds than we think, and
our initial impressions don’t fade easily from memory.

Helpful Cues

First things first, though: Our tendency to make split-second decisions about people isn’t
inherently bad, says Vivian Zayas, PhD, professor of psychology at Cornell University. It’s human
nature, and an evolutionary defense against those who might be dangerous or just ill-suited for us.
“Humans are very social, so we want to know when we meet someone what that person is really
about,” Zayas explains. “We are wired to do this, and we’ve become experts at gathering a wealth
of information from people’s faces – things like gender and ethnicity, but also more subtle
personality cues as well.” Relying on these initial assumptions can be helpful in some
circumstances, says Zayas, but in others, it can keep us from making valuable friendships and
connections. So she and her colleagues set out to determine just how strong first impressions really
are.

The study

The researchers asked 55 study participants to evaluate whether they’d be friends with four
women, based solely on headshot photographs. (Each woman smiled for one photo and made a
neutral expression for a second.) The participants were also asked if they thought these women
were extroverted, agreeable, emotionally stable, conscientious, and/or open to new experiences.
Between one and six months later, the participants returned for a supposedly unrelated experiment,
and met one of the women whose photos they’d pre-judged. (Only four participants remembered
seeing her before, and they were later factored out of the analysis.) Each participant spent 20
minutes with this woman, during which they played a trivia game and were instructed to get to
know each other as well as possible. After the interaction, the participants were asked the same
questions about the woman’s personality traits – and their responses showed a “strong consistency”
with their previous thoughts, says Zayas. Those who had guessed that the woman was likeable and
had appealing personality traits had generally positive impressions after meeting her. And for those
who had judged the woman negatively, their opinions tended to stick, too.

The findings

“What is remarkable is that despite differences in impressions, participants were interacting with
the same person,” Zayas says. The findings showed that some changes in opinion did occur. But
for the most part, people’s views didn’t waver.

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The woman didn’t know how the participants had rated her photograph, so she didn’t go into the
meetings with any biases of her own. But Zayas says it’s likely that participants’ initial impressions
were reflected in their behavior, and that the woman picked up on those clues.

Those who had liked the woman in the photo tended to interact with her in a friendlier way.
“They’re smiling a little bit more, they’re leaning forward a little bit more. Their nonverbal cues
are warmer,” she said in a press release. “When someone is warmer, when someone is more
engaged, people pick up on this. They respond in a similar manner. And it’s reinforcing: The
participant likes that person more.”

Behavioral confirmation

Zayas notes that this concept, known as behavioral confirmation, shows how first impressions can
become a self-fulfilling prophecy. This isn’t something people plan to do, of course: In a different
but related study, the researchers found that participants overwhelmingly said they would update
their opinions of people in photographs if they had the chance to meet them in person. “And people
really think they would revise,” she said. “But in our study, people show a lot more consistency in
their judgments, and little evidence of revision.”

Participants’ assumptions about different personality traits also supported the concept of a “halo
effect” based on appearance. “We see an attractive person as also socially competent, and assume
their marriages are stable and their kids are better off,” she says. “We go way beyond that initial
judgment and make a number of other positive attributions.”

Zayas admits that the study, published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, only gave
people a short amount of time together. It’s possible that they only engaged in small talk, and
didn’t dig deep enough to truly alter their opinions of each other. Longer, more intimate
interactions could certainly lead to different results, she says. But she also points out that in many
situations, such as job interviews, a few minutes together is all people get.

Is it wrong to stick to first impressions?

The fact that we’re likely to hang onto our first impressions – especially of people who are
unfamiliar to us in some way – isn’t something we should be defensive about, says Zayas. But it
can help to be aware of it when it happens. “There are good, functional reasons for why our brains
do this,” she says. “But there’s a fine line between appreciating this ability and realizing that
sometimes our judgments are incorrect. If we fully embrace them, we might miss a lot of
opportunities to open up and get to know people.” Acknowledging that your first impressions have
the potential to shape your interactions going forward may help you override some of your
subconscious behavior. “Maybe you’re a little less guarded, more engaged, smiling more,” Zayas
says. “Then the person has the opportunity to respond back, and you may be able to break the
cycle.”

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Text II.

Why do we hold on to first impressions in a relationship?

What is cognitive dissonance?

In their book entitled Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me), Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson write
about cognitive dissonance – the phenomenon that arises, with uncomfortable feelings, when two
deeply held internal points of view come into conflict with one another. To avoid such feelings,
we resort to self-justification. The book contains a chapter on cognitive dissonance in marriage,
which holds this process to be the main culprit in the outcome of relationships.
“Misunderstandings, conflicts, personality differences, and even angry quarrels are not the
assassins of love – self-justification is,” the authors remark.

How does cognitive dissonance work?

Let’s say partner A has a problem with partner B’s recklessness with money – as they understand
it. Perhaps one of the things that attracted them originally was what they thought of as B’s
“generosity and spontaneity.” In a relationship, however, the behavior starts to look irresponsible.
How does A resolve the fact that s/he made a misjudgment about B?

One way is for A to accept that s/he made that misjudgment and that the responsibility is partly
his/hers. Another way is for A to carry on maintaining the “positive” dissonance, and convince
himself/herself that B is wonderfully, joyfully open-handed even though the joint account is in the
red again.

But the easiest way, as it avoids damaging his/her self-esteem, is for A to decide B has betrayed
him/her and is a “bad person.” Such retrospective self-justification applies to the whole spectrum
of domestic behavior from housework to childcare. It’s not, “If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have
believed it,” rather, “If I hadn’t believed it, I wouldn’t have seen it.”

Cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias

What is the “real” situation between a couple? With cognitive dissonance and another related
psychological principle, confirmation bias, operating at all times – both affect any particular
situation and the writing and rewriting of memory – it is difficult to know “the truth”. But often
the price of that truth is the realization that “I was (at least somewhat) wrong” – usually the most
painful way of resolving dissonance, and thus the least palatable.

The longer cognitive dissonance worms its way into memory and our understanding of what has
happened, the more powerful it becomes as a predictive factor for conflict, because then a
relationship becomes more about what a person “is” as opposed to what they “do”. Any behavior
that contradicts that presupposition will be discounted and any evidence that confirms it will be
exaggerated.

If you form an opinion early in your relationship about the other person, and then use every
opportunity to screen out information that runs counter to that opinion, then you have a coherent

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worldview, but possibly an unreliable view of your partner, who – whether they actually improve
or not – is trapped within your prejudices.

How can this be solved?

There is only one solution to this conundrum or rather, three solutions – humility, good faith, and
honesty.

Humility means the ability and courage to say “I may be wrong”, so that every time anything goes
awry you don’t self-justify. Good faith is the default position that your partner means well, and is
trying even though they may be failing. Honesty is the hardest, given all the distorting filters our
mind provides – but it is at least to be held as an ideal, as a hedge against the temptations of self-
justification.

These stances have to be mutual for there to be any chance of success – if one side holds good
faith and the other does not, or if one side is prideful and the other humble, that is a recipe for the
continuation of self-justification on one side and accumulating resentment and frustration on both.

Self-justification, one-sided or mutual, is the course most frequently chosen. Other choices are
possible. To make them constitutes the difference between a happy and an unhappy marriage.

Text III.

What Is a Confirmation Bias?: We Interpret Facts To Confirm Our Beliefs

Introduction

Where do your beliefs and opinions come from? If you are like most people, you probably like to
think that your beliefs are the result of years of experience and objective analysis of the information
you have available. The reality is that all of us are susceptible to a tricky problem known as a
confirmation bias.

While we like to imagine that our beliefs are rational, logical, and objective, the fact is that our
ideas are often based on paying attention to the information that upholds our ideas.

At the same time, we tend to ignore the information that challenges our existing beliefs.

Understanding Confirmation Bias

A confirmation bias is a type of cognitive bias that involves favoring information which confirms
previously existing beliefs or biases.

For example, imagine that a person holds a belief that left-handed people are more creative than
right-handed people. Whenever this person encounters a person that is both left-handed and
creative, they place greater importance on this “evidence” that supports what they already believe.
This individual might even seek “proof” that further backs up this belief while discounting
examples that do not support the idea.

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Confirmation biases impact how people gather information, but they also influence how we
interpret and recall information. For example, people who support or oppose a particular issue will
not only seek information to support it, they will also interpret news stories in a way that upholds
their existing ideas.

They will also remember things in a way that reinforces these attitudes.

Confirmation Biases in Action

Consider the debate over gun control. Sally, for example, is in support of gun control. She seeks
out news stories and opinion pieces that reaffirm the need for limitations on gun ownership. When
she hears stories about shootings in the media, she interprets them in a way that supports her
existing beliefs.

Henry, on the other hand, is adamantly opposed to gun control. He seeks out news sources that are
aligned with his position. When he comes across news stories about shootings, he interprets them
in a way that supports his current point of view.

These two people have very different opinions on the same subject and their interpretations are
based on that. Even if they read the same story, their bias tends to shape the way they perceive it
because it confirms their beliefs.

The Impact of Confirmation Biases: Wason’s Experiments

In the 1960s, cognitive psychologist Peter Cathcart Wason conducted a number of experiments
known as Wason’s rule-discovery task. He demonstrated that people have a tendency to seek
information that confirms their existing beliefs. Unfortunately, this type of bias can prevent us
from looking at situations objectively. It can also influence the decisions we make and can lead to
poor or faulty choices.

During an election season, for example, people tend to seek positive information that paints their
favored candidates in a good light. They will also look for information that casts the opposing
candidate in a negative light.

By not seeking out objective facts, interpreting information in a way that only supports their
existing beliefs, and only remembering details that uphold these beliefs, they often miss important
information.

These details and facts might have otherwise influenced their decision on which candidate to
support.

Observations by Psychologists

In his book, Research in Psychology: Methods and Design, C. James Goodwin gives a great
example of confirmation bias as it applies to extrasensory perception. “Persons believing in
extrasensory perception (ESP) will keep close track of instances when they were ‘thinking about
Mom, and then the phone rang and it was her!’ Yet they ignore the far more numerous times when
(a) they were thinking about Mom and she didn’t call and (b) they weren’t thinking about Mom

169
and she did call. They also fail to recognize that if they talk to Mom about every two weeks, their
frequency of ‘thinking about Mom’ will increase near the end of the two-week-interval, thereby
increasing the frequency of a ‘hit.’”

As Catherine A. Sanderson points out in her book, Social Psychology, confirmation bias also helps
form and re-confirm stereotypes we have about people.

“We also ignore information that disputes our expectations. We are more likely to remember (and
repeat) stereotype-consistent information and to forget or ignore stereotype-inconsistent
information, which means that one-way stereotypes are maintained even in the face of
disconfirming evidence. If you learn that your new Canadian friend hates hockey, loves sailing,
and that your new Mexican friend hates spicy foods and loves rap music, you are less likely to
remember this new stereotype-inconsistent information.”

Confirmation bias is not only found in our personal beliefs, it can affect our professional endeavors
as well. In the book, Psychology, Peter O. Gray offers this example of how it may affect a doctor’s
diagnosis: “Groopman (2007) points out that the confirmation bias can couple with the availability
bias in producing misdiagnosis in a doctor’s office. A doctor who had jumped to a particular
hypothesis as to what disease a patient has may then ask questions and look for evidence that tends
to confirm that diagnosis while overlooking evidence that would tend to disconfirm it. Groopman
suggests that medical training should include a course in inductive reasoning that would make new
doctors aware of such biases. Awareness, he thinks, would lead to fewer diagnostic errors. A good
diagnostician will test his or her initial hypothesis by searching for evidence against that
hypothesis.”

Seeing Things from a Different Angle

Unfortunately, we all have confirmation bias. Even if you believe you are very open-minded and
only observe the facts before coming to conclusions, it’s very likely that some bias will shape your
opinion in the end. It is difficult to combat this natural tendency.

Yet, if we know about confirmation bias and accept the fact that it does exist, we can make attempts
to recognize it. That may help us see things from another perspective, though it’s never a guarantee.

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Search Reading 5

Fill in the blanks with information extracted from the text. Keep your answer as short as possible.

1. People’s personal development and their attitudes to life and people may be influenced by
both some historical events, such as the 9/11 incident, and some other
_________________________________________like an earthquake.
2. In a relatively stable society, the old receive great ___________________________
______________ due to the considerable wisdom they have collected in their life, while
their counterparts in a fast-changing society are regarded as useless and unnecessary.
3. Whether or not a behavior is deviant is determined by __________________________
_______________ of the culture that this act is performed in.
4. Some people are disqualified from full social acceptance on the grounds of a particular
characteristic that they have, which distinguishes them from others in society. This
characteristic is called a stigma, and it may be due to the violations of norms of ability and
norms of appearance. Also, _________________________________________ may result
in being disgraced. For example, a victim of AIDS or the relative of a criminal may be
discredited in the minds of others, and then defined as deviant.
5. The labeling theory suggests that _________________________________________ does
not lead to deviance and conformity as much as other people’s reactions to those actions.
6. People themselves define what a deviant or appropriate behavior is. The social norms,
which define the regular patterns of behavior in a society, are again determined by people
themselves and are integrated in _________________________________________.
7. Deviance can function to validate cultural values and norms. We can only form a concept
of virtue or good based on an idea of vice or evil, so similarly, deviance is crucial in
_____________________________________________ because without crime, it is not
possible to have justice.
8. Not all deviant behavior is criticized. In fact, when some deviant behavior draws
_________________________________________, this can trigger social change. Then,
the society revises its moral boundaries, and this deviance starts to be regarded as an
acceptable behavior.

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 SOCIALIZATION AND THE LIFE COURSE

Life course is a biological process. In this process, there is a personal change from infancy through
old age and death brought about as a result of the interaction between biographical events and
social events. The series of major events, the stages of our lives from birth to death, may be called
life course. Movement through life course is marked by a succession of stages by age.

Analysts have tried to depict the typical stages through which we pass, but they have not been
able to agree on standard division of the life course. As such, life course is a biological process,
which has been divided into four distinct stages: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age.

Life course stages present characteristic problems and transitions that require learning new and
unlearning familiar routines. Through the process of socialization, society tries to prepare its
members for taking up the roles and statuses associated with life course stages.

Each life course stage by age is also affected by other factors like social class, gender, ethnicity,
and human experience.

People’s life experiences also vary depending on when, in the history of society, they were born.
Some specific historical events like terrorist attacks of 9/11, economic prosperity/depression, and
war, or some other natural calamity (an earthquake, epidemic, and flood) may become significant
in the personal development of individuals, as well as their attitudes toward life and other people.

Although childhood has special importance in the socialization process, learning continues
throughout our lives. An overview of the life course reveals that our society organizes human
experience according to age – childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age.

Childhood

Childhood usually covers the first 12 years of life: time for learning and carefree play.
Nevertheless, what a child “is” differs from one culture to another. Presently, we defend our idea
of childhood because children are biologically immature, but a look back in time and around the
world shows that the concept of childhood is rooted in culture.

The concept of childhood as such is of recent origin, which appears to be more pronounced in the
developed countries compared with the developing countries. Even in the developed countries,
say a couple of centuries back, children of four or five years were treated like adults and expected
to earn for themselves. A century back, children in the USA, Canada, and Europe had much the
same life as children in poor countries. That is how we come across the issue of child labor, which
is associated with the developing countries.

Children in lower classes have always assumed adult responsibilities sooner than their
counterparts in higher classes. Due to the demands of the circumstances, children in the lower
class start earning earlier. Their childhood finishes too quickly, and maybe their childhood
remains invisible. In childhood, an individual is made to learn the skills needed in adult life.

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Adolescence

Just as industrialization helped create childhood as a distinct stage of life, adolescence emerged
as a buffer between childhood and adulthood. In earlier times, societies did not mark out
adolescence as a distinct period of life. People simply moved from childhood into young
adulthood with no stopover in between.

We generally link adolescence, or teenage years, to emotional and social turmoil, when the youth
try to develop their own individual identities. As they try to carve out an identity distinct from
both the “younger” world being left behind and the “older” world still being out of their range,
adolescents develop a subculture of their own. Again, we attribute teenage turbulence to the
biological changes of puberty. Adolescence is more a phenomenon of industrial societies.
Although these outward patterns are readily visible, we usually fail to realize that adolescence is
a social creation; it is contemporary industrial society, not biological age, that makes these years
a period of turmoil. In these emotional and social spheres, the young people appear to be in conflict
with their parents, establishing some independence and learning specialized skills for adult life.

Adolescence again depends on culture, and accordingly, there could be a smooth or difficult
change from childhood to adolescence.

Adulthood

Adulthood, which begins between the late teens and the early twenties, depending on the social
background, is a time for accomplishment. Adults pursue careers and raise families. These youth
embark on careers and raise families of their own. They reflect on their own achievements ‒ did
the dreams come true?

Early Adulthood: It covers the period from 20 to about 40 years, and during this period,
personalities are formed. They learn to manage the day-to-day responsibilities personally. They
try to make an adjustment with spouse, and bring up their children in their own way. They often
have many conflicting priorities: parents, partner, children, schooling, and work.

Middle Adulthood: It roughly covers the period from 40 to 60 years. During this period,
individuals assess actual achievements in view of their earlier expectations.

Growing older means facing physical decline. During the late middle years (50 to 65 years),
people attempt to evaluate the past and come to terms with what lies ahead. They compare what
they have accomplished with how far they had hoped to get.

During this time of life, many people find themselves caring for their own children and also their
aging parents. Health and mortality also begin to loom large. People feel physical changes in their
bodies, and they may watch their parents become frail and ill, and then die.

Old Age

Old age is the later years of adulthood and the final stage of life itself – begins about the mid-
sixties. The societies attach different meaning to this stage of life. Some societies, such as the
Pakistani society, often give older people control over most of the land and other wealth. Since

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the rate of change in those societies is not very fast, older people amass great wisdom during their
lifetime, which earns them much respect. On the other hand, in industrial societies, the old are
considered to be conservative, unimportant, and obsolete. In a fast-changing society, their
knowledge appears to be irrelevant.

Old age differs in an important way from earlier stages in life course. Growing up typically means
entering new roles and assuming new responsibilities; growing old, by contrast, is the opposite
experience – leaving roles that provided both satisfaction and social identity. Like any life
transition, retirement from employment or even the handing over of the personal business to one’s
heirs, demands learning new, different patterns while at the same time unlearning familiar habits
from the past.

This survey of the life course leads us to two major conclusions. First, although each stage of life
is linked to the biological process of aging, the life course is largely a social construction. For this
reason, people in other societies may experience a stage of life quite differently, or for that matter,
they may not recognize it at all. Second, in any society, the stages of life course present
characteristic problems and transitions that involve learning something new and, in many cases
unlearning familiar routines.

To sum up, societies organize the life course according to age; other forces, such as social class,
ethnicity, and gender, also shape their lives. Thus, the general pattern that has been described
earlier apply somewhat differently to various categories of people.

SOCIAL CONTROL AND DEVIANCE

Every group within society, and even human society itself, depends on norms for its existence.
These very norms make social life possible by making behavior predictable. We can count on
most people most of the time to meet the expectations of others. As a result, there is some kind of
social order in the society.

Social order is a group’s usual and customary social arrangements, on which members depend
and on which they base their lives. Without social order, there is likely to be chaos.

Social Control

Every society or group develops its mechanism for making its members to obey the norms for the
smooth functioning of its life. These are the attempts of society to regulate people’s thoughts and
behavior. This process, formal or informal, is referred to as social control. Hence, social control
is a group’s formal and informal means of enforcing its norms.

Deviance

Sociologists use the term deviance to refer to the violation of norms. How a society defines
deviance and what people decide to do about deviance have to do with the way the society is
organized. It is not the act itself but the reactions to the act that makes something deviant. In other
words, people’s behavior must be viewed from the framework of the culture in which that takes
place. Therefore, it is group’s definition of behavior, not the behavior itself that makes it deviant.

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Perhaps everybody violates the norms of society, but every violation may not be defined as
deviance.

Social creation of deviance and crime is also called social construction of deviance and crime. An
act, which is called deviance by one group in one culture, is considered as praise worthy by another
group in another culture. Similarly, what is deviance at one time may not be considered so at
another time. For example, someone might be called as a terrorist by one group and as a freedom
fighter by another.

Crime

Crime is the violation of norms that are written into law. An act approved in one group may be a
crime punishable by death in another group, which suggests the cultural relativity of crime. Look
at honor killing, homosexuality, polygamy, and cousin marriages; these are all examples of
cultural relativity of crime. Acts of suicide bombers may be considered as positive (acts of
bravery) in one situation and negative in another.

Deviance and crime are not synonymous, but these may overlap. In fact, deviance is much broader
than crime because it can apply to all those acts, which violate the norms of society, which may
be unwritten. The crimes are such acts that violate those norms that are enacted into the laws of
society with special agencies for their enforcement. Deviance, on the other hand, is the violation
of the norms and rules of society. People usually react negatively against such violations.

Stigma

To be considered as deviant, a person may not have to do anything. Sociologist Erving Goffman
used the term stigma to refer to attributes that discredit people. These are the “blemishes” that
discredit a person’s claim to a “normal” identity. Without the choice of a person, these are the
violations of norms of ability (i.e. handicapped due to blindness, deafness, mental disability), and
norms of appearance (facial birthmark, obesity). It can also be involuntary membership in groups
such as relatives of criminals or victims of AIDS. The stigma becomes a person’s master status,
defining him or her as deviant.

A stigma operates as a master status overpowering other aspects of social identity so that a person
is discredited in the minds of others, becoming socially isolated, and may start following a deviant
behavior. In this perspective, as individuals develop a stronger commitment to deviant behavior,
they typically acquire a stigma, a powerfully negative label that greatly changes a person’s self-
concept and social identity.

Juvenile Delinquency

Juvenile delinquency refers to the violation of legal standards by the young. Who is young is again
a relative concept and has social construction. Nevertheless, it is defined under the law of the
country.

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Labeling

Labeling implies giving “bad-name” to individuals. It implies that the labels people are given
affect their own and others’ perceptions of them, thus channeling their behavior either into
deviance or into conformity.

A labeling theory has been developed by Howard Becker, under which there is an assertion that
deviance and conformity result not so much from what people do as from how others respond to
those actions.

Some people are tagged with a negative social label that radically changes a person’s self-concept
and social identity. This very label could act as a ‘master status’ as discussed earlier.

No act is intrinsically deviant; it is the people’s creation. In fact, it is the creation of people in
power, who impose the labels (categories of deviance). The individual accepts the label and acts
accordingly.

Labeling a child as delinquent is actually stigmatizing him as criminal, and resultantly he is likely
to be considered as untrustworthy. Society isolates him, and he gets isolated.

Primary and Secondary Deviation

The action that provokes only slight reaction from others and has little effect on a person’s self-
concept is primary deviance. For example, skipping school or initial act of stealing may be
ignored. However, when people notice someone’s deviance, make something of it, and give a
label on repeated violations, maybe as a reaction, the person repeatedly violates a norm and begins
to take on a deviant identity. This may be called as secondary deviation.

THE SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OF DEVIANCE

In the sociological perspective, all behavior – deviance as well as conformity – is shaped by

society. Therefore, the society lays the foundation of deviance. The social foundations of deviance
may be looked at from three dimensions:

1. Cultural relativity of deviance

No thought or action is inherently deviant; it becomes deviant only in relation to particular norms.
Sociologists use the term deviance to refer to a violation of norms of culture. One may look at
three basic principles: (1) It is not the action itself, but the reactions to the act that makes
something deviant. In other words, people’s behavior must be viewed from the framework of the
culture in which it takes place. (2) Different groups are likely to have different norms; therefore,
what is deviant to some is not deviant to others. (3) This principle holds within a society as well
as across cultures. Thus, acts perfectly acceptable in one culture – or in one group within a society
– may be considered deviant in another culture, or in another group within the same society.

Sociologists use the term deviance non-judgmentally, to refer to any act to which people respond
negatively. When sociologists use this term, it does not mean that they agree that the act is bad,
just because others judge it negatively. If we have to understand a particular behavior, we must

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understand the meanings people give to that event. Consequently, we must consider deviance
from within a group’s own framework, for it is their meanings that underlie their behavior.

2. Who defines deviance?

People become deviant as others define them that way. If deviance does not lie in the act, but in
the definition of the act, where do these definitions come from? The simple answer is that the
definitions come from people. Maybe through trial and error process, people determine the
appropriate patterns of behavior for the smooth functioning of their society. They themselves
decide what is desirable and what is undesirable for having social order in their society. These
are actually the social norms of the people. These norms are incorporated in the mechanics of
social control. The process may be a little different in a simple and small society than in a complex
and large society having ethnic variations.

3. Both rule making and rule breaking involve social power.

Each society is dominated by a group of elite, powerful people, who make the decisions for
making rules, which become part of the social control system in the society. The powerful group
of people make sure that their interests are protected. The machinery of social control usually
represents the interests of people with social power.

A law amounts a little more than a means by which powerful people protect their interests. For
example, the owners of an unprofitable factory have the legal right to shut down their business,
even if doing so puts thousands of workers out of work. However, if a worker commits an act of
vandalism that closes the same factory for a single day, he is subject to criminal prosecution.

IS DEVIANCE FUNCTIONAL?

When we think of deviance, its flaws are likely to come to mind. Most of us are upset by deviance,
especially crime, and assume that society would be better off without it. Surprisingly, for
Durkheim, there is nothing abnormal about deviance; in fact, it contributes to the functioning of
the society in four ways:

1. Deviance affirms cultural values and norms.

Living demands that we make moral choices. To prevent our culture from dissolving into chaos,
people must show preference for some attitudes and behaviors over others. However, any
conception of virtue rests upon an opposing notion of vice, and just as there can be no good
without evil, there can be no justice without crime. Deviance is indispensable to creating and
sustaining morality.

2. Deviance clarifies moral boundaries and affirms norms.

A group’s ideas about how people should act and think mark its moral boundaries. Deviance
challenges those boundaries. Calling a deviant member to explain, say in effect, “you broke a
valuable rule, and we cannot tolerate that” affirms the group’s norms and clarifies the distinction
between conforming and deviating behavior. To deal with deviants is to assert what it means to

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be a member of the group. For example, there is a line between academic honesty and cheating,
which is made clear by punishing students who cheat.

3. Deviance promotes social unity.

When a group of people react to deviants to affirm the group’s moral boundaries, they develop a
“we” feeling among the group’s members. In saying “you can’t get by with that,” the group
collectively affirms the rightness of its own ways.

4. Deviance promotes social change.

Deviant people push a society’s moral boundaries, pointing out alternatives to the status quo and
encouraging change. Groups always do not agree on what to do with people who push beyond
their acceptable ways of doing things. Some group members even approve the rule-breaking
behavior. Boundary violations that gain enough support become new, acceptable behavior. Thus,
deviance may force a group to rethink and redefine its moral boundaries, helping groups and
whole societies to change their customary ways. Today’s deviance can become tomorrow’s
morality.

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Search Reading 6

Fill in the blanks with information extracted from the text. Keep your answer as short as possible.

1. Embalming is preferred when there is a delay in the disposal of the dead body if, for
example, the body has to be transported to another country, because the journey would
_________________________________________.
2. The religious belief that embalming would enable the soul to ________________
_________________________ was the reason why Egyptians used this technique to
mummify and preserve the dead bodies.
3. The scientist who discovered the embalming product still used as one of the main
chemicals, known as formaldehyde, was ______________________________________.
4. The chemicals that Ancient Babylonians and Greeks used to bless the dead body during
the embalming process were _________________________________________.
5. The latest embalming technique allows for an easy removal of fluid from the body due to
_________________________________________ of the sorbent.
6. When Abraham Lincoln’s grave was unearthed and his coffin was opened 36 years after
his assassination, it was seen that the embalming made it possible for his features to be
_________________________________________.
7. Specimens from a dead body should be taken before embalming, because, when the body
is embalmed, its appearance changes and any ____________________________________
cannot be identified.
8. _________________________________________ are two of the harmful embalming
substances that can cause serious health problems, such as eye irritation, asthma, or even
cancer.

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 DEAD BODY PRESERVATION ‒ EMBALMING

Introduction

Embalming is the process of chemically treating the dead human body to reduce the presence and
growth of microorganisms, to retard organic decomposition, and to restore acceptable physical
appearance. It is a procedure owing to which it is possible to preserve the body of the deceased
temporarily, whether in part or as a whole, and to display in on the catafalque. The use of balms
and balsams to permeate the dead body for preservation has given this process the name
embalming. Embalming has a very long and cross-cultural history, with many cultures giving the
embalming process a greater religious meaning. In some parts of the world, such as the US,
Australia, or New Zealand, embalming is an integral part of the burial, and it is required by law to
perform it before the remains of their citizens who died in other countries are brought back to their
homeland. Furthermore, it is necessary in cases in which more time has passed between the
moment of death and the burial of the deceased than usual.

Purpose

The three main goals of embalming are sanitation, temporary preservation of the body, and
restoration or presentation. Embalming sanitizes and preserves the body, retards the decomposition
process, and enhances the appearance of a body disfigured by traumatic death or illness.
Sometimes the dead body has to be transported from one country to another for burial or cremation,
and the time taken in transit would ordinarily lead to decomposition. In that case, embalming will
help preserve the body; it will make it possible to lengthen the time between death and the final
disposition, thus allowing family members time to arrange and participate in the type of service
most comforting to them. Also, by means of embalming, the dead body of some important
personality is preserved for some time for public view. Embalming is also used for anatomical
research and study. The cadavers are always very well fixed so that they can be used for not only
anatomical dissection but also research of the vascular system by vasography, kinematics of the
joint, and other histological examinations.

History of Embalming

The embalming process has a long history, and it can be different in various cultures. However,
Egypt is principally associated with the beginnings of the art and techniques of embalming.
Egyptians are claimed to have begun to mummify their dead intentionally starting in around 2600
BC, during the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties. It is recorded that probably before 400 BC,
approximately 730,000,000 bodies were mummified in Egypt. Much evidence has demonstrated
that embalming is religious in origin. The Egyptians believed that preservation of the mummy
allowed the soul to return to the preserved corpse.

Other cultures that had developed embalming processes include the Incas in Peru, whose climate
also favored a form of mummification. Other ancient peoples who practiced embalming were
Ethiopian tribes, aboriginal inhabitants of the Canary Islands, Babylonians, Persians, Syrians,
Greeks, Romans, and Sumerians, the Jivaro tribes of Ecuador, the Guanches, and Tibetans. Recent
studies have shown that Nigerian tribes also practiced traditional embalming. Wadel (1912), in

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chronicling the history of embalming, noted that some early Christians were embalmed, though
they rejected it as a pagan practice. The Biblical Joseph, for example, was embalmed.

In ancient times, embalming was mainly practiced in Asia, Africa and the pre-Columbian cultures
of South America. In June 1999, a burial ground containing almost 10,000 mummies was
discovered near Bawiti, 320 km southwest of Cairo. Following ancient times, it spread to Europe,
where it was attempted from time to time, especially during the Crusades, when crusading
noblemen wished to have their bodies preserved for burial closer to home. In 2002, mummified
bodies were discovered on an island in the Outer Hebides, Scotland, and dated from 10,000 BC.

Embalming began to come back into practice in parallel with the anatomists of the Renaissance,
who needed to be able to preserve their specimens. History has it that embalming in the
Renaissance period was minimal and by specialists only. Then, however, scientific development
influenced the practice such that discoveries in the world of medicine resulted in the development
of modern embalming techniques.

The scientific trends are as follows:

*Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) produced hundreds of anatomical plates as a result of dissection

of the human body. Da Vinci undoubtedly used arterial injections to preserve the specimens.

*Dr. William Harvey (1578-1657) was the English physician who discovered the circulation of
blood.

*Dr. Frederick Ruysch (1665-1717), a Dutch anatomist, is believed to be the first man to embalm
by injecting a prepared preservative chemical solution into the blood vessels. His technique is
unknown.

*Dr. William Hunter (1718-1783) is credited with being the first to successfully adopt arterial
injection as a means of preservation.

*Jean Gannal (1721-1783) began as an apothecary’s assistant and became the first to offer
embalming to the French general public.

*In 1867, the German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann discovered formaldehyde, whose
preservative properties were soon discovered and became the foundation for modern methods of
embalming.

*Dr. Thomas Holmes (1817-1900) is generally considered the father of modern embalming. He
experimented with preservative chemicals while working as a coroner’s assistant in New York. He
received a commission from the Army Medical Corps to embalm corpses of the dead Union
officers in the US Civil War to return to their families.

Contemporary embalming methods advanced markedly during the American Civil War. It is said
that modern embalming really got started during this period. The use of ice or otherwise freezing
was also introduced as an embalming technique during early American embalming.

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Embalming by arterial injection as a mortuary practice began in England in the 18th century by the
noted English physiologist Dr. William Harvey. He was said to have injected colored solution into
the arteries of cadavers. Research showed that the Dutch, German, and Scottish scientists,
Frederich Ruysch, Griel Claurus, and William Hunter, respectively, used similar arterial injections
for embalming of bodies. During the 18th century, William Hunter worked in London using
injection fluid containing turpentine, and oil of lavender colored with vermillion for the arterial
injection. He injected camphorated oil and wine into the chest and abdominal cavities.

The first generally accepted embalming preparation was arsenic solution. In the 19th and early 20th
centuries, arsenic was frequently used as an embalming fluid but has since been supplanted by
other more effective and less toxic fluids.

Today, typical embalming fluid contains a mixture of formaldehyde, methanol, ethanol and other
solvents. The formaldehyde content may range from 9% to 56%. The embalming fluid acts as both
disinfectant as well as preservative.

Methods and Chemicals

Ancient Embalming

Ancient embalming methods varied according to the different cultures and peoples. These methods
consisted of removal of the brains and viscera and the filling of bodily cavities with a mixture of
balsamic herbs and other substances. The ancient Egyptians are known for their embalming
techniques. There were five physical steps in the processing of an Egyptian corpse:

1. Removal of the brain: The brain was removed via the nasal cavity. The skull was refilled
with wax and resins.
2. Evisceration: The internal organs, such as the stomach, the liver, kidneys, and the heart
were removed. This was done through an incision in the abdomen. These organs, as well
as the brain, would be placed in “Coptic jars” that had been filled with a preserving fluid
with a salt base.
3. Immersion: The body was immersed in a salt-based solution. This would last anywhere
from 20 to 70 days. The longer the better.
4. Dehydration: The body was removed from its salt bath and washed, and the limbs were
arranged. After this, they would place the deceased in the sun to dehydrate.
5. Wrapping: This procedure would take several hours. About 1200 yards of three-and-a-half
inch wide linen strips would be used on the average body. When wrapping was concluded,
the body would be placed in its sarcophagus and returned to the family.
In Tibet, some bodies are still embalmed using the ancient formula of putting the body in a large
box and packing in salt for about three months, following which it goes into a mummified state.
Superficial embalming by anointing the body with unguents, perfumes, and spices was practiced
by ancient Babylonians and Greeks. The Greeks as well as Assyrians made use of honey. Some
Nigerian tribes also practiced superficial embalming. Use of alcohol in preserving human remains
dates from old Egyptians, and was practiced by British sea forces for hundreds of years. Nigerian
tribes also used alcohol in embalming. The Persians used wax, and the Jews used spices and aloes.
The ancient methods also included the use of hot water and hot oil. The ancient Romans washed
their dead bodies for seven days with hot water and hot oil.

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Modern Embalming

Modern embalming techniques are the result of the accumulation of many centuries of research,
trial and error, and invention. A standardized version of the actual modern embalming process
usually involves four parts:

1. Arterial embalming: This involves the injection of embalming chemicals into the blood
vessels, usually via the right common carotid artery. The blood is displaced from the right
jugular vein. The embalming solution is injected through a mechanical pump or bya
gravity-fed container. The embalmer massages the corpse to ensure a proper distribution
of the embalming fluid. In case of poor circulation, other injection points are used.
2. Cavity embalming: This involves the suction of the internal fluids of the corpse and the
injection of embalming chemicals into body cavities, using an aspirator and trocar. The
embalmer makes a small incision just above the navel and pushes the trocar into the chest
and stomach cavities to puncture the hollow organs and aspirate their contents. He then
fills the cavities with concentrated chemicals that contain formaldehyde.
3. Hypodermic embalming: Embalming chemicals are injected under the skin as needed.
4. Surface embalming: This supplements the other methods, especially for visible, injured
parts.
Freezing or use of ice was introduced as embalming methods during the American Civil War. This
practice is still in existence in developing countries like Nigeria. Technological advancement has
brought a new embalming technique, sorbent technology, for 21st century embalming, which has
eased the process. The sorbent is a unique mixture of wood pulp and absorbent polymer. The
sorbent has absorption and solidification characteristics. When the sorbent is placed into the
cavities, the drainage (fluid) is allowed to freely flow into these cavities. The drainage taken up by
the sorbent is removed as a solid mass ‒ one gram of the sorbent absorbs 12 times its weight.

Embalming in different cultures and Notable Embalmings

Most Christians allow embalming, except for some branches of the Orthodox Church. Orthodox
Jews prohibit it, since their deceased need to be buried within 24 hours of the moment of death,
but it is allowed in exceptional cases. Therefore, the final decision on the embalming is to be made
by the rabbi (the Jewish priest) of a specific community. The Muslims do not allow embalming,
since according to Islam, the body is considered sacred, and so is to be buried as soon as possible
in clean clothes and without a casket.

Throughout history, many of the military leaders who died far away from their home, such as Lord
Nelson after the Battle of Trafalgar, were embalmed in order to be buried in their homeland.
Various communist leaders have been embalmed and put on public display. Perhaps the most
famous embalmed body of the 20th century is that of Vladimir Lenin, which continues to draw
crowds decades after his death in 1924. Joseph Stalin was also embalmed and placed next to Lenin,
but his body was buried in 1961, during de-Stalinization.

Abraham Lincoln was embalmed after his assassination in 1865. In order to prevent anyone from
stealing Lincoln’s body, Lincoln’s eldest son had Lincoln’s grave unearthed in 1901 and had his
father’s body buried in a concrete vault in the burial room of his tomb in Springfield, Illinois.

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Fearing that his body might have been stolen in the interim, family members opened Lincoln’s
coffin, and his features were still recognizable, 36 years after his death.

Kemal Ataturk is another leader who was embalmed after his death. His remains were originally
laid to rest in the Ethnography Museum of Ankara for 15 years, from November 10, 1938 to
November 10, 1953. He was subsequently moved to Anıtkabir in Ankara, Turkey, and buried in a
42-ton sarcophagus.

Eva Perón was also embalmed, by Dr. Pedro Ara, after her death, ordered by her husband, Juan
Perón. The body was preserved to look as if it was in a sleep-like state. While a monument was
being constructed for Eva, her embalmed body was displayed in her former office for almost two
years. Before the monument to Eva was completed, Juan Perón was overthrown in a military coup,
and Eva’s body went missing. Its whereabouts were a mystery for 16 years, until 1971, when the
military revealed that her body was buried in a crypt in Milan, Italy, under the name “María
Maggi.” Her body was eventually returned to Argentina.

Diana, Princess of Wales, was embalmed shortly after her death in France in August 1997. The
decision to embalm her provoked conspiracy theories that she was pregnant, as the embalming
fluid would have destroyed any evidence of fetal presence in her womb. The official explanation
for the embalming was that the warm conditions in the chapel of rest, where her body was laid out,
would have sped up the decomposition of the remains.

Since the 19th century, with the arrival of funeral companies, embalming has become a routine
procedure used to treat an ever-increasing number of the deceased.

Medico-legal considerations

Embalming alters the appearance of the body, tissues, and organs, making it difficult to detect any
injury, disease, or poison. Hence, removal of specimens from such bodies should be completed
before embalming. Embalming incisions may be mistaken for non-existent ante-mortem stab
wounds. Skin bruises may be markedly accentuated due to increased transparency of the overlying
skin, resulting from perfusion with fixative.

In Britain, in a medico-legal case, conducting embalming before autopsy invites liability under
Section 201 IPC, causing disappearance of evidence of offense or giving false information. The
Anatomy Act allows for the collection of a dead body for teaching purposes only if the death
occurs in a State Hospital or in a Public Place within the prescribed zone of a medical institution
and provided the police have declared (after 48 hours) that there are no claimants for the body and
it may be used for medical purposes.

Hazards

Embalming products are hazardous and are regulated under hazardous substances legislation.
Exposure to embalming products, such as formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde, can pose serious
health risks to workers and can worsen existing health problems.

Formaldehyde is highly toxic by inhalation, skin contact, and by swallowing. Solutions containing
formaldehyde give off formaldehyde gas, which is easy to breathe in, so effective ventilation is

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essential. Breathing in formaldehyde can irritate nerves in the eyes and nose, while skin contact
can cause rashes and allergic reactions.

Some embalming solutions may contain glutaraldehyde. Glutaraldehyde may be used in

embalming products with or without formaldehyde. Glutaraldehyde is also extremely toxic, can
be fatal, and must be handled with care.

Both formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde are harmful to human organs. Getting formaldehyde- or
glutaraldehyde-containing solutions in your eyes can cause serious damage, including, in severe
cases, blindness. Acute effects on your health, such as eye, nose, and throat irritation, can occur
after single, large, or repeated exposure. In some cases, you may not notice an immediate effect,
but the effects may appear over a longer period of time. Long-term exposure to these embalming
products can seriously damage your health and can lead to cancer or damage your internal organs.
Both formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde can cause sensitization. When someone is sensitized to a
hazardous substance, repeated exposure can lead to dangerous health conditions, such as asthma
or dermatitis.

Embalmers need to be aware of the dangers of the products they use and how to safely manage
them. In general, hazardous products should be handled by qualified people.

It is not just the products used in the process that may pose a risk for the embalmers. These people
also run the risk of contracting certain diseases from a deceased body. Johns Hopkins researchers
have reported the first known case of tuberculosis transmitted from a cadaver to an embalmer.
Infectious HIV has been reported in the pleural fluid, pericardial fluid, and blood of such patients
after storage at 2°C for up to 16.5 days post-mortem. There is also a reported case of HIV recovered
from bone fragments, brain, bone marrow, spleen, and lymph nodes from a patient with AIDS at
autopsy six days after death. An accidental injury may occur during embalming, causing
occupational HIV infection.

Conclusion

In conclusion, embalming in most modern cultures is the art of temporarily preserving human
remains to retard decomposition and make it suitable for display at a funeral, and most important
of all, a science of preserving human body for anatomical research and study.

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Search Reading 7

Fill in the blanks with information extracted from the text. Keep your answer as short as possible.

1. The difference between the Soviet and American space programs was that the Soviets had
different design groups competing against each other to design the best projects, while the
Americans _________________________________________, NASA.
2. Until the 1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev’s glasnost policy was applied, some mission
results were revealed only if they were successful. When the missions ended with failure,
no information was given to the public because of ________________________________.
3. The intercontinental ballistic missile that the Soviet Union developed was considered to be
an excellent space launch vehicle, for it not only had ______________________________
___________ but also a huge capacity to carry weight up to five tons. This is why it was
later used to launch Sputnik 1.
4. Of all the manned spaceflights of the Vostok program, Vostok 5 flight lasted the longest
with almost five days, in which _________________________________________ was set
by the 82 orbits.
5. Although it was at first decided that the cosmonauts had to be ____________________
_____________________, this was later changed because five of the 20 selected
candidates were outside the desired age range.
6. Gherman Titov, in 1961, was the first person to spend more than 24 hours in space and
_________________________________________.
7. The first living beings that returned safely from the Moon were ___________________
______________________.
8. There are several reasons why Russia’s first civilian space center is constructed in that area
in the Far East district. First, the routes do not go over crowded places where many people
live. Also, there is existing _________________________________________, as well as
great reserves of locally produced electricity.

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 SOVIET-RUSSIAN SPACE PROGRAM

The theory of space exploration had a solid basis in the Russian Empire before the First World
War with the writings of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, a Russian math teacher. Tsiolkovsky published
pioneering papers in the late 19th and 20th centuries, one of which was Exploring Space with
Reactive Devices, the first great study of rocketry. He developed the basic formulas for space
travel: a rocket going 15,000mph would hold suborbital flight long enough to land halfway around
the world, one traveling 17,000mph would end up in orbit, and one traveling 25,000mph could
break free of the earth’s gravity and travel to the moon. His papers were largely ignored until the
1920s, when they were discovered by some German scientists fascinated with rocketry.

The Soviet Space Program was one of the great achievements of the Soviet Union. Sergey
Pavlovich Korolyov was the chief designer of the Soviet Space Program. Korolyov developed the
first generation of Soviet rockets based in part on blueprints of German V-2 rockets seized at the
end of World War II. Regarded as more influential than Werner von Braun, the father of the
American space program, he designed the rocket that lift Sputnik and the first man in space as well
as the first ballistic missile. However, unlike its American competitor in the “space race,” which
had NASA as a single coordinating agency, the USSR’s program was split among several
competing design groups led by Korolyov, Mikhail Yangel, Valentin Glushko, and Vladimir
Chelomei.

Over its sixty-year history, this primarily classified military program was responsible for a number
of pioneering accomplishments in space flight, including the first intercontinental ballistic
missile (1957), the first satellite (Sputnik 1), the first animal in space (the dog Laika on Sputnik
2), the first human in space and Earth orbit (cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1), the first
woman in space and Earth orbit (cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova on Vostok 6), the first
spacewalk (cosmonaut Alexey Leonov on Voskhod 2), the first Moon impact (Luna 2), the first
image of the far side of the moon (Luna 3) and unmanned lunar soft landing (Luna 9), the
first space rover, the first space station, and the first interplanetary probe, or investigation.

Due to the program’s classified status, announcements of the outcomes of missions were delayed
until success was certain, and failures were sometimes kept secret. Ultimately, as a result
of Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost in the 1980s, the policy that allowed discussion of the
country’s problems, many facts about the space program were declassified. Notable setbacks
included the deaths of Korolyov, Vladimir Komarov, and Yuri Gagarin between 1966 and 1968.
Also, only then were the disastrous experiences with the huge N-1 rocket revealed. Using the N-1
rocket, the Russians aimed to send a man to the moon, but the Soviet moon program was
abandoned because the super-heavy booster developed for the project failed four times during
attempted launches. During its first unmanned test in 1969, the N-1 rose steadily for 68 seconds
before vibrations broke a fuel pipe, shutting down all the engines. The rocket crashed 34 miles
away. During a second test six months later, the rocket exploded in a massive fireball after a bolt
was sucked into one of the engines. The third and fourth tests also resulted in explosions.

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Sputnik, Vostok, and Voskhod Programs

The Soviet plan to launch a satellite was approved by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in January
1956. Plans were approved for Earth-orbiting satellites (Sputnik) to gain knowledge of space, and
four unmanned military reconnaissance satellites, Zenit.

Under the direction of the rocket pioneer Sergey Korolyov, the Soviet Union during the 1950s
developed an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that was capable of delivering a
heavy nuclear warhead to American targets. That ICBM, called the R-7 or Semyorka, was first
successfully tested on August 21, 1957. Because of its global range and large payload of
approximately five tons, the reliable R-7 was effective as an excellent basis for a space vehicle.
When used as a space launch vehicle, this gave the Soviet Union a significant early advantage in
the weight that could be placed in orbit or sent to the Moon or nearby planets.

An unmodified R-7 was used to launch the first Soviet satellite, Sputnik 1, on October 4, 1957.
Sputnik 1 was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg, and took
about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. History changed on that day, when the
Soviet Union successfully launched the world’s first artificial satellite. That launch ushered in new
political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a
single event, it marked the start of the space age and the US-USSR space race.

After the first Sputnik proved successful, Korolyov was charged to accelerate the manned program,
the design of which was combined with the Zenit program to produce the Vostok spacecraft. Still
influenced by Tsiolkovsky ‒who had chosen Mars as the most important goal for space travel‒ in
the early 1960s, the Russian program under Korolyov created substantial plans for manned trips
to Mars as early as 1968 to 1970. Further planned developments called for a manned Earth
orbit flight by 1964 and an unmanned lunar mission at an earlier date.

The Vostok program was a Soviet human spaceflight project to put the first Soviet citizens
into low Earth orbit and return them safely. It succeeded in placing the first human, Yuri Gagarin,
into space, in a single orbit in Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961. The Vostok capsule was developed
from the Zenit satellite project and adapted the Vostok launch rocket from the existing R-7
missile design. The name “Vostok” was treated as classified information until Gagarin’s flight was
first publicly disclosed to the world press.

The program carried out six manned spaceflights between 1961 and 1963. The longest flight lasted
nearly five days, and the last four were launched in pairs, one day apart. This exceeded Project
Mercury’s demonstrated capability of longest flight which was just over 34 hours. The Soviet
Union ended its Vostok program the next month, with the human spaceflight endurance record set
by 82 orbits, almost 5-day Vostok 5 flight.

Vostok was succeeded by two Voskhod program flights in 1964 and 1965, which used three- and
two-man modifications of the Vostok capsule and a larger launch rocket.

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Soviet Space Dogs

On November 3, 1957, the Soviet Union placed a second satellite, Sputnik II in orbit. Several times
larger than its predecessor, it carried the first living creature into space ‒ a female Samoyed husky
dog named Laika.

Laika was placed in a cylindrical chamber kept at room temperature and supplied with oxygen.
She wore a special suit and was fed a nutritional paste, confined with metal straps and covers with
electrodes that monitored her pulse, respiration, and body movements. The purpose of her flight
was to test life support systems, check out the effects of weightlessness on balance, and drinking
and eating. She apparently suffered no ill effects from the weightlessness, reached a record altitude
of 1,050 miles for the earth, and died after 10 days when her oxygen ran out. Her spacecraft was
not designed to return to earth.

Two female Samoyed huskies, Belka and Strelka, were the first animals to be recovered from
space. They were sent aloft in August 1960, orbited the earth 17 times in 25 hours, and survived
the space flight and the re-entry to Earth. Three and half months after Belka and Strelka’s flight,
two other female Samoyed huskies, Ptsyolka and Mushka, were sent into orbit, but the entry angle
of their capsule was too steep, and they burned up during re-entry into the atmosphere.

Dogs were also sent up 50 miles into space with a human dummy filled with cockroaches, mice
and other creatures to test space suits for the first manned flights.

Cosmonaut selection and training

By January 1959, the Soviets had begun preparations for human spaceflight. Physicians from the
Soviet Air Force insisted that the potential cosmonaut candidates be qualified Air Force pilots,
arguing that they would have relevant skills such as exposure to higher g-forces, as well as ejection
seat experience. The candidates had to be intelligent, comfortable in high-stress situations, and
physically fit.

Chief designer of the Soviet space program, Sergei Korolyov, decided that the cosmonauts must
be male, between 25 and 30 years old, no taller than 1.75 meters, and weigh no more than 72
kilograms. The final specifications for cosmonauts were approved in June 1959. By September,
interviews with potential cosmonauts had begun. Although the pilots were not told they might be
flying into space, one of the physicians in charge of the selection process believed that some pilots
had figured this out. Just over 200 candidates made it through the interview process, and by
October, a series of demanding physical tests were conducted on those remaining, such as exposure
to low pressures and a centrifuge test. By the end of 1959, 20 men had been selected. Of these 20,
five were outside the desired age range; so the age requirement was altered. The Soviet spacecraft
were more automated than the American counterparts, so significant piloting experience was not
necessary.

On January 11, 1960, Soviet Chief Marshal of Aviation Konstantin Vershinin approved plans to
establish the Cosmonaut Training Center, whose exclusive purpose would be to prepare the
cosmonauts for their upcoming flights. Initially the facility would have about 250 staff. Vershinin
assigned the already famous aviator Nikolai Kamanin to supervise operations at the facility. By
March, most of the cosmonauts had arrived at the training facility; on March 7, Vershinin gave a

189
welcome speech, and those who were present were formally inducted into the cosmonaut
group. By mid-June, all twenty were permanently stationed at the center. In March, the cosmonauts
were started on a daily fitness regime and were taught classes on such topics as rocket space
systems, navigation, geophysics, and astronomy.

Due to the initial facility’s space limitations, the cosmonauts and staff were relocated to a new
facility in Star City, which has been the home of Russia’s cosmonaut training program for over
fifty years. The move officially took place on June 29, 1960.

The first manned spaceflight in April 1961, Vostok 1, was preceded by several preparatory flights.
In the summer of 1960, the Soviets learned that the Americans could launch a sub-orbital manned
spaceflight as early as January 1961. Korolyov saw this as an important deadline and was
determined to launch a manned orbital mission before the Americans launched their
manned suborbital mission. By April 1960, designers at Sergei Korolyov’s design bureau, then
known as OKB-1, had completed a draft plan for the first Vostok spacecraft, called Vostok 1K.
This design would be used for testing purposes; also in their plan was Vostok 2K and Vostok 3K,
which would be used for all six manned Vostok missions.

Despite the very large geographical size of the Soviet Union, there were obvious limitations to
monitoring orbital spaceflights from ground stations within the country. To remedy this, the
Soviets stationed about 7 naval vessels, or tracking ships, around the world. For each ground
station or tracking ship, the duration of communications with an orbiting spacecraft was limited to
five to ten minutes.

First man in space

On April 12, 1961, the USSR opened the era of manned spaceflight, with the flight of the first
cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin. Gagarin’s flight, part of the Soviet Vostok space exploration program,
took 108 minutes and consisted of a single orbit of the Earth.

On August 7, 1961, Gherman Titov, another Soviet cosmonaut, became the second man in orbit
during his Vostok 2 mission.

By June 16, 1962, the Union launched a total of six Vostok cosmonauts, two pairs of them flying
concurrently, and accumulating a total of 260 cosmonaut-orbits and just over sixteen cosmonaut-
days in space.

First woman in space

The first woman in space was former civilian parachutist Valentina Tereshkova, who entered orbit
on June 16, 1963, aboard the Soviet mission Vostok 6. The chief Soviet spacecraft designer,
Sergey Korolyov, conceived of the idea to recruit a female cosmonaut corps and launch two
women concurrently on Vostok 5/6. However, his plan was changed to launch a male first
in Vostok 5, followed shortly afterward by Tereshkova. Khrushchev personally spoke to
Tereshkova by radio during her flight.

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Notable firsts
 1957 : First intercontinental ballistic missile, the R-7 “Semyorka”
 1957 : First satellite, Sputnik 1
 1957 : First animal in Earth orbit, the dog Laika on Sputnik 2
 1959 : First rocket ignition in Earth orbit, first man-made object to escape Earth’s
gravity, Luna 1
 1959 : First data communications, or telemetry, to and from outer space, Luna 1
 1959 : First man-made object to pass near the Moon, first man-made object in
Heliocentric orbit, Luna 1
 1959 : First probe to impact the Moon, Luna 2
 1959 : First images of the moon’s far side, Luna 3
 1960 : First animals to safely return from Earth orbit, the dogs Belka and
Strelka on Sputnik 5.
 1961 : First probe launched to Venus, Venera 1
 1961 : First person in space (International definition) and in Earth orbit, Yuri
Gagarin on Vostok 1, Vostok programme
 1961 : First person to spend over 24 hours in space Gherman Titov, Vostok 2 (also first
person to sleep in space).
 1962 : First dual manned spaceflight, Vostok 3 and Vostok 4
 1962 : First probe launched to Mars, Mars 1
 1963 : First woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, Vostok 6
 1964 : First multi-person crew (3), Voskhod 1
 1965 : First extra-vehicular activity (EVA), by Aleksei Leonov, Voskhod 2
 1965 : First probe to hit another planet of the Solar system (Venus), Venera 3
 1966 : First probe to make a soft landing on and transmit from the surface of the
moon, Luna 9
 1966 : First probe in lunar orbit, Luna 10
 1967 : First unmanned rendezvous and docking, Cosmos 186/Cosmos 188.
 1968 : First living beings to reach the Moon (circumlunar flights) and return unharmed
to Earth, Russian tortoises on Zond 5
 1969 : First docking between two manned craft in Earth orbit and exchange of
crews, Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5
 1970 : First soil samples automatically extracted and returned to Earth from another
celestial body, Luna 16
 1970 : First robotic space rover, Lunokhod 1 on the Moon.
 1970 : First data received from the surface of another planet of the Solar
system (Venus), Venera 7
 1971 : First space station, Salyut 1
 1971 : First probe to impact the surface of Mars, Mars 2
 1971 : First probe to land on Mars, Mars 3
 1975 : First probe to orbit Venus, to make soft landing on Venus, first photos from
surface of Venus, Venera 9
 1980 : First Hispanic and Black person in space, Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez on Soyuz 38
 1984 : First woman to walk in space, Svetlana Savitskaya (Salyut 7 space station)
 1986 : First crew to visit two separate space stations (Mir and Salyut 7)
 1986 : First probes to deploy robotic balloons into Venus atmosphere and to return
pictures of a comet during close flyby Vega 1, Vega 2
 1986 : First permanently manned space station, Mir, 1986–2001, with permanent
presence on board (1989–1999)
 1987 : First crew to spend over one year in space, Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov on
board of Soyuz TM-4 - Mir

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SPACE CENTERS
Baikonur Space Center
Baikonur Space Center is the first and the largest cosmodrome in the world. The area of this
spaceport is 6717 km². It is located in Kazakhstan. The spaceport is currently leased by the Kazakh
Government to Russia until 2050, and is managed jointly by the Roscosmos State Corporation and
the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Today, Baikonur Space Center consists of nine launching sites, four launchers for testing
intercontinental ballistic missiles, 13 assembly and testing facility, 600 transforming substations,
two airfields, 470 km of railways, 1281 km of roads, 6610 km of transmission lines, and 2784 km
of telecommunication lines.
Guiana Space Centre
The Guiana Space Centre, or more commonly, Centre Spatial Guyanais, (CSG) is a French and
European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana. Operational since 1968, it is
particularly suitable as a location for a spaceport as it fulfills the two major geographical
requirements of such a site. First, it is near the equator, so that the spinning Earth can impart extra
velocity to the rockets for free when launched eastward, and second, it has open sea to the east, so
that lower stages of rockets and debris from launch failures cannot fall on human habitations.
The European Space Agency (ESA), the French Space Agency (CNES), and the commercial
companies Arianespace and Azercosmos conduct launches from Kourou.
Vostochny Space Center
Today, Russia’s space industry is experiencing a resurgence spearheaded by reforms of the
aerospace industry enterprises, reevaluation of Russia’s place in the system of international space
cooperation, and in-depth review of the goals and pathways of future development. For the first
time in many years, decisions on space industry’s development are not based solely on politics,
but take into account pragmatic objectives, such as the progress of science and industry, the
strengthening of Russia’s defensive capacity, and development of international relations with the
help of new opportunities.
One of such objectives was the creation of Russia’s first civilian space center known as Vostochny.
This launching site will have to assure independent space access from Russia’s territory across the
whole range of space-related tasks. With its very own space center that will be a launchpad for
orbiting spacecraft, man-carrying flights, and deep space explorations, Russia is becoming a
serious and prominent partner for international space projects.
Vostochny is a 21st century space center representative of Russia’s new philosophy. It is 8,000 km
away from Moscow and 180 km from Blagoveshchensk. The center has an area of 700 km2, with
the space center, airport and the town of Tsiolkovsky, which will become the technological center
of the future space cluster.
The reason why Vostochny Space Center was built here is that the launch routes go over water and
sparsely populated regions of the Far East, which means additional safety for people and residential
properties. Also, there’s already traffic infrastructure in place: the Baikal-Amur Mainline and
Chita-Khabarovsky highway, as well as great reserves of locally produced electricity.

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Search Reading 8
Fill in the blanks with information extracted from the text. Keep your answers as short as possible.

Text I.
1. Although OCD patients are aware that their obsessions are not true, they still can’t avoid
focusing on the obsessions or they can’t stop _____________________________
____________.
2. While obsessions are a set of impulses, anxiety- or disgust-causing images, or thoughts that
come to mind recurrently and persistently, compulsions are recurrent behaviors or mental
acts whose aim is to _________________________________________ triggered by
obsessions.
3. In the treatment of OCD, simple techniques of relaxation can be helpful in relieving
_________________________________________.
Text II.
4. It is normal that everyone has their own insecurities. When one looks into the mirror, s/he
may think that some part of his/her body is imperfect. But for normal people, these thoughts
can easily disappear when they step away from the mirror. That is, such imperfections
_________________________________________.
5. People with BDD (body dysmorphic disorder) think about their flaws for hours every day.
Sometimes these flaws are real, and sometimes only people with BDD perceive them as
real. They are unable to control their pessimistic thoughts and when they are told
_________________________________________, they don’t believe this.
6. According to the percentages given in 2013 by American Psychiatric Association, in the
US, BDD often starts during adolescence at the ages of 12 or 13, and is seen in
_________________________________________.
7. It is not very easy to live with BDD. Megan Bain-Kretschmer, a BDD sufferer, explains
that the disorder causes self-disgust, and this feeling creates a distance between her and her
husband and friends. This distance creates a _______________________________
__________ between them.
8. In addition to conventional methods of treatment, Dr. Gorbis uses some original methods
such as _________________________________________ to treat BDD.

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Text I.

What Is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder in which people have recurring,

unwanted thoughts, ideas or sensations (obsessions) that make them feel driven to do something
repetitively (compulsions). The repetitive behaviors, such as hand washing, checking on things or
cleaning, can significantly interfere with a person’s daily activities and social interactions.

Many people have focused thoughts or repeated behaviors. But these do not disrupt daily life and
may add structure or make tasks easier. For people with OCD, thoughts are persistent and
unwanted routines and behaviors are rigid, and not doing them causes great distress. Many people
with OCD know or suspect their obsessions are not true; others may think they could be true
(known as poor insight). Even if they know their obsessions are not true, people with OCD have a
hard time keeping their focus off the obsessions or stopping the compulsive actions.

A diagnosis of OCD requires the presence of obsession and/or compulsions that are time-
consuming (more than one hour a day), cause major distress, and impair work, social or other
important function. About 1.2 percent of Americans have OCD, and among adults, slightly more
women than man are affected. OCD often begins in childhood, adolescence or early adulthood;
the average age symptoms appear is 19 years old.

Obsessions

Obsessions are recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that cause distressing
emotions such as anxiety or disgust. Many people with OCD recognize that the thoughts, impulses,
or images are a product of their mind and are excessive or unreasonable. Yet these intrusive
thoughts cannot be settled by logic or reasoning. Most people with OCD try to ignore or suppress
such obsessions or offset them with some other thought or action. Typical obsessions include
excessive concerns about contamination or harm, the need for symmetry or exactness, or forbidden
sexual or religious thoughts.

Compulsions

Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts that a person feels driven to perform in
response to an obsession. The aim of these behaviors or acts is to prevent or reduce distress or a
feared situation caused by obsessions. In the most severe cases, a constant repetition of rituals may
fill the day, making a normal routine impossible. Compounding the anguish these rituals cause is
the knowledge that the compulsions are irrational. Although the compulsion may bring some relief
to the worry, the obsession returns and the cycle repeats over and over.

Some examples of compulsions:

- Cleaning to reduce the fear that germs, dirt, or chemicals will “contaminate” them. Some
people spend many hours washing themselves or cleaning their surroundings.

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 - Repeating to dispel anxiety. Some people utter a name or phrase or repeat a behavior
several times. They know these repetitions won’t actually guard against injury but fear
harm will occur if the repetitions aren’t done.

- Checking to reduce the fear of harming oneself or others by, for example, forgetting to lock
the door or turn off the gas stove. Some people develop checking rituals. Some people
repeatedly retrace driving routes to be sure they haven’t hit anyone.

- Ordering and arranging to reduce discomfort. Some people like to put objects, such as
books in a certain order, or arrange household items “just so,” or in a symmetric fashion.

- Mental compulsions in response to intrusive obsessive thoughts. Some people silently pray
or say phrases to reduce anxiety or prevent a dreaded future event.

Treatment Types

a) Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

One effective treatment is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy known as exposure and response
prevention. During treatment sessions, patients are exposed to the situations that create anxiety
and provoke compulsive behavior or mental rituals. Through exposure, patients learn to decrease
and then stop the rituals that consume their lives. They find that the anxiety arising from their
obsessions lessens without engaging in ritualistic behavior. This technique works well for patients
whose compulsions focus on situations that can be re-created easily. For patients who engage in
compulsive rituals because they fear catastrophic events that can’t be re-created, therapy relies on
imagining exposure to the anxiety-producing situations. Throughout therapy, the patient follows
exposure and response prevention guidelines on which the therapist and patient agree.

Cognitive-behavior therapy can help many OCD patients substantially reduce their OCD
symptoms. However, treatment only works if patients adhere to the procedures. Some patients will
not agree to participate in cognitive-behavioral therapy because of the anxiety it involves.

b) Medication

A class of medications known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is effective in the
treatment of OCD. (The SSRI dosage used to treat OCD may be higher than that used to treat
depression.) Patients who do not respond to one medication sometimes respond to another. Other
psychiatric medications can also be effective. Noticeable benefit usually takes six to twelve weeks
to occur.

Patients with OCD who have received appropriate treatment have shown to have increased quality
of life and improved functioning. Successful treatment may improve the individual’s ability to
attend school, work, develop and enjoy relationships and pursue leisure activities.

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 c) Self-help and Coping

Keeping a healthy lifestyle and being aware of warning signs and what to do if they return can
help in coping with OCD and related disorders. Also, using basic relaxation techniques, such as
meditation, yoga, visualization, and massage, can help ease the stress and anxiety caused by OCD.

Text II.

What Is Body Dysmorphic Disorder?

Insecurities: We’ve all got them. Perhaps when looking in the mirror, we wish our teeth were
whiter or our skin were smoother. Indeed, most of us have something we don’t like about our
appearance ‒ a crooked nose, an uneven smile, or eyes that are too large or too small. And though
we may fret about our imperfections, they don’t interfere with our daily lives. When we step away
from the glass, these thoughts typically fade into the background, and we continue our day.

But what if these minor insecurities didn’t fade, but were rather amplified, compromising our
ability to function? For more than 5 million Americans, this is a daily reality, and it’s called body
dysmorphic disorder. People who have body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) think about their real or
perceived flaws for hours each day. They can’t control their negative thoughts and don’t believe
people who tell them that they look fine. Their thoughts may cause severe emotional distress and
interfere with their daily functioning. They may miss work or school, avoid social situations, and
isolate themselves, even from family and friends, because they fear others will notice their flaws.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, BDD is a body-image disorder
that involves repetitive behaviors and debilitating fixations on a perceived — or imagined — flaw
in one’s appearance, including their face, skin, hair, genitals, and body type. An individual
struggling with the disorder may spend absurd amounts of time examining their body for defects,
comparing themselves to others or engaging in excessive exercise or primping. These obsessions
cause daily tasks, goals, and social interactions to be entirely interrupted, if not brought to a
screeching halt. In some cases, the extraordinary distress of BDD has led to suicide. Dysmorphia
shouldn’t be confused for dysphoria, which typically refers specifically to gender dysphoria and is
when a person’s assigned gender at birth does not match the gender to which they identify.

Characteristics of BDD: Percentages and Numbers

BDD is a body-image disorder characterized by persistent and intrusive preoccupations with an

imagined or slight defect in one’s appearance. People with BDD can dislike any part of their body,
although they often find fault with their hair, skin, nose, chest, or stomach. In reality, a perceived
defect may be only a slight imperfection or nonexistent. But for someone with BDD, the flaw is
significant and prominent, often causing severe emotional distress and difficulties in daily
functioning. BDD most often develops in adolescents and teens, starting at the age of 12 or 13,
and research shows that it affects men and women almost equally. In the United States, BDD
occurs in about 2.5% of males, and in 2.2 % of females. (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

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What causes BDD?

The causes of BDD are unclear, but certain factors may contribute to its development. According
to Dr. Eda Gorbis, director and founder of the Westwood Institute for Anxiety Disorders, BDD
can stem from a number of biological and environmental factors. These may include genetic
predisposition to compulsive disorders, cognitive malfunction, peer groups or childhood trauma.
While the media appears to be a probable culprit behind BDD, Gorbis informs us otherwise.
“While there is an overfocus in the media towards the way we look, this disorder occurs around
the world, regardless of access to media or socioeconomic status,” she says. “Only those who are
predisposed to the illness will encounter the illness.” And perhaps surprisingly, it affects women
and men almost equally.

Signs and Symptoms of BDD

People with BDD suffer from obsessions about their appearance that can last for hours or up to an
entire day. BDD obsessions may be focused on musculature (i.e. fixation on muscle mass or
definition). Hard to resist or control, these obsessions make it difficult for people with BDD to
focus on anything but their imperfections. This can lead to low self-esteem, avoidance of social
situations, and problems at work or school.

BDD sufferers may perform some type of compulsive or repetitive behavior to try to hide or
improve their flaws although these behaviors usually give only temporary relief. Examples can be
listed as camouflaging (with body position, clothing, makeup, hair, hats, etc.), comparing body
part to others’ appearance, seeking surgery, checking in a mirror, avoiding mirrors, skin picking,
excessive grooming, excessive exercise, or changing clothes excessively.

BDD and Other Mental Health Disorders

Dr. Gorbis stresses the fact that BDD is often misdiagnosed as OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder), social anxiety, clinical depression, or an eating disorder. However, typically developed
during adolescence, BDD actually emerges as an accumulation of several of these issues. In fact,
people with BDD commonly also suffer from all these anxiety disorders.

BDD can also be misunderstood as one of these disorders because they share similar symptoms.
The intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors exhibited in BDD are similar to the obsessions and
compulsions of OCD. Yet, BDD is distinguished from OCD when the preoccupations or repetitive
behaviors focus specifically on appearance. Avoiding social situations in BDD may be due to
shame or embarrassment of one’s physical appearance and is similar to the behavior of some
people with social anxiety disorder.

So, what is it really like to live with BDD?

Megan Bain-Kretschmer, a 27-year-old mother of three, opened up about her ongoing journey with
the disorder — a journey that is anything but linear. From a young age, Bain-Kretschmer found
herself struggling with body image, spending hours in front of the mirror cataloging each of her
flaws and screaming hateful words at herself. She would often engage in cycles of restricting food,
monitoring her weight, and binge-eating. Even after years of therapy, these internal conflicts
followed her into adulthood. “Some mornings, I can’t even lift my eyes to look into the mirror

197
because all of the imperfections on my face immediately jump out and start yelling at me, telling
me how pathetic I am,” Bain-Kretschmer says. “On those days, I generally avoid going out in
public or wearing clothes that might feel snug or revealing. I can’t even look at myself, let alone
expect anyone else to want to see me.” On other days, she’ll starve herself before overexercising,
with the goal of getting in the perfect shape and achieving a sense of “worthiness.” Bain-
Kretschmer explains that the self-hatred that comes with the bad days of BDD places a physical
and emotional barrier between her and her husband and distances her from her friends. And even
on a good day, BDD lingers.

Treatment

While the media images may be thought to have a tendency to increase the severity of BDD, as
Dr. Gorbis refutes this idea, another option appears: Could the media be the solution to this
problem? Thanks to powerful body-positive models like Ashley Graham and Ruby Vizcarra and
the ongoing efforts toward destigmatizing plastic surgery, individuals are encouraged to love the
skin they’re in while retaining the freedom to change their appearance as they please. Doesn’t that
solve the issue? Not quite. Remember, the self-imagery feedback between the eye and the brain of
these individuals is incredibly distorted, and while a surgery might “fix” a perceived flaw to one’s
satisfaction, the obsession can simply shift its focus to another feature. In fact, Gorbis advises
BDD patients to avoid plastic surgery and instead address and treat the issue as a psychiatric
disorder.

To get an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment, people must mention specifically their
concerns with their appearance when they talk to a doctor or mental health professional. A trained
clinician should diagnose BDD. However, you can take a self-test that can help suggest if BDD is
present, but it will not offer a definitive diagnosis. If your child is preoccupied with appearance so
that it interferes with concentration in school or if behaviors listed above appear, talk to a mental
health professional.

Effective treatments are available to help BDD sufferers live full, productive lives. Cognitive-
behavioral therapy (CBT) teaches patients to recognize irrational thoughts and change negative
thinking patterns. Patients learn to identify unhealthy ways of thinking and behaving and replace
them with positive ones. Antidepressant medications, including selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors (SSRIs), can help relieve the obsessive and compulsive symptoms of BDD. Treatment
is tailored to each patient, so it is important to talk with a doctor to determine the best individual
approach. Many doctors recommend using a combination of treatments for best results.

Aside from these conventional methods (such as prescription medications in addition to forms of
cognitive behavioral therapy employed to change one’s perception of self-image), with which
BDD can be professionally treated, there are some options of treatment that are unprecedented.
While working to establish formal structure in her patients’ daily lives, Dr. Gorbis also uses some
unconventional treatments with her BDD patients, including — ironically — exposure to distorting
funhouse mirrors. “The whole idea of psychiatry is to externalize distorted feelings,” Gorbis
explains. “These mirrors help them to understand how they see themselves daily and externalize
what is internally improper.”

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In addition to explorative therapy, Bain-Kretschmer follows an interesting pathway as a BDD
patient, and she keeps up with personal journaling, spends time with her kids, and practices
powerlifting to combat BDD. She says these mindful lifestyle changes have increased her capacity
to love herself and have made the bad days less common. While there is currently no cure for the
disorder, she wants to help other individuals make the same progress. “I want to make sure anyone
struggling with BDD knows that they’re not alone, that seeking help is the strongest and most
brave thing they will ever do,” Bain-Kretschmer says. “There is a light at the end of the tunnel
where myself and the rest of BDD sufferers will be waiting to love them and cheer them on through
this lifelong battle.”

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Search Reading 9
Fill in the blanks with information extracted from the text. Keep your answers as short as possible.

1. The teacher-centered approach to learning considers students to be “empty vessels,” who

are the passive receivers of knowledge from teachers through lectures and direct
instruction. This approach measures the learning of students through
_________________________________________.
2. In the direct instruction model, in which systematic and scripted lesson plans are often
employed, teachers and professors perform their duties as _______________________
__________________.
3. Founded on the notion of multiple intelligences, demanding students to do, make, or create,
kinesthetic learning is also known as hands-on learning or _________________________
________________.
4. A teacher using differentiated instruction would assign students readings at their own
levels, or provide them with different spelling lists. Also, s/he would meet with small
groups to _________________________________________.
5. In the class of a teacher who utilizes inquiry-based learning, if the teacher applies the
personal model style, students learn by ________________________________________.
6. Expeditionary learning, which uses G Suite and Internet access to help and guide student
research, presentation, and implementation of projects, takes as it core the following two
strategies: _________________________________________.
7. While personalized learning tremendously centralizes students, teachers’ presence in the
lessons are still required. Moreover, because of the online format of the lessons and
programs, teachers need to have the ability to easily _____________________________
____________.
8. Game-based learning equips students with the necessary problem-solving abilities and soft
skills, so this type of learning does not concentrate on grades, but rather helps develop
_________________________________________.

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 TEACHING METHODS

The term teaching method refers to the general principles, pedagogy, and management strategies
used for classroom instruction. Your choice of teaching method depends on what fits you – your
educational philosophy, classroom demographic, subject area(s), and school mission statement.
Teaching theories can be organized into four categories based on two major parameters: a teacher-
centered approach versus a student-centered approach, and high-tech material use versus low-tech
material use.

Teacher-Centered Approach to Learning

Taken to its most extreme interpretation, teachers are the main authority figure in a teacher-
centered instruction model. Students are viewed as “empty vessels” who passively receive
knowledge from their teachers through lectures and direct instruction, with an end goal of positive
results from testing and assessment. In this style, teaching and assessment are viewed as two
separate entities; student learning is measured through objectively scored tests and assessments.

Student-Centered Approach to Learning

While teachers are still an authority figure in a student-centered teaching model, teachers and
students play an equally active role in the learning process. The teacher’s primary role is to coach
and facilitate student learning and overall comprehension of material, and to measure student
learning through both formal and informal forms of assessment, like group projects, student
portfolios, and class participation. In the student-centered classroom, teaching and assessment are
connected because student learning is continuously measured during teacher instruction.

High Tech Approach to Learning

Advancements in technology have propelled the education sector in the last few decades. As the
name suggests, the high tech approach to learning utilizes different technology to aid students in
their classroom learning. Many educators use computers and tablets in the classroom, and others
may use the Internet to assign homework. The Internet is also beneficial in a classroom setting as
it provides unlimited resources. Teachers may also use the Internet in order to connect their
students with people from around the world. Below are some tech tools used in classrooms today:

- G Suite (Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Calendar)

- Tablets/laptops

- Gamification software (such as 3DGameLab and Classcraft)

- Education-focused social media platforms

- Technology for accessibility for students with disabilities

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Low Tech Approach to Learning

While technology undoubtedly has changed education, many educators opt to use a more
traditional, low tech approach to learning. Some learning styles require a physical presence and
interaction between the educator and the student. Additionally, some research has shown that low-
tech classrooms may boost learning. For example, students who take handwritten notes have better
recall than students who take typed notes. Another downside of technology in the classroom may
be that students exposed to spell check and autocorrect features at an earlier age may be weaker in
spelling and writing skills. Ultimately, tailoring the learning experience to different types of
learners is incredibly important, and sometimes students work better with a low-tech approach.
Here are some examples of low technology usage in different teaching methodologies:

- Kinesthetic learners have a need for movement when learning. Teachers should allow
students to move around, speak with hands and gestures.

- Expeditionary learning involves “learning by doing” and participating in a hands-on

experience. Students may participate in fieldwork, learning expeditions, projects or case
studies to be able to apply knowledge learned in the classroom to the real world, rather than
learning through the virtual world.

- Many types of vocational or practical training cannot be learned virtually, whether it be a

laboratory experiment or woodworking.

Through these different approaches to teaching, educators can gain a better understanding of how
best to govern their classrooms, implement instruction, and connect with their students. Within
each category of teacher and student centeredness and tech usage, there are specific teaching roles
or “methods” of instructor behavior that feature their own unique mix of learning and assessment
practices. Learn more about each one to find the best fit for your classroom.

Teacher-Centered Methods of Instruction

- Direct Instruction (Low Tech)

Direct instruction is the general term that refers to the traditional teaching strategy that relies on
explicit teaching through lectures and teacher-led demonstrations. In this method of instruction,
the teacher might play one or all of the following roles:

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As the primary teaching strategy under the teacher-centered approach, direct instruction utilizes
passive learning, or the idea that students can learn what they need to through listening and
watching very precise instruction. Teachers and professors act as the sole supplier of knowledge,
and under the direct instruction model, teachers often utilize systematic, scripted lesson plans.
Direct instruction programs include exactly what the teacher should say, and activities that students
should complete, for every minute of the lesson.

Because it does not include student preferences or give them opportunities for hands-on or
alternative types of learning, direct instruction is extremely teacher-centered. It’s also fairly low-
tech, often relying on the use of textbooks and workbooks instead of computers and devices.

- Flipped Classrooms (High Tech)

The idea of the flipped classroom began in 2007, when two teachers began using software that
would let them record their live lectures. By the next school year, they were implementing pre-
recorded lectures and sharing the idea of what became known as the flipped classroom.

Broadly, the flipped classroom label describes the teaching structure that has students watch pre-
recorded lessons at home and complete in-class assignments, as opposed to hearing lectures in
class and doing homework at home. Teachers who implement the flipped classroom model often
film their own instructional videos, but many also use pre-made videos from online sources.

A key benefit of the flipped classroom model is that it allows students to work at their own pace if
that is how the teacher chooses to implement it. In some cases, teachers may assign the same videos
to all students, while in others, teachers may choose to allow students to watch new videos as they
master topics (taking on a more “differentiated” approach).

But despite this potential for more student-centeredness, flipped classroom models are still mostly
based on a teacher’s idea of how learning should happen and what information students need,
making it chiefly teacher-centered. From a technology perspective, the system hinges on pre-
recorded lessons and online activities, meaning both students and teachers need a good Internet
connection and devices that can access it.

- Kinesthetic Learning (Low Tech)

Sometimes known as tactile learning or hands-on learning, kinesthetic learning is based on the
idea of multiple intelligences, requiring students to do, make, or create. In a kinesthetic learning
environment, students perform physical activities rather than listen to lectures or watch
demonstrations. Hands-on experiences, drawing, role-play, building, and the use of drama and
sports are all examples of kinesthetic classroom activities.

Though a great way to keep students engaged and, at times, simply awake, very few classrooms
employ kinesthetic learning activities exclusively. One reason is that, despite the popularity of
learning style theories, there is a lack of research-based evidence that shows that teaching to certain
learning styles produces better academic results.

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One upside is that kinesthetic learning is rarely based on technology, as the method values
movement and creativity over technological skills. That means it’s cheap and fairly low-barrier to
adopt, as well as a welcome break from students’ existing screen time. Kinesthetic learning can be
more student-centered than teacher-centered when students are given the choice of how to use
movement to learn new information or experience new skills, so it’s also adaptable to a teacher’s
particular classroom preferences.

Student-Centered Methods of Instruction

- Differentiated Instruction (Low Tech)

Differentiated instruction is the teaching practice of tailoring instruction to meet individual student
needs. It initially grew popular with the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),
which ensured all children had equal access to public education. The Individualized Education
Programs (IEPs) that started under IDEA helped classroom teachers differentiate for students with
special needs. Today, differentiated instruction is used to meet the needs of all types of learners.

Teachers can differentiate in a number of ways: how students access content, the types of activities
students do to master a concept, what the end product of learning looks like, and how the classroom
is set up. Some examples of differentiation include: having students read books at their own
reading levels, offering different spelling lists to students, or meeting in small groups to reteach
topics.

Though differentiation is focused on individual student needs, it is mostly planned and

implemented by the teacher. And technology, though a potential aid, is not a hallmark of the
differentiated teaching style, making it a fairly traditional, low-barrier method to adopt.

- Inquiry-based Learning (High Tech)

Based on student investigation and hands-on projects, inquiry-based learning is a teaching method
that casts a teacher as a supportive figure who provides guidance and support for students
throughout their learning process, rather than a sole authority figure.

In this method of instruction, the teacher might play one or all of the following roles:

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Teachers encourage students to ask questions and consider what they want to know about the world
around them. Students then research their questions, find information and sources that explain key
concepts, and solve problems they may encounter along the way. Findings might be presented as
self-made videos, websites, or formal presentations of research results.

Inquiry-based learning falls under the student-centered approach, in which students play an active
and participatory role in their own learning. But teacher facilitation is also extremely key to the
process. Usually, during the inquiry cycle, every student is working on a different question or
topic. In this environment, teachers ask high-level questions and make research suggestions about
the process rather than the content. At the end of the inquiry cycle, students reflect on the
experience and what they have learned. They also consider how it connects to other topics of
interest since an inquiry on one topic often results in more questions, and then an inquiry into new
fields.

Inquiry-based learning can make great use of technology through online research sites, social
media, and the possibility for global connections with people outside of the community. But
depending on the subject at hand, it doesn’t necessarily require it.

- Expeditionary Learning (High Tech)

Expeditionary learning is based on the ideas of the educator who founded Outward Bound, and is
a form of project-based learning in which students go on expeditions and engage in in-depth study
of topics that impact their schools and communities.

The learning in this model includes multiple content areas so that students can see how problem-
solving can happen in the real world – ideally, their own worlds. A student in a big city, for
example, might study statistics about pollution, read information about its effects, and travel to
sites in their city that have been impacted by the problem. When they have a good understanding
of the circumstances, students and teachers work to find a solution they can actively implement.

Technology-wise, G Suite (Google Docs, Sheets, and Drive) and Internet access can aid student
research, presentation, and implementation of projects. But it’s the hands-on work and getting out
into the community that’s the cornerstone of this methodology.

- Personalized Learning (High Tech)

Personalized learning is such a new educational model that its definition is still evolving. At the
heart of the model, teachers have students follow personalized learning plans that are specific to
their interests and skills. Student self-direction and choice in the curriculum are hallmarks of
personalized learning.

Assessment is also tailored to the individual: schools and classrooms that implement personalized
learning use competency-based progression, so that students can move onto the next standards or
topics when they’ve mastered what they’re currently working on. That way, students in
personalized learning classrooms can progress to work beyond their grade level as they master
topics, while students who need additional help have that time built into their daily schedules as
well.

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There’s also room for an emphasis on college and career readiness in personalized learning
environments. Students who don’t require remediation or extension work can instead work with
teachers to nurture social skills and other 21st-century skills lessons and receive mentoring.

Personalized learning is extremely student centered, but teachers are required to be present in the
lessons, look at frequent assessment data, and meet with students to make any necessary changes
to their learning plans. They’ll also need to have a certain comfort level with technology: the
differentiated and personalized instruction that students receive often come in the form of online
lessons and programs, so teachers must be able to navigate virtual platforms with ease.

- Game-based Learning (High Tech)

Game-based learning comes from the desire to engage students in more active learning in the
classroom. Because they require students to be problem solvers and use soft skills that they will
need as adults, games are a great way to encourage a “mastery” mindset, rather than a focus on
grades.

In a game-based learning environment, students work on quests to accomplish a specific goal

(learning objective) by choosing actions and experimenting along the way. As students make
certain progress or achievements, they can earn badges and experience points, just like they would
in their favorite video games.

Game-based learning requires a lot of time and planning on the teachers’ part. Fortunately, there
is software that makes this process much easier, like 3DGameLab and Classcraft. Teachers who
use this software may be better at differentiating quests for students because of the data the
programs provide.

Because teachers play a big role in planning and creating content under this model, game-based
learning isn’t completely student-centered. But it is still very much focused on the student, who
works at his/her own pace and makes independent choices in a gamified environment.

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Search Reading 10
Fill in the blanks with information extracted from the text. Keep your answers as short as possible.

1. Unlike classical mechanics, which holds the view that objects exist in a particular time and
place, quantum mechanics views the existence of objects in _______________________
__________________.
2. The earliest known research concerning the wave nature of light started
_________________________________________, when a wave theory of light was
proposed by the early scientists Robert Hooke, Christiaan Huygens, and Leonhard Euler,
based on their experimental observations.
3. Three revolutionary principles that shed light on the evolution of quantum mechanics were
foregrounded by many scientists altogether between 1900 and 1930. These three principles
were _________________________________________.
4. While he tried to explain the color distribution over the spectrum in 1900, Max Planck
came up with an equation, which included a number now called ____________
_____________________________. This number later paved the way for the development
of quantum mechanics (QM).
5. Einstein’s 1905 paper, entitled “Concerning an Heuristic Point of View toward the
Emission and Transformation of Light,” explained that light traveled as “energy quanta,”
not as _________________________________________.
6. Through the study of waves of matter, the German physicist Werner Heisenberg explained
the way electrons moved around in atoms through his development of
_________________________________________. This made it possible to explain what
was inexplicable through classical mechanics.
7. “Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle” explained that if an electron’s position is known with
higher precision, then its speed can be known only with lower precision. This not only
applies to electrons, but to larger objects that are used every day as well. However, in such
objects, this principle cannot be noticed due to the extremely tiny
_________________________________________.
8. Since Bethe’s breakthrough in 1947, quantum field theory (QFT) has formed the basis of
four areas of study, two of which are _________________________________________.

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 WHAT IS QUANTUM MECHANICS?

Introduction

Quantum mechanics (QM; also known as quantum physics or quantum theory), including quantum
field theory, is the branch of physics relating to the very small. It results in what may appear to be
some very strange conclusions about the physical world. At the scale of atoms and electrons, many
of the equations of classical mechanics, which describe how things move at everyday sizes and
speeds, cease to be useful. In classical mechanics, objects exist in a specific place at a specific
time. However, in quantum mechanics, objects instead exist in a haze of probability; they have a
certain chance of being at point A, another chance of being at point B and so on.

In the broadest sense, then, quantum mechanics can be defined as a fundamental theory in physics
which describes nature at the smallest scales of energy levels of atoms and subatomic particles.

Classical physics (the physics existing before quantum mechanics) is a set of fundamental theories
which describes nature at ordinary (macroscopic) scale. Most theories in classical physics can be
derived from quantum mechanics as an approximation valid at large (macroscopic) scale. Quantum
mechanics differs from classical physics in that energy, momentum, and other quantities of a
system may be restricted to discrete values (quantization), objects have characteristics of both
particles and waves (wave-particle duality), and there are limits to the precision with which
quantities can be known (uncertainty principle).

Quantum mechanics gradually arose from theories to explain observations which could not be
reconciled with classical physics, such as Max Planck’s solution in 1900 to the black-body
radiation problem, and from the correspondence between energy and frequency in Albert
Einstein’s 1905 paper which explained the photoelectric effect. Early quantum theory was
profoundly re-conceived in the mid-1920s by Erwin Schrödinger, Werner Heisenberg, Max Born,
and others. The modern theory is formulated in various specially developed mathematical
formalisms. In one of them, a mathematical function, the wave function, provides information
about the probability amplitude of position, momentum, and other physical properties of a particle.

Important applications of quantum theory include quantum chemistry, quantum optics, quantum
computing, superconducting magnets, light-emitting diodes, the laser, the transistor and
semiconductors such as the microprocessor, as well as medical and research imaging such as
magnetic resonance imaging and electron microscopy. Explanations for many biological and
physical phenomena are rooted in the nature of the chemical bond, most notably the macro-
molecule DNA.

The Early History and the Development of the Old Quantum Theory

Scientific inquiry into the wave nature of light began in the 17th and 18th centuries, when scientists
such as Robert Hooke, Christiaan Huygens, and Leonhard Euler proposed a wave theory of light
based on experimental observations. In 1803, Thomas Young, an English polymath, performed the
famous double-slit experiment that he later described in a paper titled “On the Nature of Light and
Colors.” This experiment played a major role in the general acceptance of the wave theory of light.

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In 1838, Michael Faraday discovered cathode rays. These studies were followed by the 1859
statement of the black-body radiation problem by Gustav Kirchhoff, the 1877 suggestion by
Ludwig Boltzmann that the energy states of a physical system can be discrete, and the 1900
quantum hypothesis of Max Planck. Planck’s hypothesis that energy is radiated and absorbed in
discrete “quanta” (or energy packets) precisely matched the observed patterns of black-body
radiation.

In 1896, Wilhelm Wien empirically determined a distribution law of black-body radiation, known
as Wien’s law in his honor. Ludwig Boltzmann independently arrived at this result by
considerations of Maxwell’s equations. However, it was valid only at high frequencies and
underestimated the radiance at low frequencies. Later, Planck corrected this model using
Boltzmann’s statistical interpretation of thermodynamics and proposed what is now called
Planck’s law, which led to the development of quantum mechanics.

Following Max Planck’s solution in 1900 to the black-body radiation problem (reported 1859),
Albert Einstein offered a quantum-based theory to explain the photoelectric effect (1905, reported
1887). Around 1900-1910, the atomic theory and the corpuscular theory of light first came to be
widely accepted as scientific fact; these latter theories can be viewed as quantum theories of matter
and electromagnetic radiation, respectively.

Among the first to study quantum phenomena in nature were Arthur Compton, C. V. Raman, and
Pieter Zeeman, each of whom has a quantum effect named after him. Robert Andrews Millikan
studied the photoelectric effect experimentally, and Albert Einstein developed a theory for it. At
the same time, Ernest Rutherford experimentally discovered the nuclear model of the atom, for
which Niels Bohr developed his theory of the atomic structure, which was later confirmed by the
experiments of Henry Moseley. In 1913, Peter Debye extended Niels Bohr’s theory of atomic
structure, introducing elliptical orbits, a concept also introduced by Arnold Sommerfeld. This
phase is known as “old quantum theory.”

Towards the Fifth Solvay Conference

According to Planck, each energy element is proportional to its frequency. Planck cautiously
insisted that this was simply an aspect of the processes of absorption and emission of radiation and
had nothing to do with the physical reality of the radiation itself. In fact, he considered his quantum
hypothesis a mathematical trick to get the right answer rather than a sizable discovery. However,
in 1905, Albert Einstein interpreted Planck’s quantum hypothesis realistically and used it to
explain the photoelectric effect, in which shining light on certain materials can eject electrons from
the material. He won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for this work.

Einstein further developed this idea to show that an electromagnetic wave such as light could also
be described as a particle (later called the photon), with a discrete quantum of energy that was
dependent on its frequency.

The foundations of quantum mechanics were established during the first half of the 20th century
by Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Louis de Broglie, Arthur Compton, Albert
Einstein, Erwin Schrödinger, Max Born, John von Neumann, Paul Dirac, Enrico Fermi, Wolfgang
Pauli, Max von Laue, Freeman Dyson, David Hilbert, Wilhelm Wien, Satyendra Nath Bose,

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Arnold Sommerfeld, and others. The Copenhagen interpretation of Niels Bohr became widely
accepted.

In the mid-1920s, developments in quantum mechanics led to its becoming the standard
formulation for atomic physics. In the summer of 1925, Bohr and Heisenberg published results
that closed the old quantum theory. Out of deference to their particle-like behavior in certain
processes and measurements, light quanta came to be called photons (1926). In 1926, Erwin
Schrödinger suggested a partial differential equation for the wave functions of particles like
electrons. And when effectively restricted to a finite region, this equation allowed only certain
modes, corresponding to discrete quantum states – whose properties turned out to be exactly the
same as implied by matrix mechanics. From Einstein’s simple postulation was born a flurry of
debating, theorizing, and testing. Thus, the entire field of quantum physics emerged, leading to its
wider acceptance at the Fifth Solvay Conference in 1927.

Three Revolutionary Principles

Quantum mechanics developed over many decades, beginning as a set of controversial

mathematical explanations of experiments that the math of classical mechanics could not explain.
It began at the turn of the 20th century, around the same time that Albert Einstein published his
theory of relativity, a separate mathematical revolution in physics that describes the motion of
things at high speeds. Unlike relativity, however, the origins of QM cannot be attributed to any
one scientist. Rather, multiple scientists contributed to a foundation of three revolutionary
principles that gradually gained acceptance and experimental verification between 1900 and 1930.
They are quantized properties, particles of light, and waves of matter. To explain these three
fundamental notions of quantum mechanics, one needs to further delve into the historical
developments in the evolutionary path of the field.

a) Quantized Properties

Certain properties, such as position, speed and color, can sometimes only occur in specific, set
amounts, much like a dial that “clicks” from number to number. This challenged a fundamental
assumption of classical mechanics, which said that such properties should exist on a smooth,
continuous spectrum. To describe the idea that some properties “clicked” like a dial with specific
settings, scientists coined the word “quantized.”

In 1900, Max Planck sought to explain the distribution of colors emitted over the spectrum in the
glow of red-hot and white-hot objects, such as light-bulb filaments. When making physical sense
of the equation he had derived to describe this distribution, Planck realized it implied that
combinations of only certain colors (albeit a great number of them) were emitted, specifically those
that were whole-number multiples of some base value. Somehow, colors were quantized! This was
unexpected because light was understood to act as a wave, meaning that values of color should be
a continuous spectrum. What could be forbidding atoms from producing the colors between these
whole-number multiples? This seemed so strange that Planck regarded quantization as nothing
more than a mathematical trick. According to Helge Kragh in his 2000 article in Physics World
magazine, “Max Planck” was “the Reluctant Revolutionary.” Kragh further explained this as
follows: “If a revolution occurred in physics in December 1900, nobody seemed to notice it. Planck
was no exception …”

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Planck’s equation also contained a number that would later become very important to future
development of QM; today, it’s known as “Planck’s Constant.”

Quantization helped to explain other mysteries of physics. In 1907, Einstein used Planck’s
hypothesis of quantization to explain why the temperature of a solid changed by different amounts
if you put the same amount of heat into the material but changed the starting temperature.

Since the early 1800s, the science of spectroscopy had shown that different elements emit and
absorb specific colors of light called “spectral lines.” Though spectroscopy was a reliable method
for determining the elements contained in objects such as distant stars, scientists were puzzled
about why each element gave off those specific lines in the first place. In 1888, Johannes Rydberg
derived an equation that described the spectral lines emitted by hydrogen, though nobody could
explain why the equation worked. This changed in 1913 when Niels Bohr applied Planck’s
hypothesis of quantization to Ernest Rutherford’s 1911 “planetary” model of the atom, which
postulated that electrons orbited the nucleus the same way that planets orbit the sun. According to
Physics 2000 (a site from the University of Colorado), Bohr proposed that electrons were restricted
to “special” orbits around an atom’s nucleus. They could “jump” between special orbits, and the
energy produced by the jump caused specific colors of light, observed as spectral lines. Though
quantized properties were invented as but a mere mathematical trick, they explained so much that
they became the founding principle of QM.

b) Particles of Light

Light can sometimes behave as a particle. This was initially met with harsh criticism, as it ran
contrary to 200 years of experiments showing that light behaved as a wave; much like ripples on
the surface of a calm lake. Light behaves similarly in that it bounces off walls and bends around
corners, and that the crests and troughs of the wave can add up or cancel out. Added wave crests
result in brighter light, while waves that cancel out produce darkness. A light source can be thought
of as a ball on a stick being rhythmically dipped in the center of a lake. The color emitted
corresponds to the distance between the crests, which is determined by the speed of the ball’s
rhythm.

In 1905, Einstein published a paper, “Concerning an Heuristic Point of View toward the Emission
and Transformation of Light,” in which he envisioned light traveling not as a wave, but as some
manner of “energy quanta.” This packet of energy, Einstein suggested, could “be absorbed or
generated only as a whole,” specifically when an atom “jumps” between quantized vibration rates.
This would also apply, as would be shown a few years later, when an electron “jumps” between
quantized orbits. Under this model, Einstein’s “energy quanta” contained the energy difference of
the jump; when divided by Planck’s constant, that energy difference determined the color of light
carried by those quanta.

With this new way to envision light, Einstein offered insights into the behavior of nine different
phenomena, including the specific colors that Planck described being emitted from a light-bulb
filament. It also explained how certain colors of light could eject electrons off metal surfaces, a
phenomenon known as the “photoelectric effect.” However, Einstein wasn’t wholly justified in
taking this leap, said Stephen Klassen, an associate professor of physics at the University of
Winnipeg. In a 2008 paper, “The Photoelectric Effect: Rehabilitating the Story for the Physics

211
Classroom,” Klassen states that Einstein’s energy quanta aren’t necessary for explaining all of
those nine phenomena. Certain mathematical treatments of light as a wave are still capable of
describing both the specific colors that Planck described being emitted from a light-bulb filament
and the photoelectric effect. Indeed, in Einstein’s controversial winning of the 1921 Nobel Prize,
the Nobel committee only acknowledged “his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect,”
which specifically did not rely on the notion of energy quanta.

Roughly two decades after Einstein’s paper, the term “photon” was popularized for describing
energy quanta, thanks to the 1923 work of Arthur Compton, who showed that light scattered by an
electron beam changed in color. This showed that particles of light (photons) were indeed colliding
with particles of matter (electrons), thus confirming Einstein’s hypothesis. By then, it was clear
that light could behave both as a wave and a particle, placing light’s “wave-particle duality” into
the foundation of QM.

c) Waves of Matter

Matter can also behave as a wave. This ran counter to the roughly 30 years of experiments showing
that matter (such as electrons) exists as particles.

Since the discovery of the electron in 1896, evidence that all matter existed in the form of particles
was slowly building. Still, the demonstration of light’s wave-particle duality made scientists
question whether matter was limited to acting only as particles. Could wave-particle duality
perhaps ring true for matter as well? The first scientist to make substantial headway with this
reasoning was a French physicist named Louis de Broglie. In 1924, de Broglie used the equations
of Einstein’s theory of special relativity to show that particles can exhibit wave-like characteristics,
and that waves can exhibit particle-like characteristics. Then in 1925, two scientists, working
independently and using separate lines of mathematical thinking, applied de Broglie’s reasoning
to explain how electrons whizzed around in atoms (a phenomenon that was unexplainable using
the equations of classical mechanics). In Germany, physicist Werner Heisenberg (teaming with
Max Born and Pascual Jordan) accomplished this by developing “matrix mechanics.” Austrian
physicist Erwin Schrödinger developed a similar theory called “wave mechanics.” Schrödinger
showed in 1926 that these two approaches were equivalent (though Swiss physicist Wolfgang Pauli
sent an unpublished result to Jordan showing that matrix mechanics was more complete).

The Heisenberg-Schrödinger model of the atom, in which each electron acts as a wave (sometimes
referred to as a “cloud”) around the nucleus of an atom replaced the Rutherford-Bohr model. One
stipulation of the new model was that the ends of the wave that forms an electron must meet. In
Quantum Mechanics in Chemistry, 3rd Ed. (W.A. Benjamin, 1981), Melvin Hanna writes, “The
imposition of the boundary conditions has restricted the energy to discrete values.” A consequence
of this stipulation is that only whole numbers of crests and troughs are allowed, which explains
why some properties are quantized. In the Heisenberg-Schrödinger model of the atom, electrons
obey a “wave function” and occupy “orbitals” rather than orbits. Unlike the circular orbits of the
Rutherford-Bohr model, atomic orbitals have a variety of shapes ranging from spheres to
dumbbells to daisies.

In 1927, Walter Heitler and Fritz London further developed wave mechanics to show how atomic
orbitals could combine to form molecular orbitals, effectively showing why atoms bond to one

212
another to form molecules. This was yet another problem that had been unsolvable using the math
of classical mechanics. These insights gave rise to the field of “quantum chemistry.”

The Uncertainty Principle

In the same year that Heitler and London developed wave mechanics, Heisenberg made another
major contribution to quantum physics. Using the presumption that matter acts as waves,
Heisenberg came up with the following explanation: Some properties, such as an electron’s
position and speed, are “complementary,” meaning there’s a limit (related to Planck’s constant) to
how well the precision of each property can be known.

Under what would come to be called “Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle,” it was reasoned that
the more precisely an electron’s position is known, the less precisely its speed can be known, and
vice versa. This uncertainty principle applies to everyday-size objects, as well, but is not noticeable
because the lack of precision is extraordinarily tiny. According to Dave Slaven of Morningside
College (Sioux City, IA), if a baseball’s speed is known to within a precision of 0.1 mph, the
maximum precision to which it is possible to know the ball’s position is
0.000000000000000000000000000008 millimeters.

Onward: Quantum Field Theory

The principles of quantization, wave-particle duality and the uncertainty principle ushered in a
new era for QM. In 1927, Paul Dirac applied a quantum understanding of electric and magnetic
fields to give rise to the study of “quantum field theory” (QFT), which treated particles (such as
photons and electrons) as excited states of an underlying physical field. Work in QFT continued
for a decade until scientists hit a roadblock: Many equations in QFT stopped making physical
sense because they produced results of infinity. After a decade of stagnation, Hans Bethe made a
breakthrough in 1947 using a technique called “renormalization.” Here, Bethe realized that all
infinite results related to two phenomena (specifically “electron self-energy” and “vacuum
polarization”) such that the observed values of electron mass and electron charge could be used to
make all the infinities disappear.

Since the breakthrough of renormalization, QFT has served as the foundation for developing
quantum theories about the four fundamental forces of nature: 1) electromagnetism, 2) the weak
nuclear force, 3) the strong nuclear force, and 4) gravity. The first insight provided by QFT was a
quantum description of electromagnetism through “quantum electrodynamics” (QED), which
made strides in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Next was a quantum description of the weak nuclear
force, which was unified with electromagnetism to build “electroweak theory” (EWT) throughout
the 1960s. Finally came a quantum treatment of the strong nuclear force using “quantum
chromodynamics” (QCD) in the 1960s and 1970s. The theories of QED, EWT and QCD together
form the basis of the Standard Model of particle physics. Unfortunately, QFT has yet to produce a
quantum theory of gravity. That quest continues today in the studies of string theory and loop
quantum gravity.

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Search Reading 11
Fill in the blanks with information extracted from the text. Keep your answers as short as possible.

1. More than two centuries ago, Adam Smith mentioned certain economic advantages, which,
without doubt, contributed to the general popularity of job specialization in service jobs
and _________________________________________.
2. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth made important contributions to the development of scientific
management. They not only developed fatigue and motion studies to get rid of unnecessary
hand-and-body motions, but also formulated a label format to classify therbligs, which
referred to _________________________________________.
3. Fayol, who developed the fourteen principles of management, emphasized the importance
of developing the spirit, by the help of even small factors. He believed that, whenever it
was applicable, verbal communication would be much more useful than
_________________________________________.
4. Mary Parker Follett argued that humans could only feel complete when they are part of a
group, and as such, human beings developed themselves through
_________________________________________.
5. Chester Barnard is the original owner of the ideas that today’s businesses give importance
to, such as building cooperative work groups, making business firms more socially
responsible, and matching organizational strategies _________________________
________________.
6. According to Douglas McGregor, there are two basic assumptions about viewing people,
Theory X and Theory Y. While the former suggests that people have little ambition, dislike
work, want to avoid responsibility, and need to be closely supervised to work effectively,
the latter opposes this by stating that people can exercise self-direction, accept
responsibility, and _________________________________________.
7. For Frederick Herzberg, continuous satisfaction of employees can only come from
_________________________________________.
8. As a result of the 1927 experiments conducted by Elton Mayo and his team, what was later
termed as the Hawthorne effect was understood. According to this phenomenon, if
employees were ensured that the managers and supervisors cared about their welfare and
paid attention to them, they would _________________________________________.

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 DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO SYSTEMS OF MANAGEMENT

Introduction

It is important to know that the year 1911, when Frederick Winslow Taylor’s Principles of
Scientific Management was published, is generally considered as the year in which scientific
method was brought and applied to management systems and the development of knowledge. The
scientific method to management systems involves the determination of facts through observation.
This results in the formulation of certain concepts and principles. Concepts are mental images of
anything formed by generalization, derived from particulars. When these generalizations or
hypotheses are tested for accuracy and appear to be true; that is, when they reflect or explain
reality, they are called principles. Theory is a systematic grouping of interdependent concepts and
principles, which give a framework to, or tie together, a significant area of knowledge. Formally,
a theory is a coherent group of assumptions put forth to explain the relationship between two or
more observable facts. In the field of management, the role of theory is to provide a means of
classifying significant and pertinent management knowledge.

Why is theory important?

Theories provide a stable focus for understanding what we experience; they give us criteria to
evaluate what is relevant. Since they enable us to communicate efficiently, they prove to be helpful
tools for us to move into more and more complex relationships with other people. It is in this sense
that theories make it possible for us to keep learning about our world.

Evolution of Management Theory

Prescientific Management Era

Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations (1776) introduced the concept of division of labor. Smith
concluded that division of labor increased productivity by increasing each worker’s skill and
dexterity, by saving time that is normally lost in changing tasks, and by the creation and better use
of labor-saving inventions and machinery. Today, the general popularity of job specialization in
service jobs, as well as on assembly lines, is undoubtedly due to the economic advantages cited
over 200 years ago by Adam Smith.

The Classical Approach to Management

In 1832, Charles Babbage, a mathematician and a teacher, wrote On the Economy of Machinery
and Manufactures, in which he applied his principles to the workshop. This early work introduced
the idea of using scientific techniques to improve the managing process. The theoretical
foundations of management lie in the classical approach to management, which sought to
formulate rational principles that would make organizations more efficient. The classical approach
to management consists of two subcategories:

a) Scientific management approach looked at the field from the perspective of how to
improve the productivity of operative personnel. Most writers agree that the origin of the
concentrated study of management was the work performed by Frederick W. Taylor (1865-
1915) and his associates during the scientific management movement that developed

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around 1900. Taylor pioneered scientific management, which suggested that systematic
investigation could indicate proper methods, standards, and timings for each operation in
an organization’s activities.

The scientific management method proposed by Taylor was based on the notion that there
was a single “best way” to fulfil a particular job. The responsibility of management was to
select, train, and help workers to perform their jobs properly. The job of management was
to plan and control the work. The responsibility of workers was simply to accept the new
methods and perform accordingly. The practical application of this approach was to break
each job down into its smallest and simplest component parts or ‘motions:’ each single
motion in effect became a separate specialized ‘job’ to be allocated to a separate worker.
Workers were selected and trained to perform such jobs in the most efficient way possible,
eliminating all wasted motions or unnecessary physical motion.

Another figure that falls into the scope of scientific management approach was Henry L.
Gantt (1861-1919), a contemporary and associate of Taylor. Gantt emphasized the
psychology of the worker and the importance of morale in production. He devised a wage
payment system, which stimulated foremen and workers to strive for improvement in work
practices. Gantt also developed a charting system for scheduling production, the “Gantt
chart,” which still remains the basis for modern scheduling techniques.

Likewise, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth (1868-1924 and 1878-1972), the husband-and-wife
team, made their contribution to the scientific management approach with fatigue and
motion studies to eliminate wasteful hand-and-body motions. The Gilbreths also
experimented with the design and use of the proper tools and equipment for optimizing
work performance. They were among the first to use motion picture films to study hand-
and-body motions. The couple also devised a classification scheme to label seventeen basic
hand motions, which they called therbligs.

Contributions of Scientific Management:

• Brought about assembly lines concept  to produce large quantities faster
• Initiated the careful study of tasks and jobs
• Similar to today’s reengineering concept
• Demonstrated importance of compensation for performance
• Its efficiency techniques  applied to tasks even today
Limitations of Scientific Management:
• Regarded workers as uninformed and ignored their ideas
• Led to dehumanization of workers
• Caused more stress on quantity rather than quality
• Did not appreciate the higher needs of workers
• Did not acknowledge differences among individuals
• Gave more importance to method than skill

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b) General administrative approach was concerned with the overall organization and how to
make it more effective. Henri Fayol (1841-1925) was a French industrialist who can be
considered a significant figure in this approach. Fayol put forward and popularized the
concept of the ‘universality of management principles,’ the idea that all organizations could
be structured and managed according to certain rational principles. He divided a
commercial organization’s activities into the six basic elements, known as technical
elements, commercial elements, financial elements, accounting, security, and management.
He described the practice of management as distinct from the other business activities. He
argued that management was an activity common to all human undertakings: in business,
in government, and even in the home. In his most significant work, General and Industrial
Management, Fayol discussed fourteen general principles of management which he felt
could be applied in any organizational setting. Several of these principles are part of
management philosophy today. Before Fayol, it was generally believed that “managers are
born, not made.” Fayol insisted, however, that management was a skill like any other – one
that could be taught once the principles of management were understood.

Fayol’s Fourteen Principles of Management

1. Division of Labor. The more people specialize in a certain area, the more efficiently they
can perform their work. This principle is epitomized by the modern assembly line.

2. Authority. Managers must give orders so that they can get things done. While their
formal authority gives them the right to command, managers will not always compel
obedience unless they have personal authority (such as relevant expertise) as well.

3. Discipline. Members in an organization need to respect the rules and agreements that
govern the organization. To Fayol, discipline results from good leadership at all levels of
the organization, fair agreements (such as provisions for rewarding superior performance),
and judiciously enforced penalties for infractions.

4. Unity of Command. Each employee must receive instructions from only one person.
Fayol believed that when an employee reported to more than one manager, conflicts in
instructions and confusion of authority would result.

5. Unity of Direction. Those operations within the organization that have the same
objective should be directed by only one manager using one plan. For example, the
personnel department in a company should not have two directors, each with a different
hiring policy.

6. Subordination of Individual Interest to the Common Good. In any undertaking, the

interests of employees should not take precedence over the interests of the organization as
a whole.

7. Remuneration. Compensation for work done should be fair to both employees and
employers.

8. Centralization. Decreasing the role of subordinates in decision-making is centralization;

increasing their role is decentralization. Fayol believed that managers should retain final

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 responsibility, but should at the same time give their subordinates enough authority to do
their jobs properly. The problem is to find the proper degree of centralization in each case.

9. The Hierarchy. The line of authority in an organization – often represented to day by the
neat boxes and lines of the organization chart – runs in order of rank from top management
to the lowest level of the enterprise.

10. Order. Materials and people should be in the right place at the right time. People, in
particular, should be in the jobs or positions they are most suited to.

11. Equity. Managers should be both friendly and fair to their subordinates.

12. Stability of Staff. A high employee turnover rate undermines the efficient functioning
of an organization.

13. Initiative. Subordinates should be given the freedom to conceive and carry out their
plans, even though some mistakes may result.

14. Esprit de Corps. Promoting team spirit will give the organization a sense of unity.

To Fayol, even small factors should help to develop the spirit. He suggested, for example,
the use of verbal communication instead of formal, written communication whenever
possible.

Other Pioneering Figures

Max Weber (1864-1920), a German sociologist, developed a theory of authority structures and
described organizational activity on the basis of authority relations. He described an ideal type of
organization that he called a bureaucracy, characterized by division of labor, a clearly defined
hierarchy, detailed rules and regulations, and impersonal relationships. Weber also believed that
technical competence should be emphasized and that performance evaluations should be made
entirely on the basis of merit. Weber recognized that this ideal bureaucracy did not exist in reality.
He used it as a basis for theorizing about work and the way work could be done in large groups.
His theory became the design prototype for many of today’s large organizations.

Mary Parker Follett (1868-1933) introduced many new elements to the classical management
approach, especially in the areas of human relations and organizational structure. The trends she
initiated were further developed in the then emerging behavioral and management science
approaches. Follett recognized that organizations could be viewed from the perspective of
individual and group behavior. She was convinced that no one could become a whole person except
as a member of a group; human beings grew through their relationships with others in
organizations. The manager’s job was to harmonize and coordinate group efforts. Follett asserted
that managers and workers should view themselves as partners, or as part of a common group. She
proposed that managers should rely more on their expertise and knowledge to lead subordinates
rather than on the formal authority of their position. Her approach stressed the importance of
people rather than engineering techniques. Follett addressed issues that are timely today, such as
ethics, power, and how to lead in a way that encourages employees to give their best.

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Chester Barnard (1886-1961) expressed his views in his book The Functions of the Executive
(1938). He saw organizations as social systems that require human cooperation. A major part of
an organization’s success depended on the cooperation of its employees. He went further to
emphasize the organization as the cooperative enterprise of individuals working together in groups.
One of Barnard’s significant contributions was the informal organization. The informal
organization occurs in all formal organizations, and it includes cliques and naturally occurring
social groupings. Barnard argued that organizations are not machines, and informal relationships
are powerful forces that can help the organization if properly managed.

Another significant contribution of Barnard was the acceptance theory of authority, which states
that people have free will and can choose whether to follow management orders. People typically
follow orders because they perceive positive benefit to themselves, but they do have a choice. He
proposed that an enterprise can operate efficiently and survive only when the organization’s goals
are kept in balance with the aims and needs of the individuals working for it. Barnard also argued
that success of an enterprise depended on maintaining good relations with the people and
institutions with whom the organization regularly interacted. By recognizing the organization’s
dependence on investors, suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders, Barnard introduced the idea
that managers had to examine the external environment and then adjust the organization to
maintain a state of equilibrium.

The current interest in building cooperative work groups, making business firms more socially
responsible, and matching organizational strategies to opportunities in the environment can be
traced to ideas originally proposed by Barnard.

Behavioral Approach

Robert Owen was a successful Scottish businessman who was repulsed by the harsh practices he
found in factories in his time. He chided factory owners for treating their equipment better than
their employees. He was more than a hundred years ahead of his time when he argued, in 1825,
for regulated hours of work for all, child labor laws, public education, company-furnished tools
and equipment, and business involvement in community projects. Therefore, Owen’s ideas can be
considered an important factor in the development of behavioral approach.

In relation to this, the behavioral approach emerged partly because the classical approach did not
achieve sufficient production efficiency and workplace harmony. There was increased interest in
helping managers deal more effectively with the “people side” of their organizations. Hugo
Munsterberg created the field of industrial psychology – the scientific study of individuals at work
to maximize their productivity and adjustment. In his work, Psychology and Industrial Efficiency
(1913), Munsterberg suggested the use of psychological tests to improve employee selection, the
value of learning theory in the development of training methods, and the study of human behavior
to determine what techniques are most effective for motivating workers. Much of current
knowledge of selection techniques, employee training, job design, and motivation is built on the
work of Munsterberg.

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The Impact of Elton Mayo (1880-1949)

Scholars generally agree that the Hawthorne studies, undertaken at the Western Electric
Company’s Hawthorne works in Illinois, USA, under the leadership of Elton Mayo, had a
dramatic impact on management thought towards “Human Relations.” The Hawthorne
studies began in 1924, but expanded and continued through the early 1930s. They were
initially devised by Western Electric industrial engineers to examine the effect of different
illumination levels on worker productivity. Control and experimental groups were
established. The experimental group was presented with different levels of illumination
intensity. The engineers expected individual output to be directly related to the intensity of
light. However, they found that as the light level was increased, in the experimental group,
productivity continued to increase in both groups. In fact, productivity decreased in the
experimental group only after the light intensity had been reduced to that of moonlight.
The engineers concluded that illumination intensity was not directly related to group
productivity, but they could not explain the behavior they had witnessed.

In 1927, the Western Electric Engineers asked Harvard professor Elton Mayo and his
associates to join the study as consultants for conducting numerous experiments covering
the redesign of jobs, changes in the lengths of the workday and workweek, the introduction
of rest periods, and individual versus group wage plans. The researchers concluded that
employees would work harder if they believed management was concerned about their
welfare and supervisors paid special attention to them. This phenomenon was subsequently
labeled the Hawthorne effect. Mayo concluded that behavior and sentiments are closely
related, that group influences significantly affect individual behavior, that group standards
establish individual worker output, and that money is less a factor in determining output
than are group standards, group sentiments, and security. These conclusions led to a new
emphasis on the human factor in the functioning of organizations and the attainment of
their goals. Although criticized for the procedures, analysis of the findings, and the
conclusions drawn, what is important is that the Hawthorne studies stimulated an interest
in human factors. Current organizational practices that owe their roots to the Hawthorne
studies include attitude surveys, employee counseling, management training, participative
decision making, and team-based compensation systems.

The Human Resources Perspective

The behavioral approach, which began with the Hawthorne studies, is also known as the
neo-human relations perspective. The human resources perspective combines prescriptions
for design of job tasks with theories of motivation. In the human resources view, jobs
should be designed so that tasks are not perceived as dehumanizing or demeaning but
instead allows workers to use their full potential. The best-known contributors to the human
resources perspective are Abraham Maslow, Douglas McGregor, and Frederick Herzberg.

- Abraham Maslow (1908-1970), a practicing psychologist, proposed a

hierarchy of five needs: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-
actualization. In terms of motivation, Maslow argued that each step in the
hierarchy must be satisfied before the next level can be activated and that once
a need was substantially satisfied, it no longer motivated behavior.

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 - Douglas McGregor (1906-1964) formulated two sets of assumptions – Theory
X and Theory Y – about human nature. Theory X presents an essentially
negative view of people. It assumes that they have little ambition, dislike work,
want to avoid responsibility, and need to be closely supervised to work
effectively. Theory Y offers a positive view, assuming that people can exercise
self-direction, accept responsibility, and consider work to be as natural as rest
or play. McGregor believed that the classical approach was based on Theory X
assumptions about workers. He also felt that a slightly modified version of
Theory X fit early human relations ideas. In other words, human relations ideas
did not go far enough. McGregor proposed Theory Y as a more realistic view
of workers for guiding management thinking. The point of theory Y is that
organizations can take advantage of the imagination and intellect of all their
employees. Employees will exercise self-control and will contribute to
organizational goals when given the opportunity.

- Frederick Herzberg (1923-2000) suggested that only higher psychological

needs for growth, challenge, responsibility, and self-fulfillment can positively
motivate employees to improved performance. Work relationships and
supervisory style along with pay and conditions merely ward off dissatisfaction.
Only the job itself could provide lasting satisfaction, and Herzberg, in
particular, concentrated on ways of designing jobs for greater worker
satisfaction.

Behavioral Science

Another category within the behavioral approach encompasses the behavioral science approach,
which relies on the scientific method for the study of organizational behavior. Behavioral science
draws from sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, and other disciplines to understand
employee behavior and interaction in an organizational setting. This approach can be seen in
organizations even today when, for example, a firm conducts research to determine the best set of
tests, interviews, and employee profiles to use when selecting new employees. Our current
understanding of such issues as leadership, employee motivation, personality differences, the
design of jobs and organizations, organizational cultures, high-performance teams, performance
appraisals, conflict management, and negotiation techniques are largely due to the contributions
of behavioral scientists. The behavioral approaches brought about an important awareness of the
influence of the human factor. This factor had a big role in the workplace, and it significantly
influenced the organizational performance and the job satisfaction of employees. Most of its
theorists attempted to offer guidelines to enable practicing managers to satisfy and motivate
employees and so, theoretically, to obtain the benefits of improved productivity. However, there
is still no proven link between job satisfaction and motivation, or either of these and productivity,
or the achievement of organizational goals. For example, employee counseling (prescribed by
Mayo) and job enrichment (prescribed by Herzberg) have both proved at best of unpredictable
benefit to organizations applying them in practice.

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Search Reading 12
Fill in the blanks with information extracted from the text. Keep your answers as short as possible.

1. Historically speaking, there are mainly three waves of feminism, the second of which took
place during _________________________________________.
2. In her book The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan argued that women were victimized by
a system based on _________________________________________, which forced them
to discover their identities and the meaning of life by taking care of their husbands and
children.
3. Although post-feminists argue against the overgeneralizations caused by the second- and
the third-wave feminisms, everything that feminist movement (as a whole) fought for
becomes meaningless due to the so-called feminisms displayed through
_________________________________________.
4. Pro-feminism as a term generally applies to those who actively advocate feminism and
their efforts _________________________________________.
5. According to socialist feminists, prostitution, domestic work, childcare, and marriage are
tools for the exploitation of women by _________________________________________.
6. Today’s post-colonial and third-world feminists prefer to use their own views of culture
and society than employ the Western ideals in fighting _________________________
________________.
7. For environmental feminists, the subordination of women is directly linked to the thought
patterns that pave the way for _________________________________________.
8. As the latest trend in feminism, the posthumanist view emphasizes the inseparability of all
forms of suppression, comprising (hetero-)sexism, racism, ageism, ableism, as well as
_________________________________________.

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 HISTORY AND THEORY OF FEMINISM

Introduction

The term feminism can be used to describe a political, cultural, or economic movement aimed at
establishing equal rights and legal protection for women. Feminism involves political and
sociological theories and philosophies concerned with issues of gender difference, as well as a
movement that advocates gender equality for women and campaigns for women’s rights and
interests. In its evolutionary path, feminism has altered predominant perspectives in a wide range
of areas within Western society, ranging from culture to law. Feminist activists have campaigned
for women’s legal rights (rights of contract, property rights, voting rights); for women’s right to
bodily integrity and autonomy, for abortion rights, and for reproductive rights (including access to
contraception and quality prenatal care); for protection of women and girls from domestic
violence, sexual harassment and rape; for workplace rights, including maternity leave and equal
pay; against misogyny; and against other forms of gender-specific discrimination against women.

The history of feminism can be divided into three waves. The first feminist wave was in the 19th
and early 20th centuries, and it mainly refers to women’s suffrage movements, concerned with
women’s right to vote. The second wave spans the 1960s and the 1970s, referring to the ideas and
actions associated with the women’s liberation movement, which campaigned for legal and social
rights for women. The third wave refers to a continuation of, and a reaction to the perceived failures
of, second-wave feminism, from the 1990s to the present.

The First Wave of Feminism

First-wave feminism originally focused on the promotion of equal contract and property rights for
women and the opposition to ownership of married women (and their children) by their husbands.
However, by the end of the 19th century, activism focused primarily on gaining political power,
particularly the right of women’s suffrage. As early as 1854, Florence Nightingale established
female nurses as adjuncts to the military.

In Britain, the Suffragettes and the Suffragists campaigned for the women’s vote. The
Representation of the People Act 1918 granted the vote to women over the age of 30 who owned
houses. In 1928, this was extended to all women over twenty-one. In the United States, first-wave
feminism involved a wide range of women. Some, such as Frances Willard, belonged to
conservative Christian groups such as the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. Others, such as
Matilda Joslyn Gage, were more radical, and expressed themselves within the National Woman
Suffrage Association or individually. American first-wave feminism is considered to have ended
with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1919), granting
women the right to vote in all states.

The Second Wave of Feminism

According to scholars Imelda Whelehan and Estelle Freedman, the second wave was largely
concerned with other issues of equality, such as ending discrimination. During this period, the
feminist activist and author Carol Hanisch coined the slogan “The Personal is Political,” which
became synonymous with the second wave. Second-wave feminists saw women’s cultural and
political inequalities as inextricably linked and encouraged women to understand aspects of their

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personal lives as deeply politicized and as reflecting sexist power structures. Hence, an important
figure in this wave was the French author and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. Her treatise The
Second Sex presented a detailed analysis of women’s oppression and a foundational tract of
contemporary feminism. As an existentialist, de Beauvoir accepted Jean-Paul Sartre’s precept that
“existence precedes essence,” and therefore is best known by her maxim “one is not born a woman,
but becomes one.” Her analysis focuses on the social construction of Woman as the Other, which
she identifies as fundamental to women’s oppression. She argues women have historically been
considered deviant and abnormal and contends that even Mary Wollstonecraft considered men to
be the ideal toward which women should aspire. De Beauvoir argues that for feminism to move
forward, this attitude must be set aside.

The Feminine Mystique

It was during the second wave that Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) came out. The
book criticized the idea that women could only find fulfilment through childrearing and
homemaking. Friedan hypothesized that women were victims of a false belief system that required
them to find identity and meaning in their lives through their husbands and children. Such a system
caused women to completely lose their identity in that of their family. Friedan specifically located
this system among post-World War II middle-class suburban communities.

Women’s Liberation in the USA

The phrase “Women’s Liberation” was first used in the United States in 1964 and first appeared
in print in 1966. By 1968, although the term Women’s Liberation Front appeared in the magazine
Ramparts, it was starting to refer to the whole women’s movement. One of the most vocal critics
of the women’s liberation movement has been the African American feminist and intellectual
Gloria Jean Watkins, who uses the pseudonym “bell hooks.” She argues that this movement
glossed over race and class and thus failed to address “the issues that divided women.” This paved
the way for the third-wave in feminism.

The Third Wave of Feminism

Third-wave feminism began in the early 1990s, arising as a response to perceived failures of the
second wave, and also as a response to the backlash against initiatives and movements created by
the second wave. Third-wave feminism seeks to challenge or avoid what it deems the second
wave’s essentialist definitions of femininity, which (according to them) over-emphasize the
experiences of upper middle-class white women. Third-wave feminism also contains internal
debates between “difference feminists;” those who believe that there are important differences
between the sexes and those who believe that there are no inherent differences between the sexes
and contend that gender roles are due to social conditioning.

Post-feminism

Post-feminism describes a range of viewpoints reacting to feminism. While not being “anti-
feminist,” post-feminists believe that women have achieved second-wave goals while being
critical of third-wave feminist goals. The term was first used in the 1980s to describe a backlash
against second-wave feminism. It is now a label for a wide range of theories that take critical
approaches to previous feminist discourses and includes challenges to the second wave’s ideas.

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Other post-feminists say that feminism is no longer relevant to today’s society. Post-feminist texts
which emerged in the 1980s and the 1990s portrayed second-wave feminism as a monolithic entity
and criticized it using generalizations. Following this thread, some contemporary feminists, such
as Katha Pollitt or Nadine Strossen, consider feminism to hold simply that “women are people.”
Views that separate the sexes rather than unite them are considered by these writers to be sexist
rather than feminist.

Post-feminism gives the impression that equality has been achieved and that feminists can now
focus on something else entirely. Angela McRobbie, for instance, believes that post-feminism is
most clearly seen on so-called feminist media products, such as Bridget Jones’s Diary, Sex and
the City, and Ally McBeal. Female characters like Bridget Jones and Carrie Bradshaw claim to be
liberated and clearly enjoy their sexuality, but what they are constantly searching for is the one
man who will make everything worthwhile. This, accordingly, reverses everything that feminist
movement as a whole fought for.

The French School of Thought in Feminism

French feminism refers to a branch of feminist thought from a group of feminists in France from
the 1970s to the 1990s. French feminism, compared to Anglo-American feminisms, is
distinguished by an approach which is more philosophical and literary. Its writings tend to be
effusive and metaphorical, being less concerned with political doctrine and generally focused on
theories of “the body.” The term includes writers who are not French, but who have worked
substantially in France and the French tradition, such as Julia Kristeva and Bracha Ettinger.

In the 1970s, French feminists approached feminism with the concept of écriture feminine, which
translates into English as “female, or feminine writing.” Hélène Cixous argues that writing and
philosophy are male-centered, and along with other French feminists, such as Luce Irigaray,
emphasizes “writing from the body” as a subversive exercise. The work of the feminist
psychoanalyst and philosopher, Julia Kristeva, has influenced feminist theory in general and
feminist literary criticism in particular. From the 1980s onwards, the work of artist and
psychoanalyst Bracha Ettinger has influenced literary criticism, art history, and film theory.
However, as the scholar Elizabeth Wright pointed out, “none of these French feminists align
themselves with the feminist movement as it appeared in the Anglophone world.”

Theoretical Models

Feminist theory is an extension of feminism into theoretical or philosophical fields. It encompasses

work in a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, economics, women’s studies,
literary criticism, art history, psychoanalysis, and philosophy. Feminist theory aims to understand
gender inequality and focuses on gender politics, power relations, and sexuality. While providing
a critique of these social and political relations, much of feminist theory focuses on the promotion
of women’s rights and interests. Themes explored in feminist theory include discrimination,
stereotyping, objectification (especially sexual objectification), oppression, and patriarchy.

The American literary critic and feminist Elaine Showalter describes the phased development of
feminist theory. The first she calls “feminist critique,” in which the feminist reader examines the
ideologies behind literary phenomena. The second Showalter calls “gynocriticism,” in which the

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“woman is producer of textual meaning” including “the psychodynamics of female creativity;
linguistics and the problem of a female language; the trajectory of the individual or collective
female literary career and literary history.” The last phase she calls “gender theory,” in which the
“ideological inscription and the literary effects of the sex/gender system” are explored. The scholar
Toril Moi, however, criticized this model, seeing it as an essentialist and deterministic model for
female subjectivity that fails to account for the situation of women outside the West.

Sub-types, Movements, and Ideologies Aligned with Feminism

Several sub-movements of feminist ideology have developed over the years; some of the major
subtypes are listed below. These movements often overlap, and some feminists identify themselves
with several types of feminist thought.

Pro-feminism

Pro-feminism is the support of feminism without implying that the supporter is a member of the
feminist movement. The term is most often used in reference to men who are actively supportive
of feminism and of efforts to bring about gender equality. The activities of pro-feminist men’s
groups include anti-violence work with boys and young men in schools, offering workshops on
sexual harassment in workplaces, running community education campaigns, and counseling male
perpetrators of violence. Pro-feminist men are also involved in men’s health, activism against
pornography including anti-pornography legislation, men’s studies, and the development of gender
equity curricula in schools. This work is sometimes in collaboration with feminists and women’s
services, such as domestic violence and rape crisis centers. Some activists of both genders will not
refer to men as “feminists” at all, and will refer to all male supporters of feminism as “pro-
feminists.”

Anarcha-feminism

Anarcha-feminism (also called anarchist feminism and anarcho-feminism) combines anarchism

with feminism. It generally views patriarchy as a manifestation of involuntary hierarchy. Anarcha-
feminists believe that the struggle against patriarchy is an essential part of class struggle, and the
anarchist struggle against the State. In essence, the philosophy sees anarchist struggle as a
necessary component of feminist struggle and vice-versa. As L. Susan Brown puts it, “as
anarchism is a political philosophy that opposes all relationships of power, it is inherently
feminist.”

Socialist and Marxist Feminism

Socialist feminism connects the oppression of women to Marxist ideas about exploitation,
oppression, and labor. Socialist feminists think unequal standing in both the workplace and the
domestic sphere holds women down. Socialist feminists see prostitution, domestic work, childcare,
and marriage as ways in which women are exploited by a patriarchal system that devalues women
and the substantial work they do.

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Marx felt when class oppression was overcome, gender oppression would vanish as well. Some
socialist feminists, along similar lines, view Marxist writings as a powerful explanation of the link
between gender oppression and class exploitation. However, some contributors to socialist
feminism have criticized the traditional Marxist ideas for being largely silent on gender oppression
except to subsume it underneath broader class oppression.

Radical Feminism

Radical feminism considers the male-controlled capitalist hierarchy, which it describes as sexist,
as the defining feature of women’s oppression. Radical feminists believe that women can free
themselves only when they have done away with what they consider an inherently oppressive and
dominating patriarchal system. Radical feminists feel that there is a male-based authority and
power structure and that it is responsible for oppression and inequality, and that as long as the
system and its values are in place, society will not be able to be reformed in any significant way.

Riot grrrl movement

Riot grrrl (or riot grrl) is an underground feminist punk movement that started in the 1990s and is
often associated with third-wave feminism (it is sometimes seen as its starting point). It was
grounded in the DIY (do-it-yourself) philosophy of punk values. Riot grrls took an anti-corporate
stance of self-sufficiency and self-reliance. Riot grrrl bands often address issues such as rape,
domestic abuse, sexuality, and female empowerment. Some bands associated with the movement
are: Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Excuse 17, Free Kitten, Heavens To Betsy, Huggy Bear, L7, and
Team Dresch. In addition to a music scene, riot grrrl is also a subculture; zines, the DIY ethic, art,
political action, and activism are part of the movement. Riot grrrls hold meetings, start chapters,
and support and organize women in music.

Liberal Feminism

Liberal feminism asserts the equality of men and women through political and legal reform. It is
an individualistic form of feminism, which focuses on women’s ability to show and maintain their
equality through their own actions and choices. Issues important to liberal feminists include
reproductive and abortion rights, sexual harassment, voting, education, “equal pay for equal work,”
affordable childcare, affordable health care, and bringing to light the frequency of sexual and
domestic violence against women.

Black Feminism

Black feminism argues that sexism, class oppression, and racism are inextricably bound together.
Forms of feminism that strive to overcome sexism and class oppression but ignore race can
discriminate against many people, including women, through racial bias. One of the theories that
evolved out of this movement was Alice Walker’s Womanism. It emerged after the early feminist
movements that were led specifically by white women who advocated social changes such as
woman’s suffrage. These movements were largely white middle-class movements and had
generally ignored oppression based on racism and classism. Alice Walker and other Womanists
pointed out that black women experienced a different and more intense kind of oppression from
that of white women.

227
Postcolonial and Third-World Feminism

Postcolonial feminists argue that oppression relating to the colonial experience, particularly racial,
class, and ethnic oppression, has marginalized women in postcolonial societies. They challenge
the assumption that gender oppression is the primary force of patriarchy. Postcolonial feminists
object to portrayals of women of non-Western societies as passive and voiceless victims and the
portrayal of Western women as modern, educated, and empowered. Today, they struggle to fight
gender oppression within their own cultural models of society rather than through those imposed
by the Western colonizers.

Post-structuralist and Postmodern Feminism

Post-structuralist feminism, also referred to as French feminism, uses the insights of various
epistemological movements, including psychoanalysis, linguistics, political theory (Marxist and
post-Marxist theory), race theory, literary theory, and other intellectual currents for feminist
concerns. Postmodern feminism is an approach to feminist theory that incorporates postmodern
and post-structuralist theory. The largest departure from other branches of feminism is the
argument that gender is constructed through language. The most notable proponent of this
argument is Judith Butler. In her 1990 book, Gender Trouble, she draws on and critiques the work
of Simone de Beauvoir, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Lacan. Butler criticizes the distinction
drawn by previous feminisms between biological sex and socially constructed gender. She says
that this does not allow for a sufficient criticism of essentialism. For Butler, “woman” is a
debatable category, complicated by class, ethnicity, sexuality, and other facets of identity. She
states that gender is performative. This argument leads to the conclusion that there is no single
cause for women’s subordination and no single approach towards dealing with the issue. Likewise,
in A Cyborg Manifesto, Donna Haraway criticizes traditional notions of feminism, particularly its
emphasis on identity, rather than affinity. She uses the metaphor of a cyborg in order to construct
a postmodern feminism that moves beyond dualisms and the limitations of traditional gender,
feminism, and politics.

Environmental Feminism

Ecofeminism links ecology with feminism. It connects the exploitation and domination of women
with that of the environment. That is, the domination of women stems from the same ideologies
that bring about the domination of the environment. Patriarchal systems, where men own and
control the land, are seen as responsible for the oppression of women and destruction of the natural
environment. As a way of repairing social and ecological injustices, ecofeminists feel that women
must work towards creating a healthy environment and ending the destruction of the lands that
most women rely on to provide for their families.

New Materialist Feminism

This strand of feminism is one of the newest approaches in feminist thought. Developed from 2010
onwards, new materialist feminism separates itself from the work of Marxist materialists and gives
“matter” another meaning by referring to it as “the body” or “the flesh” of the world. It aims to
recap some of the missing elements from post-structuralist and postmodern feminisms, such as
bridging the gap between discourse and matter (or the linguistic and the material). Aside from

228
focusing on the material aspect, the new materialist feminists underline the idea that the social
problems are intertwined with the problems of nature and the living world. Thus, this approach
aims to blend environmental elements of feminism into their own array of thoughts, too.

Posthumanist Feminism

The latest sub-category under feminist ideologies is coined in parallel to the latest developments
in critical theory. As the Western contemporary philosophies move toward a more material-
oriented form, which highlights the body and matter, rather than giving credence to language and
its impact on the social construction of gender and politics, feminism has also moved toward the
same direction. Posthumanist feminism, in this regard, aims to bring together all feminisms that
have been considered to be different schools so far. It underlines the fact that all suppression forms,
including (hetero-)sexism, racism, ageism, ableism, classism, and speciesism, are in fact
intertwined and can never be fully gotten rid of unless they are thought as one. Such theoretical
advances and their impact can also be viewed in the LGBTI movements of today, which are also
heavily supported by the majority of contemporary feminist movements and animal rights
campaigns.

229
WRITING PRACTICE

230
LINE GRAPHS

Practice 1
Describe the following graph by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

Money spent on Cosmetics

100

90

80

70
US dollars (millions)

60 France

50 Italy
Germany
40
Turkey
30

20

10

0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

231
Practice 2
Describe the following graph by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

Goods transported in UK (1974-2002)

120

100

80
road
Million tons

60 water
rail
40
pipeline

20

0
1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002

232
Practice 3
Describe the following graph by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

Average consumption of different types of milk per person,

Turkey
140

120

100

80
liters

60

40

20

0
1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

whole cow milk skim cow milk lactose-free milk soy milk

233
Practice 4
Describe the following graph by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

POPULATION GROWTH AND PROJECTIONS

China India Europe USA

1600

1400

1200

1000
MILLIONS

800

600

400

200

0
1950 1970 1990 2010 2030 2050

234
BAR GRAPHS

Practice 1
Describe the following graph by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

Applications to three US universities

Social Work
Faculty area

Business

Engineering

Biology

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500

Number of student applications

1990 2000 2010

235
Practice 2
Describe the following graph by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

Percentage of children with a reported allergic condition, by age group,

US, 2011
25

20

15

10

0
Food allergy Skin allergy Respiratory allergy

0-4 years 5-9 years 10-17 years

Source: CDC/NCHS, Health Data Interactive, National Health Interview Survey

236
Practice 3
Describe the following graph by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

The wage gap between men and women

40,0%

35,0%

30,0%

25,0%

20,0%

15,0%

10,0%

5,0%

0,0%
UK Canada France Italy Japan

1995 2005 2015

237
Practice 4
Describe the following graph by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

Proportion of arrests by gender and offence group,

England, 2017
45
40
35
30
Percentage

25
20
15
10
5
0
Violence against Burglary/Theft Drug offences Sexual offences Robbery Others
the person

Men Women

238
PIE CHARTS

Practice 1
Describe the following charts by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

Reasons for cycling to work

12%
Health and fitness
30%
13% Less pollution

No parking problems

No costs
15%
Faster than driving

30%

11%
Reasons for driving to work

Comfort
14%
40% Distance to work

Faster than cycling

Need to carry things to work

14%
Safer than cycling

21%

239
Practice 2
Describe the following charts by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.
You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

Percentage of time spent on some Internet activities

(18-24 age group)
Researching e.g.
health data
14%

Social networking
Making purchases
39%
13%

Making booking e.g.

cinema/travel
8%

Accessing music/films
26%

Percentage of time spent on some Internet activities

(60-70 age group)
Social networking
Researching e.g. 12%
health data
27%

Accessing music/films
16%

Making purchases
13%

Making booking e.g.

cinema/travel
32%

240
Practice 3
Describe the following charts by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

THE CHANGES IN ANNUAL SPENDING BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN DENVER

1980 1990
6% 4%
4% 5%

14% 35%
20%
45%

16% 6%

25% 20%

2000

9% 1% Higher Education

10% Transportation

40% Environmental services

K-12 Education

22% Health and human resources

Other
18%

241
Practice 4
Describe the following charts by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

Household Spending Patterns

1980 UK New Zealand
Food & drink
9
9
23
Utility bills
29
18
Transport
27

Leisure

17 Other
26
27
15

2010 11 13 11
25

17

28
34

16
31
14

242
TABLES

Practice 1
Describe the following table by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

The amount of waste production (in millions of tons) in six different countries:

1980 1990 2000

Ireland 0.6 2.2 5

Japan 28 32 53

Korea 20 31 19

Poland 4 5 6.6

Portugal 2 3 5

US 131 151 192

243
Practice 2
Describe the following table by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

The results of the survey showing the members’ opinions about the F&T sports club:

Very satisfied Satisfied Not satisfied

Range of activities
Female members 35% 35% 30%
Male members 55% 40% 5%
Club facilities
Female members 64% 22% 14%
Male members 63% 27% 10%
Opening hours
Female members 72% 25% 3%
Male members 44% 19% 37%

244
Practice 3
Describe the following table by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

Worldwide Market Share of Notebook Computer Manufacturers

Company 2006 % Market Share 2007 % Market Share

HP 31.4 34

Dell 16.6 20.2

Acer 11.6 10.7

Toshiba 6.2 7.3

Lenovo 6.6 6.2

Fujitsu-Siemens 4.8 2.3

Others 22.8 19.3

Total 100 100

245
Practice 4

Describe the following table by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150 words.
Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

Sales of Fairtrade-labeled Tea and Pineapples (2010 & 2015)

Tea 2010 (Millions of Euros) 2015 (Millions of Euros)

France 2.5 21

Austria 4 8

Germany 2.8 3

Netherlands 2 2.7

Norway 1.8 2

Pineapples 2010 (Millions of Euros) 2015 (Millions of Euros)

Austria 16 48

France 2 6.5

Netherlands 1.6 5

Norway 2.8 2

Germany 3 1.9

*Fairtrade: a category of products for which farmers from developing countries have been paid an officially
agreed fair price.

246
MULTIPLE GRAPHS

Practice 1
Describe the following graphs by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about 150
words. Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language
structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

MOST POPULAR FILM GENRES FOR MEN AND WOMEN

IN THE US IN 2010
45
40
35
30
Percentage

25
20
15
10
5
0
action comedy thriller science fiction western romantic
comedy

men women

Box-office takings 2010: US

others
thriller 5%
10%

romantic
comedy
12% action
49%

comedy
24%

247
Practice 2
Describe the following charts and table by reporting the trends and making comparisons, in about
150 words. Make sure you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of
language structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

Causes of Worldwide Land Degradation in 1990s
other
7%

over-grazing
35%
deforestation
30%

over-cultivation
28%

248
DIAGRAMS

Practice 1

The diagram below shows the life cycle of the honey bee. Describe the process by reporting the main
features and making comparisons where relevant. Write about 150 words. Make sure you present the
information in an organized manner using a variety of language structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

hatch (v): to (cause an egg to) break in

order to allow a young animal to come out

nymph (n): a small version of the adult bee

with an incomplete metamorphosis (a thin
exoskeleton and no wings)

moult (v): (of a bird or animal) to lose

feathers, skin, or hair as a natural
process at a particular time of year so that
new feathers, skin, or hair can grow

249
Practice 2

The diagram below shows the recycling process of wasted glass bottles. Describe the process by
reporting the main features and making comparisons where relevant. Write about 150 words. Make sure
you present the information in an organized manner using a variety of language structures and vocabulary.

You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 25 minutes writing.

250
PERFORMANCE TASKS

251
Performance Task 1.

You will hear a lecture on market structures. While listening, take notes on the main points and
important details. You will hear the lecture only once.

252
 READING TEXT

An Overall Look at the US Market

a) Breakfast Cereals: There is a huge number of different brands of breakfast cereals in the US market
today. Cap’n Crunch, Lucky Charms, Froot Loops, and Apple Jacks are some of them. Cap’n
Crunch advertises itself as “the Original Crunch.” The description reads as follows: “Sweet and
golden, with a crunch you can’t resist, nothing competes with the original Cap’n Crunch®. Grab a
bowl or cup for an easy snack that goes great with couch time, anytime.” The second one, Lucky
Charms, comes with the cartoon image of unicorns, Lucky the Leprechaun, and floating
marshmallows, and the motto of “The Most Magical Part of the Day.” The brand describes itself
as follows: “All you need is some extra magic to start your day off right. And lucky for you: Lucky
Charms marshmallow charms are pretty magical.” Likewise, Froot Loops also uses the
advertisement slogan that reads: “Follow your nose to the delicious fruity taste and fun, colorful
loops of Froot Loops® cereal. It’s awesome anytime, from breakfast to a midnight snack.” Finally,
Apple Jacks is yet another breakfast cereal, which describes itself as follows: “This crunchy three-
grain cereal is sweetened with apple and cinnamon.” Most of them probably taste slightly different
from one another, with an appeal to probably different customer profiles. However, it is possible
to refer to them altogether as breakfast cereals.

b) Corn: Monsanto is an agricultural company, helping farmers large and small grow food more
sustainably. From seed to software, to fiber and fuel, the company is developing tools to help
growers protect natural resources while providing nourishment to the world. In the face of a
changing climate and other environmental challenges, Monsanto aims at helping ensure the
agricultural system continues to suit the needs of everyone. About 80% of all corn harvested in the
US is trademarked by this company. That gives Monsanto an extremely high level of market power.

c) Gaming consoles: Those who spent their childhood years and teens might probably know three
main brands of gaming consoles: Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. Since the release of the first
gaming consoles, these three powerful companies have dominated the market. This leaves all of
them with a significant amount of market power, as can be also viewed in the pie chart below.

Video Game Console Sales in the US Market

Nintendo -
1,95 Millions
Microsoft Xbox One -
4,2 Millions

Sony PS4 -
3 Millions

253
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

254
Performance Task 2.

You will hear a lecture on discourse types in writing. While listening, take notes on the main
points and important details. You will hear the lecture only once.

255
 READING TEXT

Review #1: A.P. Martinich’s Thomas Hobbes: A Biography

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) is now recognized as one of the fathers of modern
philosophy and political theory. In his own time, he was as famous for his work
in physics, geometry, and religion. A. P. Martinich has written the most
complete and accessible biography of Hobbes available. The book takes full
account of the historical and cultural context in which Hobbes lived, drawing
on both published and unpublished sources. It will be a great resource for
philosophers, political theorists, and historians of ideas. The presentation is
chronological, with brief analytical detours to explore texts written by Hobbes.
Disagreements among scholars are noted throughout regarding not only
interpretation of Hobbes’s thought, but also details of his life.

Review #2: Sheila Newman’s The Final Energy Crisis

Australian environmental sociologist Sheila Newman edits and contributes
several chapters to this fully revised and updated second edition of The Final
Energy Crisis. This volume includes chapters in different aspects of the energy
issue. Published in mid-2008 as crude oil prices were approaching $150 US per
barrel and concern about “peak oil” was cresting, this book is no less relevant
today, when the global economic-financial meltdown has displaced oil and food
prices as the crisis of the moment. After all, the topic it presents – how (or how
not) to change the currently misleading energy policies into a secure form of
sustainable energy, by building an economically stable and environmentally
safe future – is timeless.

Review #3: Leon R. Kass and James Q. Wilson’s The Ethics of Human
Cloning
In this two-part guide to the ethical debate, Kass and Wilson articulate opposed
notions with a lively intellectual power. Kass believes that cloning humans is
another step in the degradation of humanity. He asserts that it’s a natural
progression in the assault on the traditional structure of the family. For his part,
Wilson addresses the issue from a different perspective, and he believes that it
may be an answer to infertility and a substitute for adoption. Both authors allow
ample space to develop both wings of the argument as they cite from various
academic and popular sources of science, literature, and the media. The second
part of the book is allocated for rebuttal and conclusions.

256
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

257
Performance Task 3.
You will hear a lecture on parenting styles. While listening, take notes on all the main points and
important details of the lecture. You will hear the lecture only once.

258
READING TEXT
Associated outcome:
1 The child turns out to be a high-achiever
academically. In terms of self-esteem,
the child raised by this style has very
high self-respect. S/he also has the
capability of establishing good social
relationships, shows high interaction
capabilities, and displays better social
skills. Not many cases of mental illness
and delinquency are seen.

Associated outcome:
2 The child has an inclination towards
frequent displays of impulsive behavior.
S/he is very likely to fall victim to drug
and alcohol abuse. Delinquency
accompanies a tendency to exhibit
violent attitudes. Self-destructive
behaviors are quite widespread in the
children brought up in this manner.
Suicidal tendency may be encountered.

Associated outcome:
3 The child will behave impulsively, and
egocentric attitudes will be dominant.
The child may develop poor social skills
and experience difficulty establishing
good rapport with their peers, or s/he
may have a tendency to disrupt their
own relationships with others.

259
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

260
Performance Task 4.
You will hear a lecture on phubbing. While listening, take notes on all the main points and
important details of the lecture. You will hear the lecture only once.

261
 READING TEXT

Text 1.
A workplace should set simple policies for answering or making personal phone calls
during the workday. If an organization doesn’t have policies in place, team leaders can
work with their teams to agree to some basic standards.
- private calls should not be answered during the workday, unless it’s an emergency.
- no excuse for answering your mobile phone during an internal or external meeting, no
matter how important you might be in your workplace or who’s calling.

Text 2.
If you have a friend who can’t stay off her phone, and she’s someone you’d like to maintain
a relationship with, it may be time to show some tough love. Here are some things you can
do:
• Next time she invites you to join her, ask her to leave her phone at home. She’ll
probably say she can’t do that, and if she does, tell her you will not meet her.
• Next time you have a party, don’t invite your friends who are the worst phubbing
offenders. When they ask why they were left off the guest list, be honest and say that you
want people who want to socialize and have real fun.
• If your friend whips out her phone and starts chatting or texting while you are together,
get up and leave.

Text 3.
There are increasing numbers of people in long-term partnerships that feel they must
compete with their partner’s smartphone for attention. A survey found that almost three
quarters of women in committed relationships feel that smartphones are interfering with their
love life and are reducing the amount of time they spend with their partner. In fact, 62% of
the women who took part in another survey claimed that technology interfered with the time
spent with their partner, and almost one third of respondents said their boyfriend looked at
his smartphone while they were talking. OK then. Place the phone somewhere away from
you, on silent. If you need to check on something legitimately important, provide an
explanation to your partner first and then check your phone. Set phone limits in your
relationship. Don’t forget. Partners need to be understanding.

262
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

263
Performance Task 5.
You will hear a lecture on Goldberg’s Big Five Personality Theory, OCEAN. While listening,
take notes on all the main points and important details of the lecture. You will hear the lecture only
once.

264
 READING TEXT

Meticulous Work and Dedication: Marie Curie

Most scientists, especially women, are fascinated by Marie Curie. In the early part of the twentieth
century, when professional opportunities for women were rare, she was the first woman to obtain a
doctoral degree from the Sorbonne. Curie carried out groundbreaking research, providing the first
detailed description of radioactivity and using its detection to discover two new elements: polonium
and radium. She was awarded Nobel prizes in physics (1903) and in chemistry (1911). Even when she
lived in poverty in Poland, where she worked as a governess, she immersed herself in her scientific
studies. This strong commitment to work is what distinguishes Curie from other scientists of her time.
In fact, the most striking aspect of Curie’s life was her persistent devotion to her research. She was not
deterred by physical or personal hardships. Her notable qualities were a love of science, high
intelligence, the strong conviction that her work would provide important benefits for humanity, and
the ability to persevere in light of the difficulties she faced.
The Joy of Discovery: Nikola Tesla
If we could imagine the modern world devoid of Nikola Tesla’s discoveries, we’d be surprised at how
impoverished it would be. The gigantic industries would be perhaps dead, factories empty, cities would
be dark, people would have no radio or television, the trams, trolleybuses and trains would stop. About
epochal value of his inventions in the area of electric technology much is known, but about the structure
and dynamics of Tesla’s interesting personality, however, very little is known. Even in his early
childhood, Tesla exhibited immense powers of imagination, which is an ability to imagine detailed,
rich, and realistic things in his mind. Due to his lively imagination, it was easy for Tesla to realize
complex experiments in his minds, with no drawings, models, or laboratory instruments. Tesla’s
biggest and most carefully tended passion was for discovery of unknown principles, laws, and
unknown worlds. This composed and disciplined man found the greatest joy in his love of ‘discovery.’
The Humble Scientist: Albert Einstein
It has been proven now that Albert Einstein was smarter than others of his time and also than most
humans to have ever lived. Surprisingly though, whereas Einstein excelled in science, he kept failing
his exams in literature, politics, and French during the years he spent working on his application to
study at Zurich Polytechnic. Einstein later successfully retook the exams, but he wasn’t a perfect pupil:
He once blew up a lab during an experiment, and was uninterested in rote learning. Yet, Einstein had
a very pleasant personality. He was easy to mingle with and his welcoming outreach to the world and
people around him made him quite popular a personality in his times. He was also a very humble man.
It was his humility and accessibility that made everyone comfortable with him, from world leaders to
noble laureates of his era, from the common man he spoke to on campus to the students who were
fortunate enough.

265
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

266
Performance Task 6.
You will hear a lecture on comics medium. While listening, take notes on the main points and
important details. You will hear the lecture only once.

267
 READING TEXT

15 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT COMICS AND CARTOONS

Fact 1: “Keep ‘em flying” was a slogan in World War II, but it was also the battle cry of Wonder Woman.

Fact 2: As early as the 1790s, long before the appearance of comics in the US, there had been many popular
comic strips and many popular cartoon characters in Europe, especially in Britain and Switzerland.

Fact 3: The characters in Hogan’s Alley were mostly immigrants, coming from different countries to the
US. Indeed, the publisher of Hogan’s Alley, Joseph Pulitzer was himself a Hungarian immigrant who came
to the United States.

Fact 4: Pokémon stimulates the same part of the brain in children as heroin.

Fact 5: Mel Blanc, who voiced Bugs Bunny, was allergic to carrots. Yet, Blanc insisted on chewing real
carrots to provide the chomping sounds when he voiced Bugs Bunny.

Fact 6: The Adventures of TinTin was first released as a comic book in Belgium in 1922. It was the world’s
first comic book.

Fact 7: Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn’t wear trousers.

Fact 8: Joe Shuster, the artist of Superman, is Canadian, not American.

Fact 9: Japanese manga is based heavily on Asian art, and the traditional impacts of the Asian drawings can
easily be seen in all mangas.

Fact 10: Cartoons such as Asterix and the Smurfs are drawn on a uniquely European style.

Fact 11: It was Walt Disney’s wife who convinced him to change the name of his character from ‘Mortimer
Mouse’ to ‘Mickey Mouse.’ Donald Duck’s middle name is Fauntleroy, and all the professors in Pokémon
are named after trees. Pluto the dog was originally called “Rover”!

Fact 12: Although the Disney characters were created in America, European Disney comics are written and
drawn by European creators, without considering the US impact at all.

Fact 13: The man who was the voice of Optimus Prime also gave voice to Eeyore and Nintendo’s Mario.

Fact 14: Hulk was originally grey, not green.

Fact 15: Pinocchio is Italian for “pine eye.”

268
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

269
Performance Task 7.
You will hear a lecture on marketing concepts. While listening, take notes on the main points and
important details. You will hear the lecture only once.

270
 READING TEXT
Apple
When it comes to consumer electronics and computing technology, one of the most recognizable
names in the world is Apple. It is one of the world’s largest information technology company, and
it ranks in the top three manufacturers of mobile phones in the world. In a 2014 survey, it was
adjudged as the most valuable brand in the world, valued at close to USD120 billion.
Originally named Apple Computer Inc. when it was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne
and Steve Wozniak, it was originally focused on hardware development, primarily on personal
computers. It wasn’t until in 2007 that it decided to shift to developing consumer electronics
products. However, the entrance of other players in the consumer electronics market has meant
that Apple is getting stiffer competition, especially since these competitors are churning out
smartphones and tablets that are significantly lower in price. Apple CEO Tim Cook, however, is
unfazed by this non-threat, calling these lower-cost counterparts as the “junk market”. According
to Cook, Apple is not catering to this junk market, which is why it opts to stick to offering more
expensive products that have a lot more, and better, things to offer, than what these “junk markets”
are currently fielding to buying customers. That’s why when talking about Apple, what usually
comes to mind is its product line, which has become equated with high quality, invention and
innovation.

The Body Shop

The Body Shop is a British cosmetics, skin care, and perfume company that was founded in 1976
by Dame Anita Roddick. It currently has a range of 1,000 products which it sells in over 3,049
owned and franchised stores internationally in 66 countries. The Body Shop is regarded as a
pioneer of modern corporate social responsibility. Founder Anita Roddick led her company to
stand up for its beliefs and fight for causes such as self-esteem, environmental protection, animal
rights, community trade, and human rights. From sponsoring posters in 1985 for Greenpeace to
presenting a petition against animal testing to the European Union with 4,000,000 signatures, The
Body Shop has contributed significantly to the causes it supports, and it exemplifies how other
companies can do the same.

Fit’n Healthy
The Fit’n Healthy Gym has been offering memberships to people from all walks of life since 2001.
It sold 250 memberships in 2001, and since then, the number of memberships sold has increased
3% annually. This was achieved by their persuasive sales representatives, who visited homes and
convinced people that they needed to get this membership, and that without it, they would not lead
a healthy life. In an era when you can buy just about anything with the click of a mouse, you might
think this is a bit old-fashioned, but their persuasive sales representatives’ visits and efforts make
millions of dollars annually.

271
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

272
Performance Task 8.
You will hear a lecture on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. While listening, take notes on all the
main points and important details of the lecture. You will hear the lecture only once.

273
 READING TEXT
ERG theory, which refers to Existence, Relatedness, and Growth, proposed by the American psychologist
Clayton Alderfer in 1969, is a modification of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Alderfer proposed this theory
and believed that each need carries some value, and hence can be classified as lower-order needs and higher-
order needs. He also found some level of overlapping in the physiological, security, and social needs along
with an invisible line of separation between the social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. This led to the
formation of Alderfer’s ERG theory, which comprises of the condensed form of Maslow’s needs.

Existence Needs: The existence needs

comprises all those needs that relate to the
physiological and safety aspects of human
beings and are a prerequisite for survival.

Relatedness Needs: The relatedness needs

refer to the social needs. An individual seeks
to establish relationships with those for
whom he cares, such as family, friends, and
co-workers. This group also involves the
need to be recognized and feel secure as part
of a group or family.

Growth Needs: The growth needs are those

that influence one to make creative or
productive effects on himself and the
environment, to explore his maximum
potential.

Relationship of Needs
Alderfer made a clear statement about how several needs can be in play at the same time and that their
importance depends on the individual, not the order presented. The ERG theory allows the order of the
needs to differ for different people (e.g., it accounts for the “starving artist” who may place growth needs
above existence ones). Also, in this theory, a lower level need does not have to be gratified in order to move
up to higher-level needs. The progression upward from relatedness satisfaction to growth desires does not
presume the satisfaction of a person’s existence needs, for example.

Alderfer’s ERG Theory also acknowledges that if a higher-level need remains unfulfilled, the person
regresses to lower-level needs that appear easier to satisfy, which he called frustration-regression. In other
words, an already satisfied need can become active when a higher need cannot be satisfied. Thus, if a person
is continually frustrated in his/her attempts to satisfy growth, relatedness needs can resurface as key
motivators.

274
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

275
Performance Task 9.
You will hear a lecture on Victimology. While listening, take notes on all the main points and
important details of the lecture. You will hear the lecture only once.

276
 READING TEXT
Armed robber killed on camera trying to hold up a gun store by its 48-year-old owner
Surveillance footage at Dixie Gun and Pawn in Mableton, Georgia, showed the moment the would-be
criminal and an accomplice stormed into the store dressed in ski masks.
They aimed their guns towards an employee who held his hands up in a plea for mercy before store
owner Jimmy Groover opened fire.
The 48-year-old Groover reached for his own gun and shot one of the robbers dead while the other ran
for his life.
Later, Groover said he had no choice but to shoot the man. ’I’ve been doing this 30 years. Nothing like
this has ever happened. I never wanted this to happen but I want to go home at night, too.’
The attempted robbery took place at 11am on December 26 while Groover, the employee and two
customers were inside.
No charges were brought against the man afterwards.

 A 70-year-old handed over the money after believing the caller was from his bank.
The 70-year-old, from Cupar, Fife, was called by the fraudster on January 11.
The caller, who pretended to be a staff member at his bank, claimed the man’s account had been
compromised while using software which made it appear as if he was calling from an official number.
The man was then convinced to transfer £29,000 into the scammer’s account for safekeeping.
Police are investigating the theft and warning others to be aware of these types of phone scams, known
as vishing.
Detective chief inspector Scott Cunningham said: “These scammers claim to be from legitimate
organizations and try to frighten or pressure people into revealing personal details or banking
information.”
“Never give such information or transfer money to an unexpected caller and, although anyone can fall
victim to this, please warn elderly or vulnerable friends or relatives in particular to be wary this type of
scam.”
“If you receive such a call, advise the caller that you will contact the company on your own terms and
hang up immediately.”

Surveillance Video Captures Suspect Stealing Unlocked, Running Car at Gas Station
Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – Surveillance video captured the theft of an unlocked, running car at a gas station,
where the car was later used in a shooting incident outside of Mt. Juliet. On March 11, 2018 around
7:35 p.m. officers were summoned to the Shell gas station, at 14422 Lebanon Road, in regards to a car
theft. While the victim went inside the store to buy items, the car was left unlocked and running. A
black late 2000’s model BMW 5 series, with a spare tire on the front driver’s side, pulls up, and an
occupant jumps out and steals the victim’s car. The suspect, described as a tall, thin light-skinned black
male, drove the stolen car away towards Hermitage.
Further investigation revealed that the car was involved in a shooting-related incident in Metro-
Nashville on March 12, 2018. The stolen car has already been recovered, and it is being processed for
evidence.

277
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

278
Performance Task 10.
You will hear a lecture on qualitative research. While listening, take notes on the main points
and important details. You will hear the lecture only once.

279
 READING TEXT

Qualitative research involves words or language, but may also use pictures or
photographs and observations. Almost any phenomenon can be examined in a
qualitative way, and it is often the preferred method of investigation in the UK and
the rest of Europe; US studies tend to use quantitative methods, although this
distinction is by no means absolute. In general, many social sciences like
psychology, sociology, philosophy, or any other field in the humanities work with
qualitative method in research, but despite many benefits of doing so, some
limitations are obvious in conducting qualitative research.

In especially those cases that use the interview techniques or those studies that require participants,
there is the problem of sample size. Because fewer people are generally studied by qualitative
research, it is not possible to generalize the results to those of the population. Usually exact
numbers are reported rather than percentages. Moreover, it is difficult to make systematic
comparisons if people give widely differing responses. To bridge the gap between these different
responses, the researcher needs to work with a much larger sample group, but this is often not very
likely due to time or budget restraints.

There may also be particular difficulties about ethics. It is generally harder for qualitative
researchers to remain apart from their work. By the nature of their study, they are involved with
people. Considering this nature of qualitative studies, the interaction between researchers and
participants can be ethically challenging for the former, as they are personally involved in different
stages of the study. In ethnographic studies, for example, researchers function as instruments that
understand and analyze the culture. Therefore, ethnographic investigators need to be immersed in
the culture and to live among the study population. However, ethnographers have to be notified of
their role as research instruments while collecting and analyzing data so that they will not influence
the outcomes of their research. Although ethics could be an issue for any type of research, with
qualitative research, there are some other specific issues concerning ethics because the researcher
may be party to confidential information. When highly sensitive issues are concerned, children
and other vulnerable individuals should have access to an advocate who is present during initial
phases of the study, and ideally, during data gathering sessions. It is sometimes even necessary
that the researcher clarify in writing which persons can have access to the initial data and how the
data might be used. In other words, it is important for the researcher to always bear in mind that
s/he must do no harm to his/her research subjects.

280
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

281
Performance Task 11.
You will hear a lecture on the Impostor Syndrome. While listening, take notes on all the main
points and important details of the lecture. You will hear the lecture only once.

282
 READING TEXT

The philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote: “The whole problem with the world is that fools
and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.”
Whether on a local or global level, the problems we face require the best people to step
up. But many hold back because they feel that luck rather than ability lies behind their
successes, and dread that sooner or later some person or event will expose them for the
fraud that deep down they believe themselves to be. Far from being a realistic self-
assessment, the Impostor Syndrome mind-trap prevents people from believing in
themselves, to the detriment of us all. While the root cause isn’t entirely clear,
there are things you can do to tackle the Impostor Syndrome.
First of all, some sufferers of the Impostor Syndrome think they do not deserve the praise
they get and that they are bogus, i.e. fake, even when they are praised. What they should
do is to embrace the praise objectively. When they are given a compliment, they should
internalize it as fact. They shouldn’t judge themselves against what was said or analyze
it for deeper meaning. Also, they should stop explaining away their successes by
revealing all the various reasons why what they did wasn’t really that impressive. Instead,
when they get a compliment, they should practice saying “Thanks! I’m glad it worked
out,” and move on.
Some others, on the other hand, always compare themselves to some other people who
they admire or regard successful. When they do this, it’s easy to fall into the trap of “my
life sucks compared to that life.” They might as well not even do anything! Emerson said,
“Envy is ignorance…” and he was right on. To overcome this feeling of self-doubt, the
sufferers of this syndrome should acknowledge that they aren’t here to live the life of
another person. They’re here to live whatever life they can. They could turn Facebook
off, get off Instagram, stop reading biographies of “successful” people, and learn to
respect their own experience. Moreover, some girls are held back by stereotypes.
Teachers and caregivers must challenge these stereotypes and encourage girls to
recognize and accept their success, appreciate their competence, and celebrate their
strengths.
The best news is that the Impostor Syndrome is prevalent across all industries, genders,
and races, so if you’re feeling like an impostor, then many people around you are, too.

283
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

284
Performance Task 12.
You will hear a lecture on emotional eating. While listening, take notes on all the main points and
important details of the lecture. You will hear the lecture only once.

285
 READING TEXT

The difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger

Emotional hunger can be powerful, so it’s easy to mistake it for physical hunger, but there are clues you
can look for to help you tell physical and emotional hunger apart.
Emotional hunger comes on suddenly. It hits you in an instant and feels overwhelming and urgent.
Physical hunger, on the other hand, comes on more gradually. Therefore, you must resist eating when
the hunger hits you in an instant. The urge to eat doesn’t demand instant satisfaction, unless you haven’t
eaten for a very long time.
Emotional hunger craves specific comfort foods. When you’re physically hungry, almost anything
sounds good ‒ including healthy stuff like vegetables. However, emotional hunger craves junk food or
sugary snacks that provide an instant rush, so try to avoid eating such food. You feel like
you need cheesecake or pizza, and nothing else will do.
Emotional hunger often leads to mindless eating. Before you know it, you’ve eaten a whole bag of
chips without really paying attention or fully enjoying it. When you’re eating in response to physical
hunger, you’re typically more aware of what you’re doing.
Emotional hunger isn’t satisfied once you’re full. You keep wanting more and more, often eating until
you’re uncomfortably stuffed. Physical hunger, on the other hand, doesn’t need to be stuffed. You feel
satisfied when your stomach is full.
Emotional hunger often leads to regret, guilt, or shame. When you eat to satisfy physical hunger,
you’re unlikely to feel guilty or ashamed because you’re simply giving your body what it needs. If you
feel guilty after you eat, it is likely because you know deep down that you are not eating for nutritional
reasons.

Steps to counter emotional eating

Being aware of what triggers emotional eating: To overcome this unhealthy eating habit, sufferers
should first be well aware of their emotional eating and what triggers it. Then, they have to learn how to
manage their emotions in a way that doesn’t involve food
Meditation: Countless studies show that meditation may help people become more mindful of food
choices. With practice, a person may be able to pay better attention to the impulse to grab a fat- and
sugar-loaded comfort food and inhibit the impulse.
Exercise: Intense exercise increases cortisol levels temporarily, but low-intensity exercise seems to
reduce them. University of California researchers reported that exercise may blunt the urge of emotional
eating. Some activities, such as yoga and tai chi, have elements of both exercise and meditation.
Social support: Friends, family, and other sources of social support seem to have a buffering effect on
stress. For example, research suggests that people working in stressful situations, like hospital
emergency departments, have better mental health if they have adequate social support. When stress is
reduced, people are less likely to fall to emotional eating. But even people who live and work in
situations where the stakes aren’t as high need help from time to time from friends and family.
Diets: Diets so often fail because they offer logical nutritional advice, which only works if you have
conscious control over your eating habits. It doesn’t work when emotions hijack the process, demanding
an immediate payoff with food.
In order to stop emotional eating, you have to find ways to fulfill yourself emotionally.

286
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

287
Performance Task 13.
You will hear a lecture on common workplace obstacles that impact well-being. While listening,
take notes on all the main points and important details of the lecture. You will hear the lecture only
once.

288
 READING TEXT

“I wouldn’t do it that way.” “Why don’t you try this?” “What are you doing?” “That’s not right.”
“Don’t do that. Do this.” These are all phrases you’ve likely heard from the notorious co-worker
in your office. And, while you’ve somehow managed to continue trucking along without snapping,
you’re getting dangerously close to the end of your rope. Whether you have an obsessed boss or a
ridiculously overbearing co-worker, we’ve all had to work with someone who has a “my way or
the highway” sort of attitude. Of course, dealing with this person isn’t easy – but it’s also pretty
much inevitable. Recognizing the positive attributes of this person’s work ethic will make working
with him or her at least a little bit easier. Let’s face it – this person probably doesn’t behave this
way to purposely annoy you or make your job more difficult. Instead, he’s just incredibly
passionate about work. Making an effort to accept that his or her motivations are good will make
your life easier.

“Did you hear what Brian said in the meeting this morning?” “I can’t believe Lisa thought this
report was good.” “I heard that Megan partied a little too hard with a client last weekend at the
conference.” Sounds familiar? Trash-talking friends, free-flowing gossip, popularity contests, and
exclusive circles. Sounds like high school? Probably. But the better (and much scarier) question is
– does it sound like your office? You might assume now that you’ve entered the professional,
mature workforce, you’d be able to escape the petty tragi-comedies reminiscent of high school. In
reality, offices can be just as filled with unnecessary stories as your high school homeroom. How
can you avoid this? It’s better to resist the urge to talk about your co-workers and boss while you’re
in the office. Go to your own room, close the door, and mind your work.

Most people believe it is important to try to do one’s best and not make mistakes. Some of us,
however, tend to believe that we should never make mistakes and that making a mistake means
we are a failure or a horrible person for disappointing others. Thinking like this makes it really
scary for us to make mistakes. Trying to be perfect is also likely to make you feel stressed and
maybe even disappointed with yourself much of time because you are not able to meet your
standards easily, or at all. Over time, you may even start to believe that you are not as capable as
others. How can you feel better? Well, it is worthwhile to consider loosening up your standards a
bit to ease the stress and anxiety you may feel from trying so hard. Try the following:

- “Making a mistake does not mean I’m stupid or a failure. It only means that I am like everyone
else – human. Everyone makes mistakes!”
- “It’s okay not to be pleasant all the time. Everyone has a bad day sometime.”
- “It’s okay if some people don’t like me. No one is liked by everyone!”

289
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

290
Performance Task 14.

You will hear a lecture on human trafficking. While listening, take notes on all the main points
and important details of the lecture. You will hear the lecture only once.

291
 READING TEXT

What are governments doing to address and prevent the issue of human trafficking in their own
countries and around the world? To give you a closer look at what’s happening around the world,
here’s a brief overview of three countries’ efforts and policies, as well as the challenges they face
in implementing those laws.
India
More than 200,000 Indian children are trafficked each year and forced into domestic servitude or
labor in brick kilns or embroidery factories. However, while government-sponsored Anti-
Trafficking Units, which are supposed to investigate human trafficking cases, continue to be
established and more prosecutions are occurring, the laws are not widely enforced. Part of the
problem is that it’s hard to say if one universal trafficking law can work and be enforced for a
country as large and regionally diverse as India. At the same time, factors like corruption and lack
of training and resources make it difficult to ensure that programs are effective. What’s more, it’s
difficult to detect this type of enslavement unless someone complains, as the authorities cannot
scrutinize private property to check whether there is human trafficking or not.
Niger
Niger has the one of the highest rates of child marriages in the world. According to figures
published by the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, 76 percent of all girls under 18 are
married in Niger.
While forced marriages continue in rural areas, things are improving in Nigerien urban centers. A
local branch of a small human rights organization funded by international donors in Niger provides
shelter to women in need in Niger’s capital Niamey. The organization members are trying to
change local attitudes and persuade parents that their daughters have a right to a childhood and
education. The organization also supports young girls and women filing for a divorce,
accompanying them to local judges and traditional leaders.
However, although local judges and traditional tribal leaders are mostly supportive of the move,
many women in rural areas are still afraid to speak up against their conservative culture that
undermines their rights, as in those areas, people still believe that their child is their property which
they can give away when and to whom they want.
South Korea
Trafficking is unfortunately widespread in South Korea, and many cases have been reported of
people from Russia, North Korea, the Phillipines, and Thailand being exploited in labor. Many
human trafficking victims in the United States originate in South Korea, and find themselves in
situations of forced labor when they arrive. There are many cases of labor exploitation and
trafficking especially in 3D (difficult, dirty, dangerous) factories, where many migrant workers
and vulnerable locals fall ill or are abused. The Labor Standards Act places harsh sentences on
traffickers, but there is no clear legislation defining trafficking, so it is actually difficult to
determine and prosecute these individuals.

292
Summary Essay
Summarize all the main points in the lecture and integrate the relevant points from the reading text.
Write 250-300 words.

Do not copy sentences from the reading text. Use your own words.
Total time: 50 minutes

293
VOCABULARY

294
Test 1

1. Both the lemon and the lime are citrus fruits, and some people think of them as
interchangeable. However, lemons and limes are two __________________ fruits. Limes
are green, small, and generally more acidic than lemons, whereas lemons are yellow and
larger than limes.
a. discrete
b. various
c. identical
d. rampant
e. integral

2. San Francisco Art Institute is one of the oldest and most prestigious schools of higher
education in contemporary art, but it is also counted as one of the most haunted places.
__________________ built on a cemetery in the early 1900s after an earthquake, it is
believed to be haunted by a few restless spirits.
a. Predominantly
b. Historically
c. Supposedly
d. Freely
e. Mutually

3. The climate of Mesopotamia was harsh and dry, so its people had to learn different
__________________ methods to make the land fertile and cultivable so that they could
grow plants.
a. irrigation
b. dissertation
c. biodiversity
d. regulation
e. maintenance

4. Due to the economic recession, sales have been very low over the last couple of weeks. If
this is a/an __________________ of how future business will be shaped, we will go
bankrupt in a year.
a. function
b. restoration
c. prospect
d. indication
e. assumption

295
5. Tom pleaded guilty to drunk driving, and his driver’s license has been
__________________ for six months. Therefore, he will have to use the public transport
during this time.
a. restricted
b. held
c. issued
d. obtained
e. suspended

6. Women in developing regions have a higher likelihood of having an abortion than their
counterparts in developed regions: The abortion rates are 36 per 1,000 women and 27 per
1,000 __________________.
a. namely
b. respectively
c. alternatively
d. profoundly
e. approximately

7. There’s a lot that geometry helps with. From finding our way through a plethora of jobs to
helping with our awareness of relation between objects, we find that geometry is an
incredibly important __________________ to our daily life and to our course work.
a. sediment
b. facility
c. facet
d. tract
e. premise

8. Having a/an __________________ flow of income is an important part of the credit card
application process. However, your reported income does not have to be from a job; it can
come from other sources, too, as long as it is received regularly.
a. steady
b. obstructed
c. maximum
d. collective
e. incisive

296
9. Many large companies believe that on-campus fairs are the number one avenue for them to
brand themselves with students, and therefore, they visit universities at graduation time in
an effort to __________________ the best of the new graduates.
a. apply
b. compensate
c. grasp
d. recruit
e. dissolve

10. Undersea turbines, which produce electricity from the tides, are set to become an important
source of renewable energy for Britain. Unlike wind power, which Britain originally
developed and then __________________ for twenty years allowing the Dutch to make it
a major industry, undersea turbines could become a big export earner to island nations such
as Japan and New Zealand.
a. integrated
b. abandoned
c. retailed
d. traced
e. eliminated

11. There are many types of fear, but the two that impede original thinking and people
generally find difficult to deal with are fear of uncertainty and fear of public ridicule. These
may seem like __________________ phobias, but fear of public speaking, which everyone
must do from time to time, afflicts one-third of the population.
a. forceful
b. obsessional
c. trivial
d. persistent
e. widespread

12. Terrorism has been a problem for airlines and air travelers since the 1970s, and increased
security at airports aims to prevent any such attempt. Travelers are recommended to check
in online twenty-four hours prior to departure, as well as arrive three hours before
international flight departures, due to __________________ security measures at airports.
a. vital
b. neat
c. finite
d. tight
e. controlled

297
13. The Guardian had printed a report in which the popular messaging app, WhatsApp, was
claimed to have a critical fault, a “backdoor” that could allow a malicious third party to
read your messages. However, the report turned out to be erroneous, and the widely
reported WhatsApp vulnerability is not as serious as _____________________ thought.
a. consistently
b. subsequently
c. aimlessly
d. readily
e. initially

14. Don Robinson once said, “one weakness of our age is our __________________ inability
to distinguish our needs from our greed.” This still holds true today. As a culture, as a
society, and as a species, we could never possibly agree on what a person needs, and
therefore, we could never agree on when pursuing and fulfilling perceived or actual needs
become greed.
a. apparent
b. enforced
c. invulnerable
d. progressive
e. confined

15. One of the most __________________ explanations for the disappearance of the dinosaurs
has been what is known as the comet theory, which most people accept: A comet colliding
with Earth could have caused the dinosaurs’ demise. However, this argument is weakened
by those who say numerous species of animals from the same era as the dinosaurs and
similar to them in physiology and habitat did not become extinct when the dinosaurs did.
a. definite
b. plausible
c. deceiving
d. inadequate
e. sentient

16. With technological progress, the states felt the need to enlarge their waters to ensure
security and to exploit the marine and subsoil resources. This is the reason why Greece and
Turkey are in __________________ over the boundaries of their coastal waters.
a. alignment
b. charge
c. persuasion
d. dispute
e. proposition

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17. Two of the journalists in the area the disaster struck went missing and are
__________________ dead. However, the rescue team hopes that that’s not the case.
a. interrogated
b. presumed
c. specified
d. amended
e. queried

18. The four great deposits of mineral wealth in the area are still richly productive, and they
constitute the greatest industrial __________________ which the colony possesses.
a. inducements
b. chambers
c. assets
d. proximities
e. relations

19. Rapid population growth has social consequences that have been perfectly clear for at least
30 years. They are low living standards, low education standards, unemployment,
starvation, and civil war; these will continue to increase in the developing nations. It also
leads to environmental destruction, mainly in the form of deforestation caused by slash-
and-burn agriculture. Obviously, the earth cannot continue forever to
__________________ population growth at the current rate.
a. sustain
b. stimulate
c. summon
d. subtract
e. subsidy

20. Doctors requested the __________________ of the drug from the market after several
cases involving dangerous side-effects were reported.
a. shortage
b. submission
c. collapse
d. withdrawal
e. indecision

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Test 2

1. The LBGTI Platform demands that some articles of the Constitution should be revised in
such a way that it should be _____________________ stated that discrimination against
people with a different sexual orientation shall be prohibited.
a. explicitly
b. haphazardly
c. purely
d. extremely
e. merely

2. The mainstreaming of the Internet has sparked a lively debate among political analysts
about the possible __________________ of this revolution of communications for the
political system. Some argue that the Internet has the potential to transform the democratic
process in significant ways, making citizen involvement more egalitarian, informed, and
participatory, while others are not so sure.
a. outbreaks
b. negotiations
c. origins
d. implications
e. inclinations

3. Many governmental actors feel no real commitment to address the human rights challenges
affecting the country and act _____________________, or they are unaware that human
rights violations may not only result from acts but also omissions, including an
unwillingness to investigate, prosecute and punish, to protect the civilian population in
zones of armed conflict, or to provide basic goods and services necessary for the realization
of economic, social, and cultural rights.
a. abruptly
b. accordingly
c. allegedly
d. accurately
e. abundantly

300
4. The unique value of the products guarantees for the organization a privileged market
situation, which should be protected against competing or substitute products by
_____________________ improving product or service quality and packaging in order to
maximize their appeal to targeted market segments or general public depending on the
activity in question.
a. randomly
b. exactly
c. officially
d. constantly
e. briefly

5. The scandals of the past eighteen months are too numerous to count, which is a public
disappointment. These scandals, unfortunately, _____________________ issues as serious
as violating civil rights laws, collaborating with dictators, and fueling ethnic cleansing.
a. encompass
b. interfere
c. intensify
d. explore
e. indulge

6. Many commuters to school or work choose the bicycle _____________________, just to

have at least a small amount of exercise before and after the hours they spend sitting at
their desks.
a. sufficiently
b. undoubtedly
c. independently
d. deliberately
e. partially

7. State-of-the-art care usually results in a high degree of successful control of asthma with
an acceptably safe and _____________________ convenient therapy.
a. inevitably
b. simultaneously
c. formerly
d. reasonably
e. roughly

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8. The observation that genomic evolution of tumor cells occurs in the milk duct, or tube,
before invasion proceeds suggests that a short period of genome instability is an early event
in breast-cancer _____________________.
a. confirmation
b. designation
c. initiation
d. nomination
e. resignation

9. Space junk is an ever-growing problem with more than 7,500 tons of

_____________________ hardware which is now thought to be circling the Earth.
a. conforming
b. accessible
c. redundant
d. contingent
e. subtle

10. Lack of access to health care, low nutrition, and the high _____________________ of
infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV leave the region’s population more
susceptible to the effects of environmental pollutants.
a. compliance
b. integrity
c. differentiation
d. prevalence
e. levitation

11. Screening in both healthy and high-risk populations offers the opportunity to
_____________________ cancer early, with an increased opportunity for treatment and
curative intent.
a. contract
b. detect
c. transmit
d. struggle
e. obscure

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12. With _____________________ medicine failing to guarantee a total recovery from
allergies, over the last decades, there has been a great deal of interest in the role of
complementary and alternative medicine in allergy treatment.
a. conventional
b. successive
c. functional
d. excessive
e. mandatory

13. Autophagy is a natural regeneration process that occurs at a cellular level in the body,
reducing the likelihood of developing some diseases as well as ____________________
the lifespan of the individual.
a. accelerating
b. declaring
c. prolonging
d. surviving
e. expecting

14. For over 400 years, Himeji Castle has remained _____________________, even
throughout the extensive bombing of Himeji in World War II, natural disasters such as the
1995 Great Hanshin earthquake, and many typhoons.
a. genuine
b. concrete
c. firm
d. intact
e. precise

15. The meat in dog foods are of several types, and they are heated at intensely high
temperatures until they no longer resemble meat at all. This process kills a lot of the
bacteria, but it also makes the food nutritionally deficient. To _____________________
that, manufacturers add vitamin and mineral supplements to the food and then spray the
resulting sludge with something tasty-smelling like chicken fat to appeal to a dog’s nose.
a. reassure
b. remedy
c. mediate
d. manifest
e. multiply

303
16. In 2016, in Illinois, Russian hackers broke into a database by exploiting
a/an _____________________ in a web page that allowed citizens to register or change
registrations online.
a. layout
b. clash
c. ailment
d. content
e. flaw

17. Any bacterium that _____________________ in a lab is by definition exceptional, and

these bacteria are almost exclusively the organisms studied by microbiologists.
a. ponders
b. accomplishes
c. thrives
d. hesitates
e. relocates

18. Researchers are _____________________ a new way to grow human organs inside other
animals, but the method raises potentially thorny ethical issues.
a. catering
b. fostering
c. accessing
d. surging
e. devising

19. The first novel that she has written successfully _____________________
a sense of innocence with overwhelming bitterness.
a. condemns
b. monitors
c. intimidates
d. renders
e. blends

20. The company received _____________________ criticism for continuing to supply faulty
goods, which was the reason why its sales had been in decline for some time.
a. negligent
b. harsh
c. invasive
d. illustrious
e. empirical

304
Test 3

1. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common type of chronic liver
disease in developed nations, where it affects around 25% of the population. After
treatment, unsurprisingly, younger people and those with a less severe type of the disease
are most likely to show an improvement. But beyond that, little is known about the
mechanisms of _________________ or the factors that determine why one person shows
an improvement, but another does not.
a. autonomy
b. impeccability
c. regression
d. objection
e. replication

2. The lack of a strong scholarly record took some _________________ away from the
authors. They clearly need supporting evidence to refute all the claims against their recent
publications.
a. interpolation
b. credibility
c. circumscription
d. intimacy
e. castigation

3. Though premium leather looked good and proved durable, its lack of _________________
and comfort led to the development of golf shoes that were designed to imitate sneakers.
a. concentration
b. fertility
c. perplexity
d. flexibility
e. coordination

4. In academia, the influence of funding by mega-corporations is viewed as inappropriate,

partly because it may pressure professors to produce biased research, _________________
the reliability of their work and spreading incorrect information to students.
a. typifying
b. elucidating
c. undermining
d. tempting
e. inserting

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5. In the long run, the decrease in the _________________ of researchers and individuals
with highly sought-after technical skills will stagnate our country’s scientific advancement
and economic development.
a. execution
b. assertion
c. chastisement
d. availability
e. correspondence

6. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can be employed to boost human skills of
communication. For instance, they can be used as supportive systems for the patients of
diseases that cause a loss in brain functions. Highly developed machines can enable patients
with speech loss to interact with their environment. Recently, scientists have built a device
to enhance some of the limited _________________ capabilities in severe ALS patients,
using both speech recognition and machine translation.
a. analytical
b. preliminary
c. intriguing
d. influential
e. cognitive

7. On the first two days of the festival, the attendance figures were beyond
_________________, but eventually those numbers settled down.
a. cue
b. contradiction
c. culmination
d. comprehension
e. continuation

8. Upon the completion of a series of experiments conducted at Harvard University, it was

revealed that mice with gene _________________ that predisposed them to Alzheimer’s
disease developed some realistic symptoms, similar to those in humans.
a. evaporations
b. mutations
c. memorizations
d. dominations
e. implorations

306
9. The move marked a significant disagreement with the United Nations and other involving
parties, including Britain, France, and Germany, and resulted in a _________________ in
transatlantic relations in a generation.
a. fortune
b. fracture
c. framework
d. formulation
e. fabrication

10. According to many scientists, including the renowned immunologist Dr. James Sereti, if
antibiotics are not used properly, their theoretically healing effects may turn out to be toxic.
When the patient stops using the prescribed antibiotics before the entire dosage is
completed, _________________ bits of bacteria continue to float in their bloodstream, and
continually “tickle the immune system, increasing chronic inflammation,” Sereti said.
a. residential
b. residual
c. radiant
d. respiratory
e. rational

11. The books written as a follow-up item to popular literary works often disappoint the avid
readers of a well-known author. After reading Watchman, a recent sequel to the famous To
Kill a Mockingbird, for instance, many “Mockingbird” fans were shocked by the way
Atticus is _________________ in the second book, which portrays him as a racist figure.
a. composed
b. exterminated
c. retained
d. mitigated
e. depicted

12. The _________________ of human-generated carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by the
world’s seas is among the biggest threats to ocean creatures like shellfish.
a. combustion
b. hibernation
c. premonition
d. abduction
e. absorption

307
13. With the state’s traditional rainy season over, scientists explained that there was a good
chance this was the last _________________ Southern California would receive for some
time.
a. estimation
b. precipitation
c. rupture
d. coincidence
e. ignition

14. Scientists believe that when the universe began some 13.8 billion years ago, it underwent
a process called inflation, which referred to an enormous expansion, marking a/an
_________________ growth in a very short amount of time.
a. morphological
b. lexical
c. exponential
d. congressional
e. temporal

15. New Zealand is more impacted by certain climate _________________, like fluctuations
in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean surface waters.
a. oscillations
b. dissections
c. volitions
d. preservations
e. convictions

16. The numbers of law violations generated in each region of the country are basically
_________________ with the scale of population, outdoor opportunities, and public lands
access. The higher the density of the population, the number of opportunities, and the
amount of the public lands access, the higher the law violations.
a. reminiscent
b. susceptible
c. adaptive
d. sincere
e. congruent

308
17. When taking allergy medication, it is important not to take vital decisions or undertake
responsibilities that bear any kind of risk as drugs of such kind seem to prevent the
production of _________________ thoughts.
a. silencing
b. implicit
c. coherent
d. retrieved
e. constrained

18. If their environment turns inhospitable, single-celled animals _________________ in order

to form larger groups and reproduce by cooperatively releasing hardy spores into the air
from an elevated stalk.
a. articulate
b. appreciate
c. advocate
d. adopt
e. aggregate

19. Comedy and horror are seemingly distinct genres, but they often _________________
because they are both about raising tension, and then delivering a punchline to hit the
audience.
a. overlap
b. flip
c. dictate
d. seclude
e. release

20. The government is putting pressure on immigration courts, asking for the immediate
deportation of many immigrants. Although the judges ask for liberation and would like to
extend the time given to the immigrants in the country, the _________________ laws of
immigration often leave little room for any other decision than directly deporting
immigrants.
a. recited
b. readjusted
c. rigid
d. reconstructed
e. renovated

309
Test 4

1. Facebook is _________________ its settings on both web and mobile, making it easier for
people to find the option to download all of their Facebook data or delete their account.
a. simplifying
b. beautifying
c. exemplifying
d. notifying
e. verifying

2. At a private breakfast, Rick Scott, the Republican governor of Florida, who is running to
unseat the _________________ Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, met with supporters and
the mayors of Judea and Samaria.
a. incumbent
b. inconsiderable
c. incomputable
d. incorrect
e. incurable

3. So far, none of the proposals have been anywhere near developed enough to be considered
a/an _________________ global solution.
a. bizarre
b. primitive
c. circulated
d. viable
e. peripheral

4. Scientists say that there is a correlation between warm temperatures and increased shell
disease, but _________________ of the disease is very low off Maine, the nation’s top
lobster-producing state, where the ocean usually reaches 11°C maximum in late summer.
a. infinity
b. identity
c. inequality
d. invariability
e. incidence

310
5. That the Member of Parliament was deeply knowledgeable, skillful in speech, and highly
_________________ in diplomacy was without any doubt.
a. comparative
b. corrective
c. competent
d. corporeal
e. complicated

6. She will also work closely with the data analytics and the _________________ research
teams in order to collect numerical data and conduct statistical analysis.
a. qualitative
b. quantitative
c. quarrelsome
d. quadruple
e. quarantined

7. The local people of Fiji have innumerable religious beliefs. For instance, a majority of
_________________ Fijians identify as Christian, while those with Indian ancestry often
identify as Hindu or Muslim.
a. inferior
b. innate
c. incited
d. inhibited
e. indigenous

8. Despite continuous losses and failures in the major league, the supporters and fans still felt
_________________ to their team.
a. leakage
b. legality
c. loyalty
d. longitude
e. longevity

9. As you see, I cannot afford to lose time. Please do not disturb me unless there is a/an
_________________ matter that requires immediate action.
a. petty
b. dispensable
c. iconic
d. symbolic
e. urgent

311
10. A potential way to decrease the impact of the non-biodegradable materials on the
environment is the _________________ of plastics with plant-based materials.
a. scrutiny
b. displacement
c. substitution
d. dimension
e. deflection

11. During World War II, countries would _________________ messages so that their
enemies couldn’t understand them if they were intercepted.
a. situate
b. encode
c. denote
d. transcribe
e. connote

12. The biggest classical musical event of the year, watched live by millions of people around
the world, took place at the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. “It was a
_________________ chance for us to promote classical music,” said Christopher Warren-
Green, one of the conductors of the event.
a. populous
b. phenomenal
c. pretentious
d. plagiarized
e. proportionate

13. Sterling was formed in 1834 by the _________________ of two towns, Harrisburg and
Chatham, founded here in 1836 and 1837, respectively; it was chartered as a city in 1857.
a. prosperity
b. perpetuation
c. custody
d. consolidation
e. confrontation

312
14. Abagnale is the con artist who pretended to be a doctor and airline pilot, among other
_________________.
a. interferences
b. disguises
c. supervisions
d. restraints
e. directories

15. Since everyone was confused about the latest developments in the country, they were
waiting for a follow-up call from the prime minister, hoping that his explanations would
provide more _________________.
a. diversion
b. impatience
c. allowance
d. clarity
e. space

16. Navalny argued that the authorities’ refusal to allow the protest was illegal and criticized
the _________________ against him as “ridiculous and unlawful.”
a. accusations
b. alterations
c. aspirations
d. allocations
e. admissions

17. Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette said the company saw strength across its
Bloomingdale’s, Bluemercury, and Macy’s brands. He said results are improving at its
stores, coupled with _________________ online and mobile growth.
a. illuminating
b. inherent
c. disposable
d. cautious
e. robust

313
18. Psychologists have different theories on language _________________, or the process by
which we learn to speak, write, or even use sign language in meaningful ways to
communicate.
a. acquaintance
b. acquisition
c. affirmation
d. affluence
e. ambivalence

19. Signs of wear are starting to show on the protesters, as days of sleep _________________,
the endless sound of mortar fire, and the fear of a police crackdown strain their unraveled
nerves.
a. demolition
b. deprivation
c. determination
d. deterrence
e. deviance

20. Even though atoms were first _________________ and named by ancient Greeks, it was
not until the last century that they achieved the status of actual physical entities.
a. woven
b. founded
c. conceived
d. adjourned
e. scrambled

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